Page 17

Nadia

“We can airlift them if it’s medically necessary,” Cole says, glancing over at the two women still being attended to by Grace.

“But that would make our location obvious to the Children of Solace, which is not preferred. If they’ll survive the wait, I can get a medical transport here… probably by dawn.”

“I’d shoot for that,” the doctor says, straightening up and folding her hands behind her back. “They’ll be fine, and there may be others on their way.” She turns her eyes to me. “We may be facing a busy night with no sleep, nurse. Are you prepared for that?”

My mouth spreads into a smile. “Yes,” I say, nodding once, knowing that our preparation all afternoon is paying off. “Yes, yes we are.”

“Good,” Cole says, sharp and definitive, starting to turn away. “Consider it done.”

I grin, watching him go as the doctor pulls a prescription pad from her pocket, starting to write something out. I turn to her as she presses the script into my hand. “For her pain,” she murmurs, tilting her head towards Jade.

I glance at the computer but the doctor makes an annoyed little noise in the back of her throat. I look back at her.

“It’s already been entered,” she says, smirking a little. I grin, thinking I should have already guessed that. “You’re doing well, Nadia. Keep up the good work and remember that you’re replaceable. Still, I like to have a good nurse on my side, especially with all these big bully Alphas around.”

She gives me a wink and pats me on the shoulder briefly before she strides for the entrance, cool and efficient.

I smile as I watch her, deciding that I already like this doctor very much.

I’m still grinning as I hurry off to Arnav in our tiny pharmacy area, which is really just a bunch of locked boxes full of medicine.

As the doctor says, it’s going to be a long night, and I’ve got patients in pain who need my attention.

I carefully consider my next move as I collect the pain medication from Arnav, slowly walking over to Grace, Jade, and her sister. I have a feeling that this is about to get…tricky.

“Grace,” I say calmly as I offer the little paper cup with the pills to Jade and indicate the bottle of water next to her. “Would you mind asking Jeanie to come in here for a minute?”

“What?” Grace frowns at me, confused. “I still have –“

“Jeanie,” I say, interrupting her and giving her a significant look.

Grace’s eyebrows go up but she doesn’t hesitate again, trusting me. She gives Jade and her sister a wink before putting the bandages down and heading for the door.

“What’s that?” Jade’s sister asks, peering into the tiny cup.

“Pain medication,” I say quietly. “For the wrist.”

She looks up at me, baffled.

I realize quite suddenly that she’s maybe never seen medicine in pill form before. I do my best to hide my pity and just nod towards it. “If you swallow it,” I say. “Your wrist won’t hurt so much.”

Jade looks up at me, eyes narrowed. “Sorcery? We don’t take with sorcerers. We are good, clean women -” Her words are ended by another hacking cough.

My mouth spreads into a slow smile, and I shake my head. “No, not sorcery,” I say. “Just modern medicine. I promise it won’t hurt you, and you don’t have to take it if you don’t want to. But your wrist will be glad of it if you do. Are there questions I can answer that will help you understand?”

Jade and her sister – whose name is Ivy, I soon discover – ask lots of questions and I do my best to answer them.

By the time they decide that the best solution is for Arnav to produce another pill identical to the first for me to take alongside Jade to ensure that the medicine isn’t harmful, Jeanie and Grace return.

“Is this standard procedure in your medical practice?” Jeanie asks, smirking at me as I pop the second pill into my mouth and chase it with a long swig of water.

“Nope,” I say, grinning at her and then turning to Jade, lifting my chin at the pill in her hand. “If I have to do this with everyone, though, I’m in for a fun night.”

Jade narrows her eyes at me but her sister nudges her and she sighs, taking the pill, struggling to swallow it but getting it down. She coughs for a while afterward and her sister rubs her back until she catches her breath and again raises her head.

“Nice,” Jeanie says, holding her hand up to Jade for a high-five.

Jade just looks at Jeanie’s hand, confused and a little freaked out. Jeanie laughs a little and drops her arm.

“So,” I say, half turning to Jeanie to include her in the conversation as Grace gets to work on Ivy’s final scrapes. “I asked Jeanie to come in because she’s one of our counselors and I thought she might be able to help you better understand some of your options.”

“Options?” Ivy asks, looking warily between us.

“You can do whatever you want,” I say, wanting it to be very clear to these women that they’re not trapped. “But the doctor has ordered a transport for you in the morning. We’ll make you comfortable tonight, but we’d like to send you down to a hospital a little north of here to –“

“What?” Ivy asks, her eyes widening, the word falling from her mouth on a huff of breath. She snaps her gaze between us, horrified. “N-no! We can’t go north! They’ll – they’ll enslave us! They’ll make us work for them! They’ll keep us in a room and send men to us –“

Grace stands straight, staring at the sisters, shocked.

I exhale slowly, trying to stay calm for their sake. I was worried this would be their reaction. I’ve heard rumors about the Children of Solace before and it’s not positive, regarding how they treat women. “I promise you,” I say, shaking my head. “ None of that is going to happen –“

“We know , all right?” Jade snaps. “We know what happens up north – all the violence, and the people in chains, and the horrible King and Queen making everyone work for them, just sitting back and eating all day and counting their jewels –“

I fight hard against the humor that wells up in me at that because these women clearly have no idea that they met that King’s son and heir a few minutes ago. But I pat that all down, aware that their fear is very real and it’s my job to help them.

“Where on earth did you get the idea that –“ Grace says, looking between the women, clearly shocked.

“Yeah, that’s not really what happens in the cities up north,” Jeanie says, interrupting Grace and taking control, completely calm and casual. She sighs, slipping her hands into her pockets. “I used to think that sort of thing too before I arrived. I was a refugee, as a little kid. From Navira.”

I turn my head to Jeanie with surprise because…god, I had no idea.

Everyone else quiets too, giving her their attention.

“Navira is a good and moral place,” Ivy whispers, nodding, clearly trusting Jeanie more than me now.

“I mean, it’s all right,” Jeanie says, dry and noncommittal.

She nods her head towards me. “But if Nadia says that you need treatment in a hospital, then you probably do. Why don’t you two come sit around the fire with me, and we’ll talk it through?

I’ll answer your questions, and you can make a decision.

Either way, we’ll give you plenty to eat, and if you decide that you’d rather just keep going through the desert on your own path, then we’ll give you some supplies and wish you luck. ”

Ivy and Jade look at each other, both clearly worried. Then Ivy turns back to Jeanie and gives her a small nod.

“You done here?” Jeanie asks, turning to Grace.

“Yup,” Grace says, grabbing a small sling from beneath her pile of bandages and holding it out to Jade, whose breath wheezes as she reaches for it. “Just wear this to keep that wrist still until the doctors can set it for you, and you’ll be good to go.”

The women stand, gathering the rest of their dinners and the sling, starting to follow Jeanie towards the door. I fold my arms and watch them, curious, hoping Jeanie can convince them. Because with that cough…damn, but Jade needs help. Things could go downhill for her very quickly.

To my surprise, Jade turns after a few steps. I stand straight and meet her gaze. “I’m grateful,” she says, lifting her chin, the pride in her voice making me smile. “If you’re not a sorcerer, that is. Then I’m grateful.”

“I’ll take it,” I say, smirking at her. Then I wave as she turns and follows Jeanie and her sister out of the tent.

“Not a very high opinion of our royal family,” Grace says, cleaning up the rest of her supplies and smirking at me.

“I know,” I say, laughing and turning to strip the bed of its soiled sheet. Damn, but we’re going to go through a lot of laundry here. “I can get on board with that particular objection.”

“What?” a voice asks, making Grace and I both jump and turn.

My eyes are rolling already when I see Cole standing three feet away, his gun slung ever-so-casually across his shoulder.

How is he that gigantic and still that damn quiet?

“I mean, they had the eating kind of right, but do you seriously think mom and dad sit around counting jewels all day?” He grins between us.

“Iris maybe wishes, but…that’s not their reality. ”

“I don’t know how it is that your family spends their time,” I say, tossing my hair back over my shoulder. “But I tend to be on board with any critique of monarchy, full stop.”

Cole laughs a little, shaking his head at me. I raise an eyebrow at him, inviting him to counter me on it.