Nev, lying on her back, was sobbing and writhing with agony. She was covered in blood, not all of it hers. Her bottom lip was badly swollen, neck bruised, and her shoulder was bleeding severely. Addi was truly struggling to get it to stop. “I need you to try and hold still Nev,” Addi pleaded, her voice heavy with worry.
Wyatt’s eyes flickered open, and he groaned in pain. If someone had told him his head was in two pieces, he would’ve believed them. Perhaps surprisingly, his head hurt far worse than his wound from Sagrine’s blade. He could feel Nev next to him and knew she was suffering. Wyatt searched the bed for her hand. Finding it, he quickly grabbed it and squeezed. He waited for her to squeeze his back, but it didn’t come. “Nev?” he asked, his voice raspy.
“Nellis! I need you to get me anything you have that might help stop the bleeding,” Addi shouted.
Wyatt took a deep breath and made himself sit up. He almost blacked out from the searing pain that shot from his head and down his spine, but he refused to let himself succumb.
“Not now, Wyatt! Lay back down!” Addi ordered, sounding panicked.
“Elder root. She needs… an elder root salve,” Wyatt stated, clutching his head with his hands.
Addi’s mind raced. She had never heard of it, but she was willing to try anything. “How do you… never mind. Nellis! Do you have any elder roots?” Addi inquired, her voice grave.
“Do you want me to brew it into tea first?” Nellis asked, his voice coming from somewhere in the kitchen.
Wyatt chuckled a bit and then instantly groaned. “Laughing… mistake. And no tea, just the root. Only Nellis would turn one of the strongest healing plants into a tea,” he jested, rubbing his temples gently.
“No tea. Just bring it, a mortar and pestle and some clean water,” Addi instructed, finally feeling a few hints of optimism.
Nev pushed her eyes open and saw the blurry outlines of Addi and Wyatt hovering over her. She groaned and jerked away from them as she felt someone touching her shoulder. “Stop! Let go!” she yelled.
Wyatt was still shaky, and his head throbbed, but he moved to lean close to Nev anyway. He steadied himself on the bed and bent down to kiss her on the forehead. “I keep telling you, I can’t do that. I promised, remember?” he asked her softly.
Nev felt Wyatt’s presence and squeezed his hand that was grasping hers.
“There you are,” Wyatt sighed, feeling comforted.
Hearing Wyatt’s voice, Nev starting crying. Sagrine’s words echoed in her ears. She’d told him she didn’t believe him, but now… now doubt and sorrow gripped her. “He wouldn’t have said that… would he?” she stammered between tears.
“Said what, love?” Wyatt asked, concerned.
Nev mumbled something to herself as her crying slowed, and exhaustion began to overtake her.
“Shh… rest. You’re going to be okay. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere,” Wyatt promised, trying to reassure and soothe her.
Addi quickly applied the salve to Nev’s shoulder and badly busted lip. She watched as Nev grew calmer and seemed to be resting and then turned her attention to Wyatt. “Alright. Your turn, brother,” Addi directed, pushing him gently back onto the bed. Addi saw him refuse to release Nev’s hand and smiled. “Stubborn as always, I see.” She applied the elder root salve to Wyatt and then covered both their wounds with a clean cloth. “Alright, you two get some rest. You’ve earned it.”
Wyatt laid close to Nev carefully and made sure his hand didn’t let go of hers. He squeezed it gently as he let himself fall into a deep sleep. The last thing he remembered was hearing Addi and Nellis discuss what other odd teas Nellis drank and the feeling of Nev squeezing his hand faintly.
Chapter 43
Addi had peeked in on Nev and Wyatt a few times. The pair were both slowly improving, the elder root salve having worked a miracle on Nev’s shoulder and Wyatt’s wound. Her brother’s headache had also mostly subsided. Addi brought the pair food and water and checked on both their bandages during the first day of recovery. Once Wyatt was recuperated at all, Addi had allowed him to take over cleaning and rebandaging Nev’s shoulder. She’d also had him start taking care of his own wound. Addi knew her brother was far too stubborn to have it any other way. So, she simply reminded him that she was available if he needed anything.
After three days, hushed conversations and giggles started to be heard coming from the backroom. Addi felt relieved to hear them at first. By the fourth day, however, she was back to her normal reaction of annoyance. Normally, she would have made her aggravation known. Instead, she’d been a little preoccupied. She and Nellis had enjoyed becoming reacquainted with each other over the past few days. So, she decided to give Nev and her brother a pass. Her patience, however, was coming to an end.
With the rain slowly waining outside, Wyatt could just barely spy the slivers of moonlight slipping through the clouds. He softly kissed around Nev’s bandaged shoulder, letting his hands caress her arms, neck, and chest. Wyatt grinned as he felt Nev squirm while he continued to encourage her to wake up. He had woken to find his headache completely gone, and the wound to his stomach almost fully healed. He would have a nice scar, but he’d always heard women liked those.
He was eager to see if Nev felt as recovered as he did. They’d both needed to take time to rest and recover. Wyatt, however, woke up today feeling energized. He ran a finger lightly over her still slightly, swollen lip. Then he blew lightly in Nev’s ear and kissed her neck tenderly. The
