by Sara Clancy
“Thank you,” Mina croaked.
“Has anyone told you what the forecast is here?” Basheba said, wiggling one hand out to indicate her body.
“We were working up to it,” Jeremiah whispered.
Her growing anxiety distorted her joy at seeing everyone alive and well. What happened? Someone tell me! Her mental pleadings went unanswered as arguments flared over who should break the news. Silent as a ghost, Cadwyn slipped up to her side, not so subtly positioning her chart so she could read it. Third-degree burns requiring skin grafts. Possible nerve damage to the right hand. Surgery recommended for both legs. Oh God. They might take my legs! Hot tears choked her, leaving her gasping for air. My legs. My hand. I might lose them all. Cadwyn pulled the chart back and offered her a reassuring smile.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. You haven’t even started rehab yet.”
Mina barely heard her father’s roar. “You told her?”
“Seems more like she read it somewhere,” Basheba remarked.
“Shut up.” Pushing his way to her side, her father leaned over her until Mina could barely see anything but his face. “Don’t you worry about anything, angel. It doesn’t matter what the cost is, we’ll take care of it. You’ll be beautiful, you’ll see.”
“My legs. My hand.” Mina gasped, barely having the energy to work out the words. “My life plan. It’s all ruined.”
“You’re still young. You can do other things—”
“Wow,” Basheba cut in. “So, you get a bad burn, and everyone just signs up for your BS?”
“How dare you!” someone protested from the cluster of relatives.
“It’s just a hand,” Basheba declared. “Yeah, you might not be a surgeon, but you can still be a doctor. Nurses are the ones that do most of the schlepping anyway.”
“She’s not wrong,” Cadwyn noted.
Ozzie angled his beaming smile at the Crane siblings as if trying to soothe them both. Mina was endlessly grateful for it.
“The FBI won’t take her,” someone said.
“Not as a field agent. But she wanted to be a profiler. That’s a glorified desk jockey,” Basheba dismissed.
“And, hey, you’ve managed to kill a dead witch,” Ozzie said. “Everything’s got to be easier compared to that, right?”
“She’s gone? The box?”
Jeremiah’s smile was blinding. “It disappeared. All of it did. The three others just walked out of the forest. I think it’s over, Mina.”
Warmth blossomed in her chest before a dark thought crept in. “Whitney. She’s a witch. What happened to her?”
“The FBI’s searching for her now,” Cadwyn said.
So, it might not be over, Mina thought. The door opened before she could voice her concern, and in walked Doctor Patel who stopped short to stare at the Rottweiler.
“He’s an emotional support animal,” Basheba said.
“He has to leave,” Patel said before regaining her professional edge. “You all do, I’m afraid. She needs her rest. No complaining. You can see her tomorrow.”
Fatigue had almost dragged her under by the time the farewells were over with. Buck managed to sneak one kiss before running off.
“See ya later, burn sister,” Basheba called over her shoulder before disappearing.
Cadwyn lingered a heartbeat longer to offer her a smile in the descending silence.
“It might not be over,” he said in a whisper. “But, for now, close your eyes and enjoy your freedom.”
Mina did just that. Letting sleep take her with a smile on her face.
* * *
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