Something Wild (Child of the Winter Moon Book 1)

38: An Unofficial Contract

They arrived at the hospital, a nurse directing them to where Priscilla was.

"Oh, Gods!" Jaskier exclaimed, rushing to her side.

She had a bandage over her right eye and burns around her mouth and a small cut on her throat. Her clothing was torn and Juray noticed that she was still wearing the clothes she'd left the Chameleon in, meaning she'd never made it home before she was attacked.

"Will she live?"

"I'd say that's certain," the doctor said, an older man that looked to be in his late fifties. "Her condition is critical but stable. Beg your pardon, but are you a relative?"

"Close enough," Juray said.

"I'm a friend," Jaskier said, not taking his eyes off her and brushing her hair away from her face. "A... very close friend."

Juray knew that tone and that look. She now understood why his flirting and charm seemed to have fizzled with other women. Jaskier was in love with Priscilla.

"Jaskier, correct?"

Jaskier nodded, despite being addressed by the name only close friends called him.

"She uttered your name in her few moments of lucidity. I am Joachim von Gratz. Head of surgery. Until recently, lecturer at Oxenfurt Academy."

"Enough with the pleasantries," Geralt said, causing Jaskier to look up. "What are her injuries? Besides the eye?"

Joachim turned away, Juray noticing scars on the back of his neck that disappeared into his shirt. "A concussion, cranial swelling, incision into her larynx, and scalding inside the throat and esophagus. Clearly, someone forced her to imbibe a caustic fluid."

"Clearly, someone wanted her to suffer," Juray said. "No doubt they wanted to punish her by taking away her voice."

"Indeed. And this isn't the first such attack."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I've seen such wounds, they're not the kind one would forget, wouldn't you agree? In fact, just this week a corpse turned up in the morgue with similar injuries." Joachim looked at the Witchers. "And no heart."

"No heart?" Jaskier asked. "You mean that could've happened to Priscilla? Is someone looking into this?"

"This is Novigrad. Only the innocent burn here."

"So someone must have interrupted the attack before they could kill Priscilla," Juray concluded.

"Geralt, Juray, I know I owe you a hundred times over, but I..."

"You don't even have to ask, Jaskier," Juray said. "We'll find the monster who did this."

"I suggest examining the previous victim's corpse," Joachim said. "It has yet to be autopsied. Doing so could very well provide clues."

"They're not just going to let us waltz into the morgue," Juray said. "We'll have to find another way in."

Joachim suddenly gave a chuckle. "You jump right into trying to figure how to do as I suggest, yet your friends seem astonished that I've suggested it. As a surgeon, I know the importance of preventive medicine. Rather than wait for this maniac to strike again, I'd prefer to excise him. Not unlike a tumor."

"This tumor isn't just gonna sit there and wait to be excised," Geralt countered. "Appreciate the help, but I doubt you know what you're getting yourself into."