Love Lines

34: Keep Your Pants On

Chapter Thirty-Four

I didn't feel quite like myself when we arrived back at the Schola. When the guys finally arrived at the shed, I was bottling up so much emotion that I felt like I was about to explode. I wanted to punch something or better yet, hit a normal golf ball and watch as it embedded in a tree. Neither of the boys seemed to notice my current state of distress and that indicated they'd had a blow out of their own up in the cave while I had my heartfelt chat with Chris.

There were actually quite a few people gathered in the entryway when we arrived and they all looked at Cecil like he was the scum of the Earth when they registered who he was. I didn't know what time it was in the Elite world and at this point I didn't give a rat's behind whether they were unhappy with the fact that there was a hermai among them. I wanted to pass out and they could keep their opinions to themselves for the duration.

Andrzej didn't miss a beat and ignored all of them as like a tide, they all moved away from him as he headed for the stairs. I guess he really scared people when it was his "time of the month".

I looked back at Cecil hesitantly. "Do you...?"

"I'll stay with you, thanks."

That was comforting, more than he probably knew. Our days were numbered after all and on top of everything that happened with Chris, I just needed him to stick around as long and as much as possible. "Ok."

We caught up to Andrzej who didn't seem to even notice that we weren't behind him before, and soundlessly followed him up the spiral that was the Schola. Chris's words and demands kept playing over and over in my head and I almost missed it when Andrzej stopped in front of his door.

"I'm going to do some research after I've had a few hours sleep," he said as he unlocked his door and then turned to face me. "Rakli, go see Tina for some ointment to speed up the healing process. Your father will have a fit if he sees your face like that. And then you should probably get some sleep. You look like hell."

Wow. Very bossy. I wasn't going to put up much of a fight, though, since I was dead on my feet even though the urge to do so was strong. Everything was being overridden by my need for sleep. "Ok."

It wasn't until I was walking away that I realized he probably wouldn't go to sleep. He would get cleaned up and get right to researching. That thought was unsettling and I almost turned back around to protest. I didn't want to let him do everything on his own, that's not what partners did. But just as I thought it and turned to do it, Cecil spun me back around and shook his head in objection.

Tina wasn't at all surprised to see me. Then again I was supposed to come by before I headed out to check on Andrzej the second time. I'd completely forgotten, there were other things on my mind at the time and even now, I was having a hard time focusing on her as she looked over all my aches and pains. There was an abundant more than before.

"All this should be gone in a couple of hours. You're lucky on that burn though. I just finished mixing up the cream for the Fire Particulars. I'm not even going to ask how you managed to get burned by one."

"Do they burn themselves often?" I joked.

"More than you would think." She grabbed the two little tubes off the tray and handed them to Cecil. "You know how this all works so you can explain it to her when she's a little more awake."

"I'm awake now," I insisted.

"Sure. You're also a million miles away." She was friendly about it. "It's no good explaining this medical stuff to you if it goes in one ear and right out the other. Cyrus has everything you need to know stored in that brain of his and I know he'll take good care of you."