Page 36 of Under the Dragon's Spell

I nodded and sat down, glad that my legs didn't have to support me anymore.

It'll be over in ten minutes and you'll be fine.

"Have you been feeling sick lately at all?"

Before or after coming in here?

"I've been fine," I said. "Can't even remember when I last had a cold." I wanted to keep talking so that I didn't have room in my head for other things.

"That's good." The doctor put a cuff around my arm and I closed my eyes as he started to measure my blood pressure.

"A bit high," he said after a while.

"I'm nervous," I admitted. Better to confess to that than to make him think there was a permanent problem.

"Something I did?"

"No. Doctors just make me nervous."

"I see." He took the cuff off me and asked me to lie down on an examination table, where he proceeded to do more tests while I tried to block the whole thing out and keep breathing somehow. The worst part was when he felt around the lower half of my stomach. He took way too long to do that.

There's something wrong. Oh God, there's something wrong.

But then he moved on and I exhaled.

"Alright, now all I need from you is a bit of blood. Are you scared of needles?"

"No." Not of needles.

"Okay. This won't hurt."

Wasn't that always what they said? But I didn't mind the small pinch. At least after that, I was free. He was going to have the blood tested and tell me the results in a little bit. Until then, I could go back to the others and send Michael in. I barely processed all that information on my way out.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Zane greeted me when I sat back down again.

"The results aren't in yet." But I could breathe a little easier for a few minutes.

"You really do worry too much," Zane told me.

I shrugged, knowing he was right. Probably.

The doctor had said that it wouldn't take long to get our results back—I suspected the Dragonfang family's money had something to do with the quick turnaround—but it still took about an hour before I was called back in to have a little chat with Dr. Kelve.

He looked serious, and I felt my heart beat faster as I took a seat, anxiety taking full control of my thoughts again.

Oh God, there really is something wrong.

Breathe.

The doctor said something in greeting that I didn't hear, too focused on myself.

"Mr. Lark? Are you not feeling well?"

"No. I'm… fine."At least physically.

"Alright. I'm afraid we do have some things to discuss."

I only stared at him in response; I couldn't even speak.