BURNING LOVE

79

Three days bled into one another, a slow, agonizing crawl towards normalcy. Lorelei remained unconscious, her body a battleground between the receding divine energy and the exhaustion it left in its wake.

Alicia dedicated herself to read the scripture aloud saying it was Lorelei's favourite book, if it could help her wake up faster she was willing to try, some time Killian or Benoit would replaced her in the task.

While Kayley and Bertha took turns wiping the relentless sweat that poured from Lorelei's skin, a stark contrast to the feverish heat that had marked the episode's beginning.

"Why does she sweat so much, Doctor?" Reagan, Lorelei's father asked, his voice hoarse from worry.

Dr. Killian, ever-present on the makeshift bed in Lorelei's room, leaned forward, her eyes fixed on the rise and fall of Lorelei's chest.

"It's her body purging the excess energy," she explained. "Think of it like a pressure cooker releasing steam. The energy was a torrent inside her, boiling over. Now, it's finding its way out, allowing her system to cool down."

A hope flickered in Morgan's eyes, though heightened by fear. "So, she'll be alright?"

The successful lawyer he had been was not used to seek reassurance from anyone but this was his only child, the woman seemed to know more than them in the matter so he firmly looked in her eyes his soul yearning for a positive answer.

Dr. Killian offered a small, reassuring smile, eventhough she had already answered  the same questions over and over, she was a doctor  trained to lift parents soul when a child was on the line.

"Yes, Mr. Kamali, Reagan, It will take time, but she'll recover. Her body is incredibly resilient, I remember all those years I've been in awe of her health condition, it is particular in it way, now I know why. Do not worry."

The days unfolded in a monotonous rhythm – One humid afternoon, however, a shift occurred. The insistent tick-tock of the wall clock echoed in the tense silence, each tick a hammer blow on their already frayed nerves.

As the clock's hands precisely struck six, a tremor ran through Lorelei's body. Her eyelids fluttered open, a dazed look clouding them.

Then, a flicker of recognition sparked in their depths. A weak smile, like a flower pushing through cracked pavement, tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Mama?" she croaked, her voice barely a whisper.

Relief flooded Bertha's face. Tears welled in her eyes as she squeezed Lorelei's hand. "Yes, my love. You're awake."

Lorelei's gaze drifted around the room, taking in the worried faces of her family and the stoic guards.Benoit smile at her from where he was perched on the armrest of her bedroom couch like in he always wherever he had to seat.

The worry visible behind his fragile eyes, showing how afraid he was to lost another person he loved in the world, was what made her blinked her eyes twice at him, her way to tell him she will be alright, seeing that his smile widened like the one of a child, they had grown closer, he was the small brother she never had but vowed to always love and protect. The others witnessed the interaction breathing out in relief.

  Benoit was not the Frenchman anymore st their eyes but a part of their family, the way she loved him was something that came so naturally that all could only opened their hearts to him.

Finally, her gaze landed on Dr. Killian. A hint of curiosity flickered in her eyes, with questions that transcended words.
She remembered her voice from afar.

"Doctor Killian," she rasped. "You stayed?"

Dr. Killian nodded, not surprised by her words,her heart swelling with a strange sense of protectiveness.