Page 2 of Rescuing Air

“That was easy.” Doctor Tager chuckled as he walked over, then kneeled where Micah was laid out on the couch.

“On our way down to the Chicago Elementi headquarters, we got hit by a truck and I broke my leg,” Micah explained, pointing to his bare leg. “At least, I think it’s broken. I can’t use it and the pain is some of the worst I’ve ever felt.”

Doctor Tager started to feel Micah’s leg, poking and prodding at things, muttering to himself as he worked. “I want to take an x-ray to confirm, but I don’t think you broke your leg. I think it’s just a dislocated patella or kneecap. It absolutely hurts like a bitch, but on the bright side, it means you will heal much faster.”

“So we have to go to the hospital after all?” I asked.

He turned to look at me with a gentle smile on his face. “No, thankfully the Elementi has funded us well and I have a portable machine to use for situations like this. Give me a moment to set it up and we’ll take a look.”

Doctor Tager and Nurse Kaden left the room and the front door opened again. Professor Zale headed over to Hudson, who was trying to scrub the blood off his side but was having trouble twisting the right way.

“Would you mind if I took a look at your wound?” Professor Zale asked.

Hudson looked up at him and shrugged. “I don’t know how I got sliced in the accident, but when I woke up, I’d lost a lot of blood. We didn’t have time or the chance to seek any medical help, so Micah used his fire to seal the wound. I’ve been keeping track of things and making sure I don’t have any internal bleeding, but I feel as though it was just a surface-level injury to the skin and muscle.”

Professor Zale raised a brow. “Medical student?”

“Biomedical, looking to go into research but had to take some pre-med classes.”

Professor Zale nodded as he slipped on a pair of gloves and urged Hudson to sit back so he could get a clear view of the area. He, too, felt and prodded the area, humming as if making mental notes about whatever he was seeing. “I believe I have some remedies that will help soothe the burn, bring down the inflammation, and prevent infection. Would you mind if I applied it to you?”

“Ah, I see, you’re a naturopath, aren’t you?” I blurted out, feeling like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner.

I got a smile from the professor at my outburst. “Yes, but I’m also trained in the best remedies to heal wounds made from demons. Seeing that many of those need to be made from natural and holy items, the two practices often coincide. Speaking of, did any of you acquire a wound from a demon or get possessed?”

Mom let out a gasp at the question, clutching tightly to my dad. We’d talked about how dangerous demons were in the world to get them to agree to stay in this house, but I’d purposefully left out that side of things. “Dad, why don’t you take Mom to lie down? I know this has been a lot the past few days. I’m sure she didn’t sleep well.”

Dad nodded jerkily and led my mother away to the room they were using.

“Forgive me, I assumed, being here, that they were aware of the world we live in and you are a part of,” Professor Zale apologized.

“No, it’s not your fault. I should have expected this, coming back home in the state we’re in. My parents had no idea about any of this or who I even was. Truthfully, I didn’t even know anything about this and got fast tracked when I was discovered to be Synergy,” I shared, rubbing my head as the ache just got worse with all the stress of balancing both parts of my life.

“I didn’t grow up in this world either, but when I married my wife, who was an Elementi soldier, I was read into the hidden side of our world, if you will. When she died of a wound from a greater demon, I knew I had to do something to keep that from happening. Thankfully, the Elementi are always looking for people to train, so it didn’t take me long since I was already a naturopath,” Professor Zale said as he worked on attending to Hudson’s wound. “This world you protect needs you, but it doesn’t make it easier for those of us left behind at home to wait for your return.”

My heart broke for him and his history with demons taking the woman he loved from him. I knew firsthand how painful that type of wound was and not to have the help I’d received was unimaginable. Doctor Tager returned, and between him and his assistant, got it all set up rather quickly. Soon, we were all looking at Micah’s knee on a laptop, showing us clear as day that his knee was indeed dislocated.

“This is good news. It means you won’t be down for the count too long. I’ll get this bone back into place, do another x-ray to make sure there is no other damage, then we can get you taped up and in a brace. It will take six weeks to fully heal, but you’ll be able to walk with crutches and start putting weight on it again in a week or so. Seeing as you’re an Elementi Warrior, I’ve learned you lot heal faster, so it could be less time than that. Trust your body to tell you what’s going to work best.”

A weight I didn’t know I’d been carrying fell away from me, hearing these words. Micah wasn’t broken and he would recover with no problems at all. All I had to do now was make sure he didn’t push himself too hard once I told him about Jay’s mom. The three men worked quickly and efficiently, checking over the rest of us and giving Brayden a sling to let his arm rest for at least a week. They guessed I did have a concussion but only a mild one since I didn’t throw up. Jay also had one and needed a few stitches in his scalp for the head wound. We were all given the okay to take showers as long as we were careful and avoided certain wounds. It was a group effort, but we all managed to get clean and tumbled into bed where we passed out in one big puppy pile on my bed, feeling the need to be close to each other.

two

Jay

The sun wasn’t even up when I left the others sleeping surrounding Lailah. I, too, would have stayed to watch over her, worried that her nightmares might be worse after having Lilith invade her mind, but the need to find out what was going on with my mother drove me to start researching. Pulling my cell out of my sweats, I hit the speed dial for my father. He might not love my mother the way that normal people love their spouse, but he wouldn’t want her in the hands of demons either.

Father’s sole focus the past year was finding the location of the demon headquarters, once we figured out they were massing together. Every time we found something, it had been abandoned, having gotten there too late. We suspected they might have someone on the inside and now I knew it had to be true with everything we’ve uncovered so far. Since Lailah came into her power, I haven’t been working with my father at all, seeing as we had our own messes to deal with that were more important and ones only we could deal with.

“Jalen,” Father answered tersely in Japanese.

“Mother has been taken by the demons and brought to their base,” I stated, using the same language, knowing better than to bother with greetings.

The phone was silent for a moment, telling me I’d surprised my father. “Are you sure?”

“The Mother of Demons told us herself. The plan was to use her as leverage to keep me from bonding with Lailah, but it wasn’t needed in the end,” I explained. “Do you have any confirmation of the demons location yet?”

“No, not for lack of trying. Every time we get close, they slip through our fingers. I can tell you that it’s massive, which makes it even more impossible for them to move so fast.”