Lilium

Thirteen

Thirteen

Arcadia's Emporeum was almost as big as the police station, Oliver realized. Or rather, the supernatural station. The humans' police station was almost twice as large and less elaborate. But that was beside the point.

The dome ceiling was covered in stained glass that was more a massive collage than it was a solid picture. In one corner, Oliver saw Cherubs with bows done in glass shards of orange and pink and red. In another, a spider weaved a suit of armor from its threads. The entire building had an almost holy vibe to it, the kind of vibe that made Oliver's stomach curl.

Rows of beds lay on both sides of the room and the nurse, Serena, guided Oliver to one to rest at. After sitting him down and taking away the cane he'd been given, she pulled the curtains around the bed and told him to lie back.

"I'll return shortly," she said. Oliver grunted in response. His eyelids closed and he looked to the ceiling with the shake of his head.

This is insanity.

He lay there for at least ten minutes before Serena returned with a yellow wash pail. Half the tools looked like products of a horror movie, ranging from the more sharp and pointy to those that were just bizarre. A variety of jars had been thrown in helter-skelter.

"Ah." Serena let the pail roll to a stop before fussing with the curtains around them. She stopped after a moment, looking around the cramped space before looking to Oliver.

"You. Sit up."

Oliver did as he was told, rising to a sitting position. Even supported by the bed, he still swayed.

"Yes, yes, very nice..." Serena pushed her glasses up her nose and hummed to herself, flitting from the pail to the foot of Oliver's bed and back again. Her bun swayed on top of her head, the black and white strands laced together so that not even one hair was out of place. "Now I need some of this..."

She continued to move, her wings stretched out behind her. While two of her hands moved to mix together liquids from different vials, her third grabbing a towel to wipe her head and her fourth grabbing another to throw at Oliver.

"Here. Wipe up the wound with this."

"But I already—"

Serena held up her free hand, leaving no room for arguments. Oliver grumbled to himself as he rubbed the cut on his head.

After more minutes of mixing and humming, Serena spun around and held a steaming vial out to Oliver. He took it with his free hand and examined the silver liquid, grimacing at the putrid stench that emanated from it.

"It's a serum," Serena said when Oliver gave her a questioning look. "Drink it. Even your boosted immune system isn't enough to prevent brain damage. The serum will fix with that.."

"I see." He swirled the vial around a couple of times before, with one last uncertain glance, he lifted it to his lips and swallowed. It burned going down, bearing the consistency of watered-down milk and tasting like cinnamon and fire. It dropped to the bottom of his stomach and sat there like a pile of rocks.

"Well?" Serena asked after a moment. She came to his side and poked him with her top two arms, mussing up his hair and poking the gash at the back of his head. With her other two arms, which Oliver now realized bores eyeballs on the backs, she busily scribbled notes.

I will have to ask her how it is to literally bear four eyes, he thought. Then he shook the thought off and waited for her to step away. Several seconds elapsed.