Page 39 of Healed By the Grumpy Elf

"That's it," I coax gently. "Quiet butterfly. Soft wings."

Lorian moves closer, positioning himself beneath her, ready to catch her if she suddenly drops.

As Millie floats lower, I notice something unusual about some of the balloons surrounding her. While most are standard latex in bright primary colors, a few have an unusual shimmer to them, as if filled with something other than just helium.

Glitter?

"Look, Nurse Maeve!" Millie points excitedly as she reaches a height where Lorian can almost touch her. "Aunt Evelyn brought me special fairy balloons! They're filled with pixie dust!"

Before I can process what "pixie dust" might mean, Millie reaches up and grabs one of the shimmering balloons, pulling it downward. The sudden movement causes her to bob in the air, and the balloon catches on the delicate tip of her wing.

There's a moment of perfect stillness where we all seem to realize what's about to happen. Then the balloon pops with a loud bang directly above Lorian's head.

Time suspends to a crawl as a cloud of fine pink and gold glitter rains down, covering Lorian's perfect blond hair, settling on his broad shoulders, catching on his eyelashes, and completely dusting his pristine white coat. He freezes in place, eyes closed, transformed into a shimmering pink statue amid the sea of balloons.

Absolute silence follows. Millie's eyes grow wide with horror and anticipation. Rylan looks like he might pass out from anxiety. And me? I'm biting my lip so hard I taste blood, trying desperately not to laugh at the sight of the immaculate elf doctor covered head to toe in sparkling pink glitter.

A small noise escapes me, a snort of suppressed laughter, and Lorian's eyes snap open. His beautiful, piercing blue eyes are fixed on me through the pink glitter, his expression stony. I brace myself for him to scold me about my lack of professionalism.

But something entirely unexpected happens instead.

Lorian's lips twitch. Then they curl upward at the corners. A strange sound emerges from his throat, hoarse and throaty and utterly wonderful. I take a moment to recognize it as laughter.

The sound starts as a low rumble, then transforms into something genuine and surprisingly warm. It changes his entire face, softeningthe sharp angles. There’s a flash where I can picture him as a young man, carefree and happy.

And it breaks my heart just a little. But not too much. Because the situation is hilarious.

I'm momentarily stunned by the sight of him laughing and by how it transforms him. This isn't the polite chuckle he might offer in professional settings. This is real laughter, the kind that comes from deep inside, that can't be planned or controlled.

Millie's giggles join his, and suddenly I'm laughing too, partly from the absurdity of the situation, but mostly from the sheer delight of seeing Lorian Reizenhart, of all people, covered in pink glitter and laughing his heart out.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Elf," Millie gasps between giggles as she pulls down on the string of a balloon attached to her bedpost. She goes down and down until she lands in Lorian's glitter-covered arms. "Aunt Evelyn said the fairy balloons would bring me good luck!"

"Did she now?" Lorian asks, still chuckling as he sets Millie down on her bed. Pink glitter falls from his hair with every movement, creating a shimmering cloud around him. "I suspect your Aunt Evelyn has a mischievous streak."

"Millie, why don't you hold on to the bedpost while Dr. Elf and I prepare your medicine?"

Lorian turns to Rylan Primrose, who still stands in the doorway, his face a mask of pure shock.

"I need to give Millie a mild sedative to suppress the laughter since the herbal ice pops aren't working as well anymore," he tells the anxious father. “It’ll make her a bit drowsy, but she will be able to eat, drink, and sleep through the night without floating or giggling.”

Lorian examines the child, listening to her heart and lungs, checking her temperature, and testing her reflexes. Throughout the examination, I keep stealing glances at him, seeing him in a new light after witnessing his genuine laughter. It did weird things to me, hearing that laugh.

Glitter falls from his hair and coat with every movement, but he seems to have accepted his sparkling fate with surprising grace. There's a relaxed set to his shoulders that I haven't seen before, as if the balloon incident broke through some invisible barrier.

"Her symptoms are persisting longer than expected, but I'm seeing signs of improvement," Lorian says quietly to Rylan while I help Millie take the sedative drops. "The glowing freckles are less intense than they were three days ago, and her hair is returning to its normal color behind her ears and at her nape."

"So she'll be okay?" Rylan asks, the worry evident in his voice.

"She'll be fine," Lorian assures him. "Some cases simply take longer to resolve than others. Continue with the ice pops Nurse Callahan has provided, and make sure she stays hydrated. Tomorrow morning, give her another five drops to help her through the day. The floating should stop soon, then the giggling and the hair color change. The last symptoms to clear will be the freckles."

After finishing our examination and providing updated care instructions, we leave. As we stand on the front porch again, the full moon is high, and the sky is cloudless.

I turn to Lorian, who sparkles like some strange, stern fairy-tale creature. He attempts to brush some of the glitter from his clothes, but only succeeds in spreading it further and embedding it deeper in the fabric. A muttered curse escapes his lips as he finally gives up.

"You know that's never coming off, right?" I say, allowing myself to enjoy this moment of seeing the always-perfect doctor slightly disheveled and despondent. "You'll be finding glitter in unexpected places for months."

Lorian sighs, looking down at his glittering hands with resignation. "I suspected as much."