Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) - By Paula Flumerfelt Page 0,102

do?”

“Bucket. Check.” Adele dropped it by the head on the bed, then moved to sit at the foot. “He’s not looking so good. Or is it just me?”

Solomon’s face was tight with stress, his jaw clenched. Holding Nathan’s wrist, he said, “His pulse is elevated. And he’s having trouble breathing. This isn’t natural. Can you heal it, Adele?” Avanon put a soothing hand on Solomon’s shoulder.

Adele’s brow furrowed. “Um, I can try, but Elric is much better than I am…” She looked away, hands clasped together so tightly that her knuckles were white.

“I don’t think we have time to wait for him to get back. Try.” Solomon’s gaze was hard.

Darcia patted Adele’s shoulder. “They’re right. He’s looking bad, so even if you can just heal him enough for him to hold on until Elric gets here, it would be a big help.” He said, trying to encourage her believe in her own skills.

“Jeez, okay. Just give me some room.” She shoved him off the bed and onto the floor. “Now. Let’s see here…” Frowning, she rolled up her sleeves and got onto her knees next to Nathan on the big bed. “Well, I think if I just...” Her hands hovered hesitantly over Nathan.

The redhead’s glazed eyes roamed around, seemingly lost. “Where…who…it hurts….”

The blonde healer looked worriedly at Solomon and shook her head. “I could end up making this a lot worse, Sol. Are you absolutely sure?”

“I trust you, Addie. Come on. Please.” Avanon was practically restraining Solomon from grabbing Adele and shaking her.

Adele took a shaky breath and rubbed her hands together, warming them. Gently, she laid one hand on his forehead, the other on his sternum. She had to wait for a coughing fit to pass, then she closed her eyes and a white light glowed around her hands. It was so bright that Mathieu to look away.

If he hadn’t been looking at the glass wall across the room, he wouldn’t have seen Adele go through it. She lay in a heap amongst the broken glass, dazed and bleeding. “What the—?” Mathieu ran to her and brushed the glass off her skin, helping her to sit up. “Adele, what happened?”

“Nathan!” Elise shrieked.

Adele’s eyes slid closed and he cast a worried look over his shoulder to see Solomon and Elise hovering over Nathan, who was convulsing and choking for air. Avanon stood back so she was out of the way, and Darcia came over to help Adele. Mathieu abandoned Adele on the floor and into Darcia’s care, seeing that she wasn’t hurt that bad, and rejoined the others.

“He’s burning up, help him!” Elise practically screamed at Solomon.

“What would you like me to do? Attempting to heal him didn’t work and I’m not exactly a traditional doctor.” His voice was a growl as he made to hold Nathan down.

“Don’t.” Said Mathieu, pulling Solomon’s hand back. “We don’t want to hurt him. Let the seizure pass.” It was the first time they had touched in days and a small look passed between them. It took a few minutes for the spasms to stop, but they eventually did, and Nathan relaxed onto the bed. “See? It’ll be okay, Solomon. Sit. Now.” Keeping a firm grip on the blond man, he directed him to a chair and forced him to sit. “Listen, I know you hate me now or whatever, but you can’t let this get to you. Nathan needs you to be strong for him now, so keep it together.” With that, he let him go and went to Adele. “Sweetie? Hey, can you hear me?”

“Shit, yeah. I feel like a carriage ran me over.” She was propped up against Darcia, blinking somewhat slower than normal.

Mathieu pulled a few shards of glass from her hair, “Be careful getting up. Don’t want any more cuts. Can you handle those yourself, or do I need to clean them out for you?” He nodded to the sword master, then tilted his head towards the bathroom, silently asking that he retrieve bandages.

Adele smiled at him and took the hand he offered, getting to her feet. “If you wanted to help me, I wouldn’t mind.” Then, her face fell, “I…I made it worse, didn’t I?”

“Don’t beat yourself up. You didn’t mean to. Besides, he looks like he’s doing better. Like they say, it has to get worse before it can get better.” Mathieu helped her to her own chair as Darcia brought out a first aid kit.

“Thanks, Mathieu…”

Smiling, he pat her head. “No worries.” He knelt down and