For the rest of the two-hour session, Cheyenne zoned out, turning everything from yesterday over in her mind. Ember’s gotta have a choice in taking this Nós Aní gig. I promised her I’d tell her everything, but how the hell am I gonna explain that one?
She didn’t even notice that the tingle along the back of her neck had disappeared.
Chapter Ninety-Two
“Hey. Cheyenne!” Ember leaned forward and waved the papers Dr. Boseley had given her in the halfling’s face.
Cheyenne started, her foot sliding off her knee to thump onto the floor, and she blinked quickly. “Sorry. Got caught up in a whole bunch of thoughts.”
Frowning, Ember tipped her head back and squinted. “Thoughts. You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m good. Are you guys done?”
“Yep. I’m ready to get outta here and stuff my face with something delicious because I was an idiot and didn’t eat anything before we got here.”
Chuckling, the halfling stood. “Then let’s go get something. You could’ve had another piece of pizza.”
“I wasn’t nearly hungry enough to eat that when we left.”
“Okay. I get it.” Cheyenne headed toward the door and held it open from the hallway. “After you.”
Ember cocked her head. “How kind.”
They moved more slowly down the hall on their way out, and the halfling shot a quick glance at the fae. Ember’s arms trembled a little every time she pushed down the wheels, but she didn’t stop, and she didn’t look like she was all that bothered by it.
“You want me to take the wheel, so to speak?”
The fae girl shook her head and stared intently at the door leading out into the waiting room and the lobby. “I’m good until we get to the car. After that, I might be Jell-O for a while.”
“Okay. How’d it go in there?”
“You know what? I like that doctor.”
The halfling opened the next door and held that open too. “It seems like you really lucked out with the awesome docs, huh?”
“And I can only blame you for one of them.” Ember grinned and didn’t stop on her way into the lobby and toward the exit. “You picked a good one, though, Cheyenne. Seriously. Thank you.”
“Thank her. I just drove you here.”
The fae snorted and paused just long enough for the automatic doors to open in front of her. “I’m not quite sure where your modesty ends and some kind of weird Cheyenne embarrassment begins.”
“What? I’m not embarrassed.”
“Okay. Then admit that the only reason I’m getting such good treatment right now is because of you.”
Cheyenne’s nose wrinkled automatically. “I’m just helping my friend.”
“Honestly, would you be helping me like this if I hadn’t asked you to come with me that night? If I just showed up at the hospital with a bullet hole through my spine and you had no clue what happened?”
If she hadn’t asked me to come with her, she wouldn’t have made it to the hospital. The halfling unlocked her Panamera as Ember wheeled down the ramp off the sidewalk and into the parking lot. “Yeah, Em. I’m pretty sure I’d still be doing exactly what I’m doing, even if you hadn’t asked me to come and I threw a fit about it.”
“So this isn’t because you feel like it’s your fault I have to come here three times a week?”
Cheyenne opened the passenger side door, and Ember bent over to lock the wheels in place. “You said it before, Em. I’m not the one who shot you.”
“You’re right. You’re the one saved my life.” Ember stared at her, then looked away and waved the half-drow toward her. “Let’s do this.”
The halfling bent and half-lifted, half-supported her friend into the passenger seat of the Panamera. Ember shot her a thumbs-up, then Cheyenne wheeled the chair behind the car, folded it up, and hauled it into the trunk. When she got behind the wheel and started the engine, Ember finished buckling her seatbelt and stared straight ahead at the entrance to the clinic.
“You okay?”
The fae squinted and turned slowly toward the halfling. Her gaze took a little longer to pull away from the front doors. “This is gonna sound crazy.”
Cheyenne bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Try me.”
“I think I...felt something weird in there. And before you make a smartass remark about it, yes, I’m sure it’s not just the effects of PT.”
“It’s really creepy how well you know me, Em.”
The fae replied with a distracted chuckle and turned toward the clinic again. “It’s not very hard. But this was...okay, I don’t even know what it was.” Ember’s hand rose absently to the back of her neck beneath her swinging ponytail.
“Like someone holding a vibrating cellphone and an Icy-Hot patch on your neck at the same time?”
Ember’s eyes grew incredibly wide before darting toward Cheyenne. “And bugs.”
“Yeah. And bugs.” The halfling forced back another laugh. “Uh, so this is pretty cool.”
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“But it’s cool.”
“Cheyenne, I don’t know what the hell to do with this! I’m already up to my neck in figuring out how to do life all over again in that stupid chair. Which is really great, by the way. Thanks for that too.”
The halfling pursed her lips and didn’t say a word.
“But that’s all I can handle right now. I can’t… I mean, no. No, no.” Ember shook her head vigorously, her ponytail slapping the headrest. “This is crazy.”
“Hmm, not really.”
“Don’t start.” The fae pointed a finger in Cheyenne’s face and tried to keep looking as stern as possible. A confused laugh burst out of her anyway. “No way this is happening.”
“It never occurred to you that this was a possibility?”
“You know what? You don’t get to be the voice of reason right now. You didn’t even know I was fae, and your brain almost exploded when I told you I don’t have any magic.”
The halfling sat back and folded her arms. “And now your brain’s exploding.”
“Of course, my brain’s exploding! I gave up wishing for magic when I
