Basil (The Brinnswick Chronicles #3) - Michele Notaro Page 0,60
and his daughter Rasha. Hiro, Seb.”
Hiro kept staring at Seb, but Seb said, “It’s nice to meet you, Hiro, but I wish it was under better circumstances.”
Hiro nodded at him and finally peeled his eyes away.
Ailin walked to the other side of the bed, asking, “What happened to Rasha?”
Hiro’s jaw ticked, so I answered for him before he could get into an argument with Ailin because they’d probably explode half the hospital if they got into it. “When her mother was seven months pregnant with her, she was hexed several times by witches.” Ailin’s eyebrows rose. “The hexes killed her mother. Hiro was able to save Rasha, but she was born early, and the hexes somehow clung to her even though they weren’t directed at her specifically.”
Ailin’s expression was one of shock, but he nodded and asked, “May I touch her forehead?”
Hiro’s jaw ticked again, so I nudged him and said, “I promise you that he would never hurt her. He wants to help. Don’t think for one second that I would ever allow someone to harm her.”
He closed his eyes, took a breath, opened them, and said, “Fine. But I’m warnin’ ya, witch, if you—”
“I want to help,” Ailin said, cutting him off.
My brother placed his hand on Rasha’s forehead and closed his eyes before Hiro could offer more threats. A moment later, his green magic began softly floating over Rasha’s body. Hiro jerked beside me, so I whispered, “It’s healing magic, Hiro. Take a breath and feel the energy… it isn’t harmful.”
He did as I asked, and the moment he actually paid attention to the feel of Ailin’s power, he breathed out in relief.
Another minute passed, and Rasha suddenly took a deep breath, her eyes fluttering open.
Hiro jumped up and leaned over her, rubbing her hair on the uninjured side, and whispering, “It’s okay, peanut. I’m right here. Don’t be scared. You have a breathing tube in. You’re okay, peanut, you’re okay.”
Rasha kept her eyes on her father, and even though she looked scared, she didn’t seem to be panicking. All I could think was that they’d been through this so many times before that she knew what to expect. That poor little girl.
Ailin pulled his magic back into himself as I hit the call button for the nurse, and he said, “I healed what I could, but I couldn’t remove the hex… it’s… I don’t know how to explain it, but we’re going to have to do some research to figure out how to remove it. It’s like it’s there, but it isn’t. I’m guessing that’s because she wasn’t the target of the hex. She shouldn’t be in too much pain, though. I tried to fix that, at least.”
A nurse came in, saw that Rasha was awake and breathing on her own, and ran back out to get a doctor. Hiro stayed over the top of his daughter, holding her hand and running his other one over her hair as he whispered calming words. I didn’t want to interrupt, but I also wanted Hiro to know that he wasn’t alone, so I stood behind him and rubbed his back. The motion seemed to relax him a little, so I kept it up.
When the doctor came in to remove the tube, I had to pull Hiro back to give him room. I couldn’t watch them because it freaked me out, but as soon as the doctor gave the all-clear, Hiro rushed over and hugged Rasha, putting his face in the pillow beside her head. He whispered to her, and her little arms came up to hug his neck.
Ailin and Seb walked over to me. Seb gave me a hug, and Ailin hugged me and kissed my temple, whispering, “We’ll figure this out. I’m going to get Jorah to help me research as soon as we get home.”
“Thank you.”
Ailin leaned back to meet my eyes. “If you need to bring them home, tell me so they can be added to the wards.”
My eyebrows rose. “Really?”
“Of course. He’s your viramore, and we need to keep him and that little girl of his safe. I bet she and Niya would have a ball playing together.” I’d had the same thought, that my little sister would love making a new friend.
I smiled at that and nodded. “I’ll try to get them to come home with me, but it’s probably going to take some convincing.”
Ailin half-smiled, squeezed my shoulder, and said, “Call me if you need me to come back.”