Fate

Twelve

When they entered the room and Elyssa saw Micah, Tonius smelt her tears before he saw them. She had been doing so much crying as of late, it was becoming a part of her natural scent. She had rushed to Micah's side, taking one of his papery hands in her own and holding it close. Ruby sat on his other side, clasping his other hand tight. Both Matthew and Tonius stood back and watched as they grieved. He had no idea how long they were there, but Mrs. Lumen soon showed up with a tray carrying a teapot and five chipped, yet matching, teacups. She poured each of them a cup of tea, and then herself one. Hours later, Elyssa's sat untouched on Micah's bedside table. She hadn't moved, not once, since she'd sat down. Tonius finally walked up to her and rested one hand on the top of her head, brushing it down to the small of her back once before removing it and taking her cup downstairs to Mrs. Lumen.

"Your friend, she's a quiet one," Matthew commented as he leaned against the countertop, having had followed him down.

"Not at all, actually. She's just mourning. She knows that he's not likely to wake up again. And she's afraid that it'll only make it worse if he does."

Matthew's eyebrows went up. "You were able to tell all of this without exchanging a single word?"

"We've known each other for a long time."

"I used to be the same way with Alma, my wife. My beautiful, beautiful wife." He gulped, and Tonius heard his heartbeat getting faster. "We met in the tavern her family owned. Her brother was a drunk and was often causing trouble. I was there celebrating opening my own practice and had quite a bit to drink myself the night we met. Her brother got into it with some rough travelers that night, and they had bloodied him good. I offered my services, despite my intoxicated state. She demanded that I sleep off my liquor before I step anywhere near her brother."

"'Not while he's in your care'," Tonius repeated, remembering their conversation before he had left to fetch Elyssa.

Matthew nodded sadly. "She died here, in this house, alongside my daughter, Bridgette."

"What happened?"

"Matthew," Mrs. Lumen warned softly, a hand on his arm, "you don't need to talk about it."

"No, it's alright." He studied the grain of the table, running his hand over it in a soft manner. "One night, after everyone had gone to bed, there was a fire. I had been in my study, going over some notes about a patient. I must have dozed off at one point, because suddenly, I was awake and there was smoke everywhere. I could feel the heat of the fire against my skin, but I wasn't..." He was visibly struggling with his words, disbelief coating his tone. "I remember running upstairs to save my family. I had just opened the door to my daughter's bedroom when a beam from the ceiling fell and landed on me. I woke up a few days later in the building where I held my practice. My family...my wife and daughter at least...had...they had perished in the flames." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "My son, I've not seen him since their deaths. He was off visiting friends in a neighboring town at the time of the fire. I think that he feels guilty that he wasn't here. That he wasn't able to save them. I, on the other hand, have always been grateful. Even if he blames me for the rest of his life, I am grateful that he's alive."

"You said," Elyssa's voice carried from the doorway, startling everyone but Tonius, who had heard her approach, "that you could feel the heat of the fire against your skin?" She twisted the fingers of her own scarred fingers. "How is it you bear no burns?"

"It...it sounds absurd to say it aloud," the doctor said quietly, "but I know what I saw." He studied his hand. "The fire couldn't burn me."

Elyssa nodded, like she suspected that was what he had meant to say the whole time, and had only wanted to hear him admit it. "Nothing like this shad ever happened to you before? Not even as a child?" Matthew only shook his head, a quizzical, yet suspicious look on his face. "The night that this happened, had you been feeling particularly stressful?"