Chapter 17
Piper stared at Nora as the nurses adjusted few of the last tubes for the IV and heart monitor. The girl's aunt sat beside her holding her hand as tears ran down her face. The woman muttered prayers under her breath nonstop ever since they had bought Nora out of surgery.
"Dr. Radacovick?"
Piper looked up as the man standing by the door called to her. She gave him a nod and walked over to Lidia.
"Hi," Piper said, slowly lowering herself to look at the woman's face. "I'm going to step out for a few minutes. But if you need anything, just call the nurses, okay?"
Lidia nodded, "Thank you."
"We're not going to let anything happen to her," Piper assured the woman before she straightened up and headed for the door.
"Let's talk in my office," she said, pointing to the room across the hall.
Dr. Banks, the man who had called to her, nodded and followed her. He held Nora's file and anxiously wiped his brows as he took off the hair cap he was wearing and took a seat.
"What the hell was that?" he asked as soon as Piper closed the door. "Did he drop her out of the sky?"
"Hayden is a hybrid," Piper sighed. She sank into her chair and rubbed her forehead. "Whatever happened between them....Nora was in the direct line of fire. She absorbed his energy like a damn sponge."
"With the amount of blood she lost...." Banks checked his charts again. "We could be looking at brain damage or organ failure. It's a miracle this girl didn't drop dead instantly."
"We're starting her on healing clay soon," Piper sighed. "That should help with something."
"We have to be careful," Banks looked at Piper with a frown. "Her body is already weak. Even an extra drop of healing clay and she's gone."
"I'll be monitoring it," Piper assured the man. "Don't worry."
"Okay," Banks nodded. "I'll take this shift. If anything changes with her condition, I'll page you."
"Thanks," Piper smiled.
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Across the world, in the silent woods of Main, Heyder sat beside his son's bed. The jinn channeled as much of his energy as he could into Hayden's body to make sure he healed completely.
The field outside their house was still burned. Maya stood outside on the desk summoning rain clouds to put out the raging flames that had burned through the wild daisies and grass. Birdie stood beside her, moving the clouds to wherever they were needed the most.
"Mom," the girl looked at her mother as thunder cracked overhead. "Is Hayden...."
"It's okay, baby," Maya touched the edge of Birdie's face and kissed her cheek. "He's going to be fine."
"Why is he not waking up?"
Maya took in a deep breath and said a silent prayer the girl was speaking to her and not her father. Heyder wouldn't have been able to lie to her and Birdie didn't need the stress on her mind. With a small smile, Maya tucked in a strand of Birdie's silver hair behind her pointy ears and ran her thumb over the girl's pale cheeks.
"He's just tired, baby," she said. "He exerted a lot of energy this time. He's going to need some time to recover."
"What happened?" Birdie asked. "What caused this?"
Maya flinched as she heard her son's voice in her head.
Mom....I can't live without her....
