“They’ve gone to Montana, Graely. It was his only hope.” Raelene’s usual calm demeanor broke as tears flowed freely down her face.
“I see Charles is still here. Surely they haven’t left yet.”
“Alora couldn’t transport everyone at once, so the adults remained behind.”
“I had no opportunity to speak to him, and now I may never see him again. He may even now be dead.”
Her sad eyes rounded at his words, and she laid her hand on his arm. “Lower your voice Graely. It will not do for the people of Stone Clan to see their leader in panic and despair. You must keep up a strong front.”
“I’m tired of pretending. And I will not… No, I cannot act is if I’m unconcerned about the life of my son.” His muscles trembled with rage as he struggled to keep his temper in check.
He stiffened at Raelene’s sudden embrace. Then his composure broke, and he clung to her as if she were his only connection to his son. “I can’t lose him. I can’t. He’s all I have left.”
Graely felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to face Jireo, his young face bearing the evidence of both physical and emotional drain. “He’s not dead, Graely. I’m not certain how I know, but I speak truth.”
Graely pulled away, covering his hands with his face. “You can’t know Kaevin’s still alive in the other realm—there’s too much separation.” But even as he spoke the words, he rec
ognized their falsehood. He could sense his son’s spirit, as he had when Alora had taken him to Montana three moons ago. He was alive, at least for the moment.
Across the room, he spied Charles on a bench against the wall, and their eyes locked. He recognized a common fear in the harried look of Alora’s uncle.
The breath he’d been holding whistled through his lips. He closed his eyes tight against the threatening tears and drew on his sense of duty to hold his emotions in check. When his eyes opened, he’d regained his outward control.
“I’m sorry for my outburst, Raelene. And Jireo, you’re correct. I can sense his lifeblood. It’s faint, but certain.” He turned to study the young man who was gingerly adjusting the binding on his arm. “But how can you know this? You don’t share blood with Kaevin.”
He shrugged. “Nordamen hasn’t discerned the explanation for it, but we seem to be more connected now. Perhaps because his gifts are strengthened by the soulmate bond. Or it might be because I have the gift of farsight now.”
“If… no, when Kaevin returns, we should explore this bond.”
Charles approached him. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down before he choked out his words. “What can we do to help? I can’t stand sitting around here, just waiting. I need something to do.”
“If you’re finished chatting, there’s plenty of work to be done here.” Graely jumped at Laethan’s scathing voice behind his shoulder. He turned to find Laethan working feverishly on a nearby patient. “Someone can start washing out all those bloody rags piled in the corner. Someone can take over Beth’s job and sort the patients as they enter the healing house. Non-life threatening injuries go to the far left; my assistants can handle most of those. And if you’re not afraid of a little blood, I could use a hand right here.”
“I can handle blood.” Graely moved to Laethan’s side as Raelene, Charles and Jireo scurried around to carry out his commands.
*****
Alora struggled to force her eyes open, but something had glued them shut. Where am I? She heard a voice… a girl… Beth.
“It’s like back in December, Dr. Sanders. You have to keep them together if you want them to recover. They don’t have to be in the same bed; you can just keep their hands together like this.”
What happened? The details floated in Alora’s mind, just beyond her reach.
“We have Kaevin stabilized. He was in anaphylactic shock, and he probably wouldn’t be alive if you’d gotten him here five minutes later. But we don’t even know what’s wrong with Alora. Her breathing, heart rate and blood pressure are normal, and there are no signs of injury.”
The horrific events tumbled into Alora’s mind. She remembered Kaevin lying on the ground with a red and swollen face, struggling to breathe.
“Kaevin?” Alora croaked.
“Alora? She’s waking up. See? I told you.” Beth’s excited voice moved closer.
“Where’s Kaevin?” Alora managed to wedge her eyes open to peer through tiny slits. Beth was smiling, relief evident on her face.
“He’s right beside you. You’re holding his hand.”
There. I feel his hand. She tightened her grip, blinking to clear the sand from her eyes. Dr. Sanders came into focus. “Is Kaevin okay?”
“Kaevin is in serious but stable condition. But we nearly lost him. His blood pressure dropped, and his airway was almost completely closed off. We had to make a surgical opening to ventilate him. How long ago did this happen? And what caused it? Was it a seafood allergy? Or peanuts maybe?”