Hesitantly, I placed my hand on his back. “I’ll tell you anything you want.”
To my surprise, he leaned back into my touch a tad. Not much, but enough for me to notice that he appreciated the gesture. “Be ready for an interrogation.”
I sent him a half-smile. “I think I can handle that.”
He bumped my chest with his shoulder. “We’ll see about that.”
Sighing a few minutes later, I asked, “Do you need anything? I can get you some food or coffee or anything you need.”
He leaned a little more heavily into me, murmuring, “No. Stay here.” The silent gesture made me smile. He wanted me to stay with him. Even though I knew he’d grumble, I leaned over and kissed the side of his head because I couldn’t help myself. Hiro grabbed my shirt and yanked me closer so I was on the edge of my seat, then he rested his head on my shoulder and whispered, “I’m so tired.” The defeat in his voice broke my heart.
He didn’t mean that he was physically exhausted, although he was that, too. He meant that he was worn out emotionally and mentally from all the years of dealing with hospitals and scares with his daughter alone. He’d been all alone since the day Rasha was born, but he wasn’t alone anymore. Never again.
But I didn’t say any of that out loud since I didn’t want him to push me away again. I wrapped an arm around him and hauled him into me as best I could. It was awkward in the chairs we were in, but I didn’t really mind because he was hurting and it felt right to have him in my arms. The fact that he was letting me hold him like this showed me just how hurt he was.
I stared at his little girl and felt tears fill my eyes. It was no wonder why he had a vendetta against witches. I can’t even imagine how horrible that had been, watching someone you love die in such a horrific way while you were trying to save your newborn baby. Mother of All, my poor viramore. My poor viramore’s little girl.
Rasha was so, so tiny, I could hardly believe she was eight years old. Everything about her was tiny, and being hooked up to all those machines only made her seem frailer than before. That poor baby. I was going to figure out how to heal her.
“Basil?”
I turned to the door where my brother-slash-dad was standing, and I sent him a small smile. “Hey, A.”
Ailin’s eyes swept the room. “Can I come in? Seb’s with me, but he can wait in the hall if you need him to.”
Hiro sat up straight, stared at me for a beat, then nodded to himself and said, “You both can come in.”
Ailin sent him a small smile and stepped inside. Seb was only a few steps behind him, and Hiro gasped out, “What are you?”
Seb froze and blinked at him. “What?”
“You’re not a witch, but you’re some kind of magic user I’ve never come across before… what are you?”
Seb scowled, Ailin’s brows rose, and I turned to my viramore, saying, “He’s an enchanter.”
“The last enchanter,” Hiro whispered.
I nodded. “Yeah. Seb is Ailin’s viramore, so he’s like… a step-dad or something, I guess. Anyway, Seb, this is my viramore Hiro and his daughter Rasha. Hiro, Seb.”
Hiro kept staring at Seb, but Seb said, “It’s nice to meet you, Hiro, but I wish it was under better circumstances.”
Hiro nodded at him and finally peeled his eyes away.
Ailin walked to the other side of the bed, asking, “What happened to Rasha?”
Hiro’s jaw ticked, so I answered for him before he could get into an argument with Ailin because they’d probably explode half the hospital if they got into it. “When her mother was seven months pregnant with her, she was hexed several times by witches.” Ailin’s eyebrows rose. “The hexes killed her mother. Hiro was able to save Rasha, but she was born early, and the hexes somehow clung to her even though they weren’t directed at her specifically.”
Ailin’s expression was one of shock, but he nodded and asked, “May I touch her forehead?”
Hiro’s jaw ticked again, so I nudged him and said, “I promise you that he would never hurt her. He wants to help. Don’t think for one second that I would ever allow someone to harm her.”
He closed his eyes, took a breath, opened them, and said, “Fine. But I’m warnin’ ya, witch, if you—”
“I want to help,” Ailin said, cutting him off.
My brother placed his hand on Rasha’s forehead and closed his eyes before Hiro could offer more threats. A moment later, his green magic began softly floating over Rasha’s body. Hiro jerked beside me, so I whispered, “It’s healing magic, Hiro. Take a breath and feel the energy… it isn’t harmful.”
He did as I asked, and the moment he actually paid attention to the feel of Ailin’s power, he breathed out in relief.
Another minute passed, and Rasha suddenly took a deep breath, her eyes fluttering open.
Hiro jumped up and leaned over her, rubbing her hair on the uninjured side, and whispering, “It’s okay, peanut. I’m right here. Don’t be scared. You have a breathing tube in. You’re okay, peanut, you’re okay.”
Rasha kept her eyes on her father, and even though she looked scared, she didn’t seem to be panicking. All I could think was that they’d been through this so many times before that she knew what to expect. That poor little girl.
Ailin pulled his magic back into himself as I hit the call button for the nurse, and he said, “I healed what I could, but I couldn’t remove the hex… it’s… I don’t know how to explain it, but we’re going to have to do some research to figure out how to remove it. It’s like it’s there, but it isn’t. I’m guessing that’s because she wasn’t the target of the hex. She shouldn’t be in too much pain, though. I tried to fix that, at least.”
A nurse came in, saw that Rasha was awake and breathing on her own, and ran back out to get a doctor. Hiro stayed over the top of his daughter, holding her hand and running his other one over her hair as he whispered calming words. I didn’t want to interrupt, but I also wanted Hiro to know that he wasn’t alone, so I stood behind him and rubbed his back. The motion seemed to relax him a little, so I kept it up.
When the doctor came in to remove the tube, I had to pull Hiro back to give him room. I couldn’t watch them because it freaked me out, but as soon as the doctor gave the all-clear, Hiro rushed over and hugged Rasha, putting his face in the pillow beside her head. He whispered to her, and her little arms came up to hug his neck.
Ailin and Seb walked over to me. Seb gave me a hug, and Ailin hugged me and kissed my temple, whispering, “We’ll figure this out. I’m going to get Jorah to help me research as soon as we get home.”
“Thank you.”
Ailin leaned back to meet my eyes. “If you need to bring them home, tell me so they can be added to the wards.”
My eyebrows rose. “Really?”
“Of course. He’s your viramore, and we need to keep him and that little girl of his safe. I bet she and Niya would have a ball playing together.” I’d had the same thought, that my little sister would love making a new friend.
I smiled at that and nodded. “I’ll try to get them to come home with me, but it’s probably going to take some convincing.”