Page 75 of Gift from the Tree

“Okay, Willow, it looks like you have a slight concussion. There isn’t a way of healing a concussion other than rest and tonics, so you’ll need to do that for at least two days, then I’ll check on it again after that.”

I nod in understanding. Unfortunately, this isn’t my first one of those.

“And your nose is broken. No injury to the eye, jaw, or throat, just swelling and bruising. I’ll be able to help the swelling and pain, but the bruising is still going to last a day or so. You’re going to feel some warmth and strange tingling. The tingling’s going to be a little sharper than what you just felt because I’m going to set your nose back.” She pauses, giving me a chance to ask any questions. I don’t have any, so I just give her another nod.

A hand slips into mine and I slant my gaze over to Oakly, who looks both murderous and distraught. “I’m okay,” I promise.

She nods, lips pinched in disagreement, but doesn’t say anything, just holds my hand as the doctor gets to work. I instantly feel what she means about the sharper tingling, but it’s not painful, just weird. It’s over in a minute max and my face feels a thousand times better.

“That’s so much better.” I give her a bigger smile now that it doesn’t cause my face to throb.

“Good. Let’s check the rest of you out so you can get home and rest.” She begins gliding her hands over me again, stopping at my ribs. “Three broken on the right, two on the left,” she declares, then continues down to my feet, not stopping again.

When she lifts my shirt, multiple growls echo around the room, but I ignore them as she lays her hands on my ribs. The tingling starts again but is over in half the time as my nose and when I look down, I see the bruising on my ribs and hips looks pretty bad, a deep purplish-blue, but I can finally breathe without pain.

“Much better.” I sigh.

“Perfect. Gentlemen, if you’ll step outside, please,” Dr. Evie addresses the men, and they all turn to me before filing out the door.

“Do you want me to stay?” Oakly asks.

“Yes, if you’re comfortable with that.”

I know it’d probably be weird to some, but I couldn’t give a fuck right now. The new bond in my chest knows she’s a permanent fixture in my life, and I’m scared, trying to put on a brave face for the shit show that just happened, and I don’t want to be alone. So, length of friendship be damned, I need her.

“Okay, Willow, I must tell you, I’ve never removed a foreign object located inside of a vagina before, so I’m going to be as gentle as possible. Slide your pants off for me,” she says as she sits near the end of my bed. It weirds me out for a split second that she doesn’t step out of the room for me to take my pants off, but after thinking about it, that makes no damn sense. She’s about to be inside of me, searching for a “foreign object.”

“I got to be honest, I’m more nervous about this than my broken bones. This thing hurt like a bitch being placed. It’s just a small little T-shaped thing, but it felt fucking awful going in.” I can remember bleeding and shaking on the bed it hurt so bad, but I had to get my shit together quickly before Donald came back in the room.

“I’m just going to place my hand on top of your pelvic bone for a second and see if I can locate it first and have a better idea of where it is, instead of just rummaging around,” she informs me and the thought of her digging for buried treasure runs through my mind, making me laugh.

“Okay, it’s in your uterus, just past the cervix. I’m going to insert my fingers and gently pull it out if I can, Willow. I’ll push a little of my healing magic so you don’t feel any pain,” she tells me, pulling the warmth of her power to my pubic bone that coats her hand in a wet-looking material that resembles a glove. I nod at her, scared to death and prepared for the worst.

I can feel her inserting her fingers and I put a death grip on Oakly’s hand.

“You’re an absolute badass. It’s almost over,” Oakly assures me, running her hand across my forehead and moving my hair away from my face.

“I got it, Willow. You may feel a slight tug,” Dr. Evie says, concentrating hard. And then I do, just a slight pull before her healing magic washes it away. “Very good, Willow, it’s out. There’s a small amount of blood, but that should stop in just a second.”

The material around her hand disappears after she drops my IUD in a little dish beside her, gaining Oakly’s full attention as she stares at it like it’s an atomic bomb. When I laugh, a cramp and some discomfort creep up on me, but nothing as bad as what I expected. Sliding my pants back on, I move my legs to the side of the bed and try to stand but lose my footing and plop back down on the bed.

“Just stay there and I’ll go get Draken to carry you. There’s no need for all those muscles if he isn’t going to put them to good use,” Oakly jokes as she rushes out of the room to get Draken.

“I want to see you back in two days so I can check your head. And we can discuss how your body’s reacting with the IUD out. I’ll send over care instructions to Headmaster Vito,” Dr. Evie tells me with a doctorly squeeze to my arm, then makes her way over to the door, just as Draken comes crashing in.

“Are you okay? Oakly said you can’t walk.”

I look behind him to see her standing there grinning, shrugging her shoulder.

“I’m fine, just a little wabbly on my feet. Do you mind giving me a hand?” I ask him, shaking my head at her.

He doesn’t even respond, just picks me up like it’s nothing and starts walking out of the room, where Gaster, Tillman, and Corentin are still waiting, all stepping closer as we approach.

“Willow needs to get home and rest. Don’t bombard her right now,” Oakly speaks firmly as their mouths gape open, ready to pepper me with questions. “Go home and rest. Message me on my communicator when you get settled,” she says, handing me a piece of parchment with her number on it.

“Oh, I don’t have a communicator,” I tell her as I slowly reach for the paper.

“We’ll get you one when we get home,” Corentin says as he pulls his out and starts typing away.

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