Chatoyant College Book 9: Sundered

Chapter 31: Healing

"Of course," said Dawn quickly. She pushed the hospital gown aside so Professor Agnew could see her wound more easily. "But I don't know if the doctor is going to come back..."

"Do not worry about that," said Professor Lal, standing back to give them room. "Professor Rook will have dealt with him, and we will not see him again unless we need him."

"You guys didn't mess with his memory or something, did you?" Roe asked nervously.

"No," said Professor Lal as Professor Agnew bent close to look at Dawn's wound. "Why would you ask that?"

"Well..." Roe shrugged, probably not wanting to say what Dawn was thinking—that faeries didn't seem to have the same idea of morality as humans did, and might not think much of changing someone's memories. "I just don't know how else you could have gotten him to not come back to see a patient."

"Ah." Professor Lal shook her head. "He is merely very persuasive. The doctor will come to understand that a different doctor is caring for his patient—as, of course, she is," she added, gesturing at Professor Agnew, who was at that moment prodding Dawn's wound with one finger. Dawn let out a hiss of surprise and pain as a jolt of fire shot through her shoulder.

"I'm sorry!" said Professor Agnew, sounding alarmed. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay," said Dawn, breathing rather harder than she had been a moment ago. The pain had vanished as soon as Professor Agnew moved her hand away, but she still seemed to feel aftereffects. "I'm kind of glad I can still feel something. The whole arm is numb except when a faerie touches it, apparently. I guess Professor Lal told you what Professor Rook said about it?"

"Yes." Professor Agnew ran her hands lightly over Dawn's shoulder and arm, frowning. Dawn couldn't feel a thing, even though she could see the professor's hands touching her skin. "I'm going to have to wash this out. I'm afraid that will hurt even more."

"That's okay," said Dawn, gritting her teeth. She wished Rico were here, but held her hand out to Roe while Professor Agnew wet a cloth. "I need something to squeeze," she explained, raising her eyebrows at Roe.

Roe grinned and took Dawn's hand in both of hers. "That's fine. I have strong hands."

She was glad of it when Professor Agnew started pressing the wet cloth to the gash in her shoulder. Her hand practically spasmed in Roe's, moving without her conscious volition. "It's like ice," she gasped. "How cold is that water?"

"Not that cold," said the professor, dabbing at the corners of the wound. "But I'm not surprised it feels so cold to you. With this kind of wound, everything is going to be extreme."

"You've seen injuries like this before?" Dawn asked.

"Actually," said Professor Agnew, standing up, "no." She tossed the cloth toward an infectious waste bin, where it nearly missed the edge before lifting itself up again and moving to the right to fall into the bin correctly. "But I can tell certain things about it, and it's obviously a magical wound, which always makes things stronger."

"Can we learn to do magic like that?" Roe asked. "Looking at people's wounds and stuff?"

"Yes, but it takes a lot of practice," said Professor Agnew. "If you take my healing magic courses, you will get the basics, and you will probably be able to see what I can see now—though I do hope no similar wounds occur in the future."

"Cool," said Roe. Dawn agreed, but she couldn't say it out loud—she was too busy gritting her teeth as what felt like a hot glue gun sealed her wound together. It moved slowly from the top end, near her collarbone, to the bottom, closer to her armpit. Finally, there was a spark that felt like carbonated fire all along the wound, and all the pain vanished. Dawn took in air in a huge gasp, then started taking deep breaths.

"That's right," said Professor Agnew, patting her other shoulder. "Just breathe through it. The wound should be healed with no scarring now, and the damage to your Sight won't spread, but I don't know about fixing the damage that's already been done to your arm."

"Can I use my arm?" Dawn asked once her breathing had calmed down.

"I believe so," said Professor Agnew. "Just a moment." She rubbed Dawn's injured shoulder lightly, then stroked all the way down to her wrist. Dawn closed her eyes with relief, then opened them to see the professor smiling. "I take it you could feel that."

"Yeah." Dawn carefully flexed her hand on the edge of the table she was sitting on. "I can feel the table, too."

"One moment," said Professor Lal, and stepped forward. Dawn saw her lift her hand and stroke her long claws down Dawn's arm, but she didn't feel anything.

She looked up and shook her head. "I guess my Sight still isn't working."

Professor Lal sighed. "I feared as much. Well, we will have to wait for Corrie to wake, and learn if she can tell us anything. And perhaps we will have to talk to Paul."