The Prophecy (The Goddess Game Book 1)

Chapter 14

In spite of her racing heart, Amelia headed to Room 3 at a measured pace. She had refused to give Mrs. Dunhurst the satisfaction of seeing her race out of the room, especially not after the wink she had given her. Still, Amelia couldn't help but wonder who the patient was. The fact that they waited in Room 3 was too much of a coincidence, it reminded her of that day not too long ago when Osric had come back into her life. In some ways, Room 3 had represented something lifechanging. It felt like any patient she saw in that room would forever have an impact on her life.

Finally, she made it to the room, grabbed the chart, gave a small knock, and opened the door. "Oh!" she blurted...very unprofessionally. She should really examine these charts before she just walked into a room. Part of her had hoped that it would be Osric sitting in this room. Not that she wanted him to be sick or injured, she just—she wanted to see him. But instead of brown hair, she saw black; instead of green eyes, blue eyes stared back at her; instead of Osric, Jeremy was standing there.

Once her initial disappointment faded, Amelia lit up! she hadn't seen Jeremy since she told him about her deal with Osric. It wasn't until this moment that she realized just how much she had missed him.

Rushing to him, she threw her arms around his shoulders, "Jeremy!" she shouted and squeezed him slightly. There was no need to hide her excitement from Jeremy; he was her best friend.

He chucked softly and returned the enthusiastic hug. "Hey Mil, long time no see." He lingered in the hug longer than he normally would have, placing his hand on her head and holding it gently on his shoulder. "Too long," he sighed, breathing in deeply.

The hug was changing, turning from friends who missed each other to...something else—something more intimate. Amelia didn't know how she felt about it, so she pulled out of the embrace and distracted herself by looking him over. "What brings you in? I hope you're not injured."

"Just a little." He laughed. "I have a few bumps, scrapes, and burns that need tending to. Nothing serious though."

Amelia took one of his hands where she could see the evidence of those scrapes and burns. Some of them looked bad, others looked like they were healing. The burns confused Amelia the most. Jeremy was a fire mage, so it took a lot to burn him, "What happened?" Her voice was as soft as her finger as she ran it along one of the mostly healed scars.

With his free hand, Jeremy rubbed the back of his neck. "It's Osric," he said. "The man has been a tyrant and general pain in the ass this last week."

What did Osric have to do with these wounds? They didn't even work together, or so she thought. "Why didn't you go see the guard's healers?" she asked as she went to her healers' bag. She pulled out some burn ointment and a potion that helped remove scars and walked back over to him. His gaze was different today. There was more heat than she'd ever seen before. Even when they met on a blind date, he hadn't looked at her like this. After a few dates they had both agreed that there was nothing between them beyond friendship. Maybe she was reading too much into it and he always looked at her this way?

"Well, for one, I don't want to get Osric in trouble. Like I said, he's been a tyrant these last few days and his methods have been questionable." He held up his hands as proof. Amelia felt her brows draw together in confusion, but Jeremy didn't go further into what he meant, instead, he pulled Amelia closer to him. "But more than that," he whispered, "I missed you and I was looking for any excuse I could think of to come see you."

"I—I missed you too," Amelia stammered before withdrawing from his warmth. "You're my best friend," she said with a nervous laugh, "Best friends shouldn't be apart for this long." His smile turned more subdued, but he nodded in agreement. "But you mentioned Osric. I thought you two didn't work together."