school. He'd take his lunch break late so that he could ride back home with me. During the summer, he made me work at his office filing stuff or cleaning out storerooms. He had me on such a short leash that I hated him.
"But of course, that didn't stop me from finding jerks. I found ways to sneak away. Sometimes my father caught me. Other times he didn't. Then things changed when I graduated from high school. My dad couldn't keep tabs on me the same way. When I went to the university, I never went to class and would go partying and be gone for days at a time. Eventually, I got pregnant again."
"What happened to that child?" Phos asked.
"I miscarried," she said. "That's how I learned that I had a hole in my uterus. It came from the abortion. I had actually wanted that one. I had wanted the first one too, but—" Mom blew her nose again. "Then my father died. They say it was from lung cancer, but I felt like I was responsible. That I had broken his heart too many times and he just couldn't hang on anymore and wait for me to get my act together. I felt like I had killed my own father, who worked everyday of his life at a job he hated so that I could keep screwing around."
"And Mary?" Phos asked.
Mom smirked. "You think I would've learned my lesson by then. But of course I didn't. I kept partying. Kept drinking. Kept doing whatever I could to not feel anything or think straight enough to face what kind of monster I was. And I got pregnant again. When I went to the doctor, she told me that with my condition, my chances of successfully carrying this baby to full term were almost zero. And if I tried to have her, it was possible my whole uterus would come out, too. That's how bad off I was. She recommended I abort."
"Why didn't you?" he asked.
Mom cleared her throat. "When I was told that this baby might not survive, I don't know what happened. But I realized how badly I wanted her. I hadn't wanted anything so much. Not even a knight in shining armor. I felt like if I were to succeed at only one thing in my life, I wanted to be able to have this baby. So, I went home. I begged my mother to help me. And just like the great woman she is, she did. When Mary was born, I felt like the sun had broken through some clouds that had covered me for years. I cleaned up and never looked back at that woman I was before. Mary saved my life."
Neither of them spoke for a moment. Then Phos said softly, "Thank you for telling me. I understand better why you want to protect Mary so much."
Another moment of silence. Then Mom said, "I'm glad you were there tonight. If she had died, I—I don't—"
Mom fell back into sobs.
Mary heard a different beep. Something cold flowed into her veins. Then she was pulled back into the darkness where even her ears didn't work.
***
Mary drifted back into dreaming, but this time she felt extremely hot. She couldn't open her eyes or move again, but her ears picked up a beautiful voice. It spoke softly and sounded familiar. "Phos. There is nothing I can do."
"You helped before, Mayim," he said. "Humans are mostly water. You work with water all the time."
"This is not the same as a burn," Mayim said. "This is an infection. Her body needs to fight it on its own. Let it do what it was made to."
"I'm not talking about the infection," he said.
They said nothing for a moment. Then Mayim spoke. "I see. That is definitely beyond my ability."
Mary felt a familiar hand take hers. With her fever, it didn't feel as hot as it normally did.
"We are supposed to protect humans," he said. "And I cannot even protect her from this."
"The only one who can help her is the Master," Mayim said.
"I know," he said. "But I cannot ask him."
"He might heal her."
"He'll definitely take her memory," he said. "If the judges don't find her first."
"Ah," she said. "That is why you asked me for more rain. To hide her energy from them."
Who was this "Master" they mentioned? Mary wanted to ask, but she couldn't move her mouth.
"Phos," Mayim said. "Do you not think it is time? How long have