Page 11 of Petrified

“Let me finish the scan first.”

Lev glances at me. “Nobody says that before good news.”

I squeeze his hand once. “Give her a minute.”

She makes one more pass before turning the display toward us. “The petrification went deeper than it looked from the outside. It reached part of both lungs, the diaphragm, and some of the tissue around them before the reversal started.”

Lev’s grip tightens hard enough that I feel it in my knuckles. I keep my attention on the scan. “How much damage are we talking about?”

“Less than there should be.” She points to several highlighted areas across my chest. “There’s inflammation, some tearing where the tissue released unevenly, and stress damage from the organs beginning to harden. That explains the fatigue and the pain when you breathe deeply.”

Amand leans forward. “You said less than there should be.”

“Much less.” She enlarges the image. “Whatever reversed the petrification also protected the organs while the stone was breaking down. If that protection hadn’t happened, I’d expect significantly more damage to the lungs and diaphragm.”

Lev shifts closer to the screen. “So the stone itself is gone?”

“Yes. There’s no lingering petrification and nothing here suggesting it’s going to come back. What Rowan is feeling now is the aftermath.” The healer looks at me. “You’re not at one hundred percent because your body is healing actual organ damage.”

I hear Lev inhale beside me and immediately know where his mind went. “And that heals?”

“Yes. Rest, fluids, no shifting for a few days, and nothing strenuous until his breathing feels normal again. The tissue is already repairing itself.”

I turn my head toward Lev. “There. Healing.”

He looks at me like I’ve missed half the conversation. “Your lungs were partially petrified.”

“And now they aren’t.”

“That doesn't make the first part less insane.”

“No, but it does make the second part useful.” I lift our joined hands slightly. “You can stop looking at me like I’m about to crumble.”

“I wasn’t.”

Amand glances over. “You were.”

Lev cuts him a look. “Nobody asked you.”

The healer’s mouth twitches as she starts shutting down the scanner. “He’s fine to go home. Just keep him from doing anything stupid for a few days.”

Lev looks at me immediately. “That’s going to require supervision.”

I squeeze his hand again. “You’re enjoying this too much.”

“Not even a little.” His thumb moves over the side of mine, and the grip finally loosens. “But I’m absolutely using it.”

Amand’s mouth pulls faintly at one corner while the healer finishes the scan. She leaves us with instructions that sound almost identical to the ones Amand has already been enforcing at home, and Lev listens closely enough that I know I’m going to hear every word again the second I do something he doesn’t approve of.

Gerald waits until the door closes before looking at Lev. “I need you to walk me through what happened when the reversal started. Not the entire scene, just the part where Rowan’s condition changed.”

Lev shifts in his chair. “He couldn’t breathe properly anymore. Medusa couldn’t undo it, I didn’t have anything useful to try, so I kissed him. The stone cracked almost immediately.”

Gerald reaches for the notebook on his desk. “Was the petrification already across his chest when you kissed him?”

“Yes, and that’s why I kissed him.” Lev watches Gerald write something down. “If you’re about to make me give you a second-by-second breakdown, I didn’t exactly have a clock out while my mate was suffocating.”

“I don’t need exact seconds.” Gerald glances up. “I need sequence. Petrification reaches the chest, breathing becomes compromised, you make contact, then the stone fractures.”