Lethal Game (GhostWalkers 16)

She didn’t reply but let go of her outside vision. Each time she did so, she was amazed at how much faster and more efficiently she managed to get to the place she needed to be. Her “inward” vision cleared much faster as well. She had to experiment a little to find the best place to position her hands. She chose one of the shortest cracks in order to test the amount of pain she would feel before she could take a good breath.

The crack was jagged, and it ran just to the side of his knee in a zigzag pattern. Glowing a deep red, she saw it was deeper in spots than others.

“I didn’t realize the depths of the cracks would be different.”

“Yes, I should have warned you. You’ll have to stick with it until it’s completely closed up,” the healer explained. “Obviously, the deeper the crack, the more intense it is to heal it. You have very good energy, so you have the power to do it, but expect even varying amounts of discomfort with each of those fractures.”

There were so many cracks running up Malichai’s leg it was a little intimidating. She didn’t waste time, but she did think fleetingly that she should have texted Marie to tell her she couldn’t make breakfast. She doubted she’d be finished in time, or if she was, she wouldn’t be in any shape to do it. If she got close to the time, she’d have to have Malichai text.

Her hands grew hot and then the fracture lit up bright, hot crimson. She felt her cells reaching for his. It was intimate, their bodies merging on a molecular level. Instantly she felt a jolt of bright hot pain and forced herself to relax into it. He’d been living with far worse, doing dishes, walking with her on the beach, running errands for the bed-and-breakfast. Love welled up and nearly overwhelmed her. Malichai. He was such a gift.

It took time, and she was meticulous, filling in the fissures until the bone looked completely sealed and she could move upward. Sometimes it was difficult, other times easy, but always, always, it was painful. The longer ones, reaching up the side of his thigh, seemed to be the worst, branching out in every direction, trying to wrap around the bone to places hard to get, but she was meticulous. She had learned patience in a hard school, so she was very steady, ignoring the pain once it settled into her body.

Light crept through the window, spotlighting the man lying on the bed by the time she was certain she had gotten to every fracture. She made one last sweep, just because she wasn’t going to take any chances that the fractures and infection could begin all over again before the psychic surgeon got there.

Taking a long, deep breath, she pulled herself back from the merge with him. The moment she did, she landed on the floor, her legs nothing but ragged noodles.

“Amaryllis?” The healer called out her name anxiously.

“I’m okay, but I don’t think I’m going to fix breakfast for everyone this morning,” she said and curled up on the floor.

“We’ve landed,” Ezekiel announced. “We’ll be there in a half hour.”

“Good.” She wanted someone to take over. If she had a blanket, she’d just pull it over her and go to sleep right where she was.

“Baby, climb onto the bed. At least lie here with me. If you don’t get up here, I’m going to pick you up and put you up here,” Malichai threatened.

“Text Marie and tell her I can’t do breakfast this morning.” She was too tired even to give in to his threats. “Thanks, Joe, someday I hope to meet you and thank you in person. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“Yes, you could have, but hopefully I helped to give you confidence. Malichai, you need to rest. Don’t do anything until someone else works on you. We don’t know why that bone isn’t standing up but we can’t take any chances with it,” Joe said. “Rubin’s worked on you once. I did several times and now Amaryllis. It should be enough, but I have this gut feeling. Stay put until Rubin assesses that bone and determines what the problem is. And that, my good friend, is an order.”

“Will do,” Malichai promised.

Malichai’s voice was definitely stronger, while she was feeling as if she couldn’t move. She didn’t want to move and never wanted to move again. But she was also feeling more satisfied than she’d ever felt. She’d done it. She’d driven out the infection that was threatening his life and maybe she’d even mended the bone enough to keep the leg stable until the reputed psychic surgeon could get there.

“Baby, come up here with me. The others will be here soon. I don’t want them to find you on the floor. If you don’t, I swear, I’m coming to get you.”