Timeless Winds - Chapter Twelve

I winced when Doctor Brendan Darrow began working, carefully cutting away the bandages Aisuru had wrapped me in and peeling them off my burned back. Aisuru watched Darrow, as if trying to figure out what he was doing so that he might be able to do so in case I somehow got myself hurt again. I couldn’t blame him. I had a penchant for unintentionally injuring myself quite a bit. I winced suddenly when Darrow brushed a thumb across one of the more tender areas of my back. “This is going to need stitches.” He said, indicating where I’d been struck by the support beam.

“Other than that, how is she?” Aisuru inquired, stepping closer. I could hear the concern in his voice and felt bad for worrying him.

“It, without a doubt, could’ve been much worse. I’ll have to stitch this up and I want her to rest before you two go and leave again. Your girl here has a minor concussion, moderate burns from shoulder to shoulder, as well as the obvious gash here across her shoulder blade.” He explained and got up to collect what I could only hope would be a numbing agent. “Do you mind if I ask where you two were heading before you found Mary and her family?” He asked, glancing over at Aisuru with curious eyes.

“We are heading for the mountains, in search for supplies for a party. We made camp but Sarah Grace smelled smoke and went to investigate. It didn’t take long to find the house.” He explained, leaving out any mention of the chest.

“I went into the house and found those three upstairs. I dropped them out the window to Aisuru and got them out that way. I dropped to the ground and, when I did, the whole house came down with me.” I said with a pained chuckle.

“I have to say, that was quite heroic of you. Though, perhaps you should be a tad more careful?” The doctor advised, making Aisuru chuckle. I shot the assassin a playful look before wincing when Darrow put a rag wet with alcohol on the gash. I cut off a scream, burying my face into my forearm, gnashing my teeth. Darrow, apologizing as he did, worked to completely disinfect the wound before retrieving a syringe from the table and sticking the needle close to where the cut was. “Anesthesia; it’s the safest way to stitch her up.” He explained to Aisuru after receiving a look of distrust.

“I was careful enough to get them out.” I gasped softly as Darrow injected the serum. He removed the needle, standing and excusing himself so that we could talk and the anesthesia could take effect.

“Our friends will strangle me for allowing you to get hurt.” Aisuru said, despite wanting to strangle himself for the very same reason.

I caught the anger in his voice and looked towards him. “I went in that house on my own volition, Aisuru. Therefore, it is my fault I got hurt. Nobody is going to be mad at you and you shouldn’t be mad at yourself.” I assured him.

“Aye, I know, I know: you make your own decisions. That does not, however, change the fact that you got hurt when I could’ve helped.” He explained and then looked away, speaking only after a long moment of silence. “I’ve always hurt those close to me…” He said quietly and finally looked up at me. “I don’t want any of my friends getting hurt, especially when I can do something to prevent it.”

I rolled my eyes. I understood his want to protect those close to him, but he couldn’t be there all the time. Despite the pain in my shoulder and the anesthesia that was creeping into my veins, I managed to sit up, hugging the blanket close to my chest. Moving like I’d just woken up, I walked over to him and looked up at him with flushed cheeks. “Do you trust me?” I asked simply.

Aisuru blinked at the question, tilting his head slightly in confusion. “I don’t trust anyone, Grace.” He said. I felt a little stab of hurt in my chest and struggled to keep the pain from passing through my eyes, where he could see it. “But I do trust you more than I do most other people.” He added. “Why do you ask?” He questioned.

I exhaled slowly, not knowing how he would react to what I was about to do. Hopefully, he didn’t freak out. Closing my eyes, I slowly lifted my hand up to his mask and stopped when I heard him twitch. Biting my tongue, I took hold of his mask and lifted it up to reveal the face that he hid so carefully. I stood on my tiptoes and leaned in to kiss his cheek very gently before putting his mask back, keeping my eyes closed as he adjusted it again. “I am not going to let you blame yourself, Aisuru. I was going into help that family, with or without your help. I help, and I got hurt in the process. That’s a scar I will happily bear. Please, don’t blame yourself for my choice.” I said softly, swaying slightly.

Aisuru was quiet for a minute before sighing. “Just…don’t get yourself killed. You alone can only do so much, so if you get hurt again, make sure you have someone check them before you keep on doing something.” He insisted.

I smiled and finally opened my eyes, the anesthesia making the blue-grey color of my eyes a bit duller. “I know how to keep myself safe, Aisuru.” I promised, smiling softly only to jump when the door suddenly swung open and Darrow stepped inside. I blushed softly and returned to the table, lying down on my stomach as Darrow began to stitch up the gash at my shoulder. I looked over at Aisuru drowsily. “By the way, you still smell like home.” I told him.

“And you still smell like soot.” He teased.

I smiled and winced, burying my face into the crook of my elbow as the good doctor sewed me up, tying off the last of the stitches and pushing himself up to his feet. “I’ll find you some clothes. I’m sure Sophia has something that will fit you.” He offered before leaving the room again.

Darrow had explained that the concoction he’d injected me with was a concoction of pain killers, anesthesia, and numbing agents and that I would be groggy and out of it for an hour or two. Ignoring the advisement that it would’ve been best for me to rest, I groaned and pushed up into a sitting position, my back facing Aisuru.

He approached, studying the doctor’s work. Aside from the black stitches, the gash had been closed but still looked red and angry, even bleeding a bit. He reached out and carefully ran his finger across it.

I grimaced beneath his touch, my shoulder jumping slightly and tensing before relaxing again. I was still mostly numb but could feel his fingertips running along the tender skin of my shoulder. I figured it looked like pretty bad sunburn, something that wasn’t totally uncommon on board. My skin, however, was disturbingly shiny and felt both hot and cold, something that I did not at all like. “How bad is it?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder at him.

“It looks better than it did before. I’m no doctor I say it’ll probably heal up in a few… weeks?” He said almost uncomfortably.

I sighed and turned my head away from him, not wanting to see the burns. Darrow returned, drying his hands with a towel. “Most of the burns on your back are second degree, while the ones on your arms and chest are only first. If you’d rather, your friend can wrap you up.” He offered. “You’ll want to keep wrapped up in some sterile gauze if you can. You will, however, both rest here until I am comfortable with you moving around enough to leave.” He said, looking at me directly.

“We appreciate your generosity, but we cannot stay for very long. Our friends will be very worried if we don’t show up on time.” Aisuru explained carefully.

“Then you will stay the night, eat breakfast, and leave before lunch tomorrow. I can give you some medicine for your friend to dull the pain for your travels but it will take until tomorrow before I have them.” He said.

I nodded. “We can discuss what to do while he bandaged me up.” I proposed, looking between the doctor and assassin. Aisuru nodded and Darrow left the room once again. Aisuru moved to grab some gauze bandages from the counter and came to my sound. Working soundlessly, he worked as gently as he could to bandage me up, taking his time to firmly wrap me up like a mummy.

When the assassin was nearly done, I spoke up. “We need to hurry up to the nymphs. If Aidan gets any stronger, we may not be able to handle the chest at all.” I said worriedly, glancing towards where the hidden chest lay.

“Aye, but it won’t do any good if we move out while you can only walk for a few minutes at a time. You have to rest. After you do, then we can go. Does that sound good?” He asked.

I muttered softly to myself as he tied off the bandages before standing and calling Darrow back into the room, taking the clothes he offered. “They’re a bit old, but they should fit well.” He explained before turning to Aisuru. “You’ve made your decision, I hope.”

“We’ll stay long enough to get her medicine, and will leave shortly thereafter.”

I quickly changed clothes and, when I wore a pair of well-fitted black slacks and a short sleeved white top, I looked to the doctor. “Where would you like us to stay until then?”

“We have some guest rooms. Mary and her children are in one if you two would like the other. If you’d rather, though, you can take separate rooms.” He offered.

“Whatever you’ve got will be fine.” Aisuru stated.

“We’ll be fine bunking together until morning.” I agreed, leaning heavily against the table.

“Good. In the morning, I’ll ask Sophia to fetch you for breakfast. Come, I’ll show you your room.” He smiled warmly and waited as Aisuru grabbed our bags and I grabbed my bow before leading us out into the hall. We moved slowly through the house, mostly because I was a limping, wobbling mess. We moved down a long corridor and ducked into an open door at the left. Finally, I was allowed to collapse onto the bed. “Sophia will get you in the morning. Good night, for now.” Darrow smiled before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

I grabbed my bag from Aisuru and fished out the chest, sitting it on my knees. “Aidan, are you there?” I asked. I felt silly, wanting to thank a disembodied voice for saving my life.

“He may need sleep. I imagine he used a great deal of energy to save you.” Aisuru said.

I frowned a bit before setting the chest down, kicking off my boots and laying down on the bed, yawning sleepily as I did. “Why would he have saved me? Wouldn’t he want to save his power to get out or save it for when we free him?”

“I think he saved you for one of two reasons. Either he likes you enough to save you, or he knows that you’re one of the keys to his escape.” He proposed.

I frowned and turned onto my stomach, hugging the pillow as sleep slowly overtook me. “Do you have any idea what he could be, given the powers he expressed?”

Aisuru shook his head. “The elementals said he was something more ancient than we are, so whatever he is, he’s probably one of the last of his kind. That or he’s something that not generally seen on earth.” He waited until I was asleep before he moved over to the box and knelt down beside it. “Aidan, are you awake in there?” He asked.

“Y-Yes…” Aidan replied so softly that we barely heard him.

“How’re you feeling? You certainly must’ve used a good deal of energy back there. Shouldn’t you try to sleep so that you can regain that energy?”

“I was sleeping… Then felt…the warmth again…calling…to me.” The spirit explained softly, his voice going in and out like a crappy radio. “Is she…safe?”

“Aye, thanks to you, Grace is safe. We brought her to a doctor and she’s sleeping soundly. She wanted to thank you herself, but you weren’t talking. She also wants to know why you saved her.” He added, curious himself. “Maybe you can tell her once she wakes up and you rest some more.”

“She is…full of…warmth…strengthens…me… I must…rest now.” Aidan explained quietly before falling silent.

Aisuru stared at the chest. “Warmth…?” He pondered aloud, wondering what he could mean by it. He sighed, shrugged his shoulders, and moved to leave the room and roam throughout the hopefully sleeping house.