Return of Sebastian Sallow | 10 Yr After Hogwarts

Chapter 78: Let Yourself Heal

"Sebastian, my friend? Is that you?" Thiago asks with curiosity.

"She's hurt." It's all I can say amidst my torment and desperation. I don't even have time to register how curious it is to see him emerge from my family's cottage. Thiago's instincts are impressive as he takes off in a sprint, faster than I can, towards April and the beast. Two more figures emerge from the light of the doorway in our wake, but I'm gone before I can think twice about it.

"Amor, you are bleeding!" Thiago calls as he closes the distance and slides on his knees through the dirt to April, pulling her from behind. Her glowing, blue hands dim as he removes her from the Thestral and rolls her back into his chest. The way I watch his arms cradle her so immediately around her good shoulder and her waist salts the deep, festering wound within me that is the threat of almost having lost her tonight. But I recognize the gesture as being exactly what I would do, and inherently understand in a split second that Thiago has been in this position many times. My inclination is to trust him.

"I'm fine!" April insists, struggling against Thiago's hold. "It's bleeding out, Thiago! Let me go!" Her arms are flailing and her uninjured leg is digging into the ground in an attempt to gain traction.

"You are bleeding out, meu amor," Thiago says calmly into her ear before looking at me with bright, urgent eyes to ask, "what have you got?" I dump the contents of the medical supplies onto the ground and numbers of vials, syringes, needles, bottles of potions, and various rolls of gauze and fabric clatter onto the ground in a heap.

"Thiago?!" I hear the voice of Ominis calling across the field. "What's going on? What's happened?"'

"It's April and Sebastian! Thiago calls back, as I sort through April's supplies. "There's been an accident–"

Thiago's words cut off as April makes another desperate attempt to escape him. "April!" I hear Thiago's tone shift to a more commanding tone than I've ever heard from him. She is completely frenzied and his voice, clear and assertive, coaches her. "Focus, now. You know what you must do. We stop our own bleeding first. Always. Listen to my voice, amor. You know what you must do."

Something about his words brings her back into her mind and her eyes lock to mine with an electric accuracy. Powerfully, she lurches herself towards me, breaking free from Thiago's hold. Her good arm wraps around my shoulders and I hear her inhale sharply through gritted teeth at the pain of the other arm trying to do the same.

Finally able to take in the sight of the arrow that juts back from her, Thiago exclaims "nossa! You have an arrow through you!?" There's almost a hint of amusement behind the concern of his question that reveals his surety she'll heal. This is certainly not his first encounter with April's wild, reckless abandon, nor her ability to push-through and bounce-back.

April pulls back from her embrace around me, balancing herself gingerly on her knees and her hands begin to trace and touch my face, neck, and chest. "Are you alright?" she asks, urgently. Her eyes are wild as they dart back and forth between mine.

"I'm fine, love," I say quickly. In her relief, her lips are on mine, kissing me deeply, in spite of her grimacing, rapid breath. She's clearly surging with as much adrenaline as I am, if not more. It's torture to pull my ams from her, but her injuries are the priority.

Thiago has moved his way towards us to inspect April's wounds as she kneels on the ground and I hear Ominis calling urgently as he gets close, his wand drawn to guide him steadily towards us with its magic. "April? Sebastian?"

"Over here, mate!" I call over my shoulder as April insists, "I just need wiggenweld. Please."

"This one is not so deep," Thiago says with his hands softly on her calf, "it has almost stopped bleeding already."