The Voice and the Word

A Painful Recovery

Annabel spent the next few days in her bed recovering from the battle with the demon; she quite enjoyed sitting sipping hot tea from the comfort of her warm covers. Charlotte and Tamsin dropped by to sit and chat with her about what was going on in the school, though the main topic was still Flynn and her fighting the demon.

                “Rebecca’s rushing up a fuss again, saying you didn’t do anything and that Flynn did all the work. She keeps trying to go see him to get the ‘truth’ out of him but he’s put a spell on the door that stops anyone coming in.” Charlotte said with a laugh, Annabel frowned for a moment as she considered what she was told, Tamsin shrugged lightly as she stirred her drink.

                “Yes, locked everyone out. It really annoyed that blonde guy. Tray was it? He’s sat outside Flynn’s room for days.” Now Annabel felt worried about Flynn, whatever was between Flynn and Tray she was certain that it wasn’t in anyway good. However there was nothing she could do till she had recovered and if Tray was annoyed then she reasoned Flynn was holding his own.

                “But he’s ok right?” she asked the other two girls as they glanced at each other significantly. “It’s not like that ok? I was just wondering if he’s getting better.” She wasn’t sure who she was trying to reassure.

                “As far as we know he was completely exhausted, close to death even, with several serious injuries that his shield hadn’t been able to deflect sufficiently. But he’s getting steadily better, he lets the nurses into his room once every day with food and medication. They say he’s already tired of being bedbound.” Annabel couldn’t help but feel guilty when she heard how ill Flynn was, he had given her a large portion of his remaining strength when she had tired herself opening a portal. She was still unsure how he had done it, or how he used any of his magic, she knew that his strange strength came from his staff and the strange symbols upon it that wouldn’t stay in her head no matter how hard she tried to remember them. Still she wasn’t going to waste this time with worrying so she swiftly asked Tamsin and Charlotte’s opinion of the fight with the demon.

                “You did well I think, it was quite a show.” Tamsin said with a slight smile, already beginning to gather her hair up.

                “Flynn certainly performed well; he’s become the most popular of the boys since it began.” Charlotte said with a small smile, Annabel rolled her eyes at the girl and tried to suppress her blush.

                “As we said Rebecca’s kicking up a storm but nobody’s listening, everyone’s talking about how Flynn rescued Baybay and how you helped him send the demon away. Nobody knows how he summoned such power except the other boys and they’re not talking. Tray’s spending his time staring at Flynn’s magic locked door or sulking in his room and that’s about it really.” Annabel smiled at this simple summary of present events.

                “What about Baybay? Is she ok? And Miss Hansen?” she asked, worrying about the chubby girl and tin old woman. Tamsin smiled as she looked around for a hairpin.

                “Miss Hansen was back on her feet and complaining about the lack of architectural integrity of the school pretty soon. Baybay was terrified for ages but she’s not hurt thanks to Flynn, needless to say she failed her exam and will have to retake eventually. She’s been ordered to help in the kitchens until all the damage the demon did has been repaired.” Annabel grimaced at the thought of kitchen duties.

                “Poor Baybay.” She sighed, Tamsin laughed lightly.

                “She could have got a lot worse when you think about it.” All the girls took a moment to reflect on what could have been when Sarah came bouncing in humming to herself.