I ran into the healer's building. I met the emerald eyes of my sister. I ran to her, embracing her tightly.
"Well, good mornin' ta you, too," she patted my arm.
"You have no idea what we've been through for you," Lala dropped Silver on the ground.
"Silver?" Sam tried to rush to his side.
I pushed her back down in the bed.
"He's fine," Miles explained. "He just lost an arm. He's stable."
"Staella!" Sam shouted.
"We cauterized the wound, but he's remained asleep for most of the journey," Miles explained to the healer.
"How did this happen?" Sam demanded from me.
I explained to her that we had fought Ne'Mallia and some demons. Ne'Mallia was trying to punish Silver, so she attacked and wounded him. Sam was clearly distraught and frustrated. When I was done, she pulled me into another hug.
"Tanks for savin' me," she whispered.
~*~
I awoke somewhere familiar. I blinked a few times. I tried to move, but I was weighed down. Sam was on my chest. Peering into the darkness, I saw Rodam and Miles asleep, leaning against each other. Even Lala was sleeping on the floor beneath them.
"Silver?" Sam asked drowsily.
"Hey, lovely," my voice rasped.
"Oh," she moved. "I'll call Staella."
"No," I moved to grab her, but then I remembered I was missing that hand. The bandaged stub of my arm retreated to my side.
"It's okay," she patted my leg. "We're glad you're still here."
Staella poured over me for an hour or two. In the midst of it, my teammates were awakened, too. After she was done, we all agreed to sleep until the morning. They returned to their beds and left me alone in the healer's.
I woke to a knock at the door. I found Thalia standing there, her baby in her arms.
"Good morning, Silver," she sat down. "Glad to see you're okay."
"As okay as I can be," I muttered.
She smiled. "I figured you would be glad to know that Nox, Forrest, Alcibiades, Myhilda, and Loral returned from Caliope."
"That's good," I nodded. "I'm a little scared for what Nox will say when he sees me like this."
Thalia's face scrunched up. "I'm also worried that I have some news that you'll find troubling."
"You can tell me," I assured her. "I can take it."
"Lexington returned with them."
"Why?" I sat up. "He's supposed to be on Medowlark. Is he okay?"
Thalia patted her baby's back. "Physically? Yes, he is completely fine. He caught madness sickness from Dorimir, the God of Death. He's in the care of Arn's parents and their friends."
"Vetelguize is watching him," I whispered.
Thalia nodded. "If you would like, you could visit him. I can leave you instructions and provisions. It's entirely up to you. I thought it would be best to let you know."
"Thank you for not keeping me in the dark this time," I said bitterly.
She stood. "Thank you for your time, Silver."
"Ye should go," Sam agreed. "He's yer friend."
"But what about my recovery?" I asked. "Or you?"
"I've got a dog on mah heels," she rolled her eyes. "Rodam won't leave me alone. You'll be fine. I'll be safe."
"Promise?"
She kissed me. "I promise ya, Silver."
Vetelguize came for me. It was nice to see him again. I prayed to Argus, who promptly sent Vetelguize my way. Thalia had left me those instructions.
"Your arm," he noted.
"I know," I sighed. "I faced a tough opponent, and I came up short."
"I'm sorry," Vetelguize hugged me. "I'm sure it hurts."
I nodded into his chest. "Can I go see my friend?"
"Of course," he stepped back. "Let's go."
"Quicksilver!" Argus approached me.
"Hello," I greeted them.
Arn's father looked exactly like him. He was taller, with longer hair. Arn's mom shared his black hair. She smiled sweetly at me. Ezra stood warily at a distance. I realized how similar Ezra and Vetelguize looked.
"It's wonderful to meet a friend of our son's," Persephone hugged me.
"The pleasure is mine," I assured her.
"Lexington isn't quite who you remember," Arn's father began. He even sounded like Arn. "He is suffering from madness."
"Is it okay for me to see him?"
"It is," he nodded. "We'll be observing. He's been getting better as well. It should be good for him to see some friends."
They led me down some hallways and stairs until a room with many windows appeared.
"You'll be perfectly safe," Argus nodded.
I took a deep breath. I was safe no matter what was on the other side of this door. No matter who I saw, my best friend was still in there.
I nodded. Argus opened the door for me.
Inside the door was a bed. I approached it carefully. I could see that the bottom part of the bed was restrained, that he was trapped there for safekeeping. I didn't mind, however. This was my best friend.
When I stepped up onto the stair, he looked over at me. It was like I entered a bubble, brought to his attention.
"Silver?" He asked, putting his arms underneath him.
"Hey, Lex," I waved with one arm.
"What-?" He looked like a million questions were flying through his head. "What are you doing here? How did you get here? What happened to your arm?"
"Slow down," I sat on the bed beside him. "One thing at a time. First, though."
I leaned over and hugged him. He felt so small in my embrace. I squeezed as tightly as I could.
"I am so happy to see you," he sniffled.
"Are you crying?" I asked.
"No," his voice wavered.
Tears sprouted in my eyes, too. My strength renewed, and I embraced him tighter.
"Sweet gods of our realm, I missed you so much," he whispered.
"I missed you too," I leaned back. "Are you okay?"
"Besides leaving my boyfriend on a war-torn planet and getting caught with madness sickness and being stuck in a surveillance chamber," he gave me the tiniest grin. "I'm managing. But what about you?"
"What about you?" I shook him. "Ugh, okay. You remember that awful teammate I had, the one you helped hook me up with?"
"Oh, the one that was a complete bitch!" He pointed.
"Yes," I laughed. "Her. Well, it turns out she thought it would be fun to get revenge by sending half of my team poisoned letters. She ended up nearly killing my girlfriend, which sent the rest of us after her. She had a few demons under her control, and in the thick of it, she managed to, uh, disarm me."
"You think now is the time for jokes?"
"How am I going to cope with losing an appendage if I don't?"
"A fair point," Lex nodded. "Sam is okay, though?"
"She woke up three days ago," I admitted. "But Thalia told me about you, and I figured Rodam would protect Sam and dote on her for a few days. Sam encouraged me to see you, too. She sends her best wishes."
"Thank you," he leaned back. "You can see I'm doing swimmingly."
"How did you catch madness?"
"Met a certain God of Death. Saved me from drowning, which is cool, I guess. But I think something is wrong because he laughed, and then my reality absolutely split in two. I'm slowly getting better, though. At least most of the grand hallucinations are gone, but I'm still seeing things, and my senses are dulled. But I'm here."
"The gods are keeping you safe?"
"Your friend has been a real help through this. It seems he witnessed a case much like this."
I nodded. "With Ezra."
"Kinda what he's made for," Lex chuckled.
"You've changed a lot," I said without thinking, my tears sprouting again.
"Hey," he started crying too. "So did you."
"Change hurt," I muttered. "It might have been the worst thing I've been through."
"We're growing and changing," Lex assured me.
"Are you going to be okay?"
"I'll heal from this madness, and I'll help Nox build the Grund until Arn returns for me," he shrugged. "That's my plan. Are you going to be all right?"
"I'm learning to me," I touched my ghost of an arm.
"Stay for awhile?"
"Of course," I lay in the bed with him. "Tell me what the other planets were like."