Phelan wasn’t quite sure what he’d expected to see when Jacqueline opened that door, but it wasn’t quite what they saw. Thordin looked dazed but as surprised as Phelan felt as he lay flat on his back, staring at Sif, who had—probably against the better judgement of anyone else in the room—crawled into bed with him. Her face was buried against his shoulder and from the way hers shook, Phelan thought she might actually be crying.
“Well,” Jacqueline said softly. “Should we leave you two alone, then?”
Sif went rigid. She took two deep breaths and sat up slowly, turning to look at Jacqueline and Phelan. “Are you two alone, or will we be having more company?” she asked, her voice as cold as any winter wind Phelan had ever experienced.
Jacqueline snorted softly. “Close the door, Phelan. You’re going to need to move over, Sif. You’re in my way.”
Phelan hid his smile as he pushed the door shut.
Thordin peered at him from the bed and asked in a raspy voice, “What hit me?”
“Several tons of teeth and scales,” Phelan said as he set the latch. “I’m surprised you don’t remember. It was an impressive monster.”
Thordin groaned softly and put his head back down, staring at the rough beams above his head. “I hurt.”
“I would, too,” Jacqueline said, nudging Sif out of the way. The other woman reluctantly eased down toward the foot of the bed, giving the healer room to work. “Like Phelan said, it was a very large, toothy thing. How bad is it?”
“How bad is what?” Thordin asked, his brow furrowing.
“The pain, idiot,” Phelan said with a grin. “She’s asking you how much pain you’re in.”
“Oh.” Thordin stared blankly for a moment, then exhaled quietly. “I wouldn’t say no to something to help ease it.”
“That’s Thordin for it hurts like a bitch and you’d better give him something for it,” Phelan told Jacqueline. She snorted a laugh and nodded.
“Right. Let me handle that and then I’ll figure out how badly you’re still broken.”
“Is there food?” Thordin asked quietly. “I think I might be starving.”
“Neve’s taking care of that,” Phelan said, then squeezed Jacqueline’s shoulder. “I think he’s going to make it.”
She laughed again and nodded. “I think you’re right.”
Heh.
Hungry means normal.
BTW, how long has your page been snowing? I just noticed.
My sister and nephew recently moved to the land of wet and cold (just about straight East of you, on the other side of MI).
Me, I like my snow where it belongs: on top of those mountains, over there.
It started snowing on December 1. It’s a WordPress thing 🙂
I’m actually still living on the eastern side of Michigan for another…three days before I move back to the Grand Rapids area, so your sister and nephew are probably in the neck of the woods where my folks live (and will continue to live).
We lived in Bloomfield Township when I was a teen, probably before you were born (’74-’80). My sister is not too far from there. Almost all of our family is in that area.