Page 38 of The Devil and His Sparrow

He chuckled but followed obediently. The fifteen-minute drive to Bloomings went by surprisingly fast with Zagan’s control of the radio. I typically drove in silence, but Zagan was insistent upon having music. At some point, one of his songs came on, and it was one I recognized from the rabbit hole I’d gone down that night I’d wasted three hours of my life. The moment it started playing, he switched to a different channel.

“Why’d you change it?” I asked, glancing sideways at him.

He stared out his window with his cheek pressed into his fist. “No reason.”

I bounced my eyes between the road and him, and I noticed he seemed a bit more tense than when I’d last seen him. Like he was stressed or something. I considered prying, but I thought better of it. It wasn’t like we were friends.

We pulled into Bloomings and made our way inside. My legs carried me a bit faster than usual, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. My heart pounded as I thought about what improvement I might see in Gemma after her first taste of Zagan’s blood. I knew I was probably getting my hopes up, but logic didn’t exist when hope burned brightly.

I reached Gemma’s room and stopped outside. Looking over my shoulder at Zagan, I whispered, “Wait here for a second.”

Gemma sat cozied up in her bed, flipping through a book. Just the sight of her made all the edginess seep out of my shoulders and made the air come easier in my lungs.

“Whatcha got there?” I asked from the doorway.

She looked up then, and her face brightened like this room’s very own sun. “Iyla! You’re here!”

“Of course I am,” I said, going to sit on the edge of her bed. I took her small—and noticeably cold—hands in mine. “I wouldn’t miss our visits for the world.”

She glanced behind me, and her smile cracked some. “Where’s Mom?”

I dropped my eyes, and my stomach soured. I hated having to tell her that her own mother was too busy to come see her. “She couldn’t make it today.” I met her sad eyes and forced enthusiasm back into my voice. “But I brought someone else with me.”

I held up a finger for her to wait a second and went back out into the hall where Zagan was being ambushed for autographs by patients and staff, including the group of girls who’d spotted us the last time. I fought off a sigh. I was clearly going to have to start making him wear a disguise when we came.

He noticed me peering out and excused himself. When he reached me, he whispered, “Who knew I had so many fans here?”

“I think it’s gotten worse since your visit last week,” I hissed. “Next thing you know, they’ll have posters of your face hanging over all the murals.”

He smirked. “That would definitely be an upgrade.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled him with me into Gemma’s room. I’d thought she’d been happy to see me, but that had nothing on her reaction to Zagan. It made me want to rip all of his beautiful black hair out just from spite.

“Zagan! Oh my gosh! You really came back to see me!” Gemma squealed.

Zagan’s mouth tipped up in a warm smile, and he crossed the room to sit in the chair next to her bed. “Good morning, beautiful. You having a good day so far?”

She giggled and looked up at me to whisper, “He thinks I’m beautiful.”

I couldn’t fight my grin, my previous annoyance with the superstar now gone. “That’s because you are.” I swiped the tip of her nose with my finger.

The two of them started talking about the book she was reading—a middle grade fantasy about dragons. It was almost like the two forgot I was there, but that was fine. It gave me a chance to look Gemma over without her noticing my worried gaze.

Her hair was just as dull and thin as it had been the last time I saw her. There was no new shine to it, nor any sign of restored health. Her complexion remained pale, and her little lips were chapped with a fresh split on the corner of her bottom lip. Instead of being up and full of energy, she was lying in bed, piled with two blankets, a flannel dress, and a robe.

I bit the inside of my lip to keep from crying in defeat. I knew it was going to take time for her to get better. Zagan had said it would take multiple doses. Still, not seeing any evidence of progress, even of the slightest kind, broke me a little inside.

“I’ll be right back,” I said to Gemma, interrupting their discussion of what their dream dragons would look like. “I’m gonna go talk to Dr. Seward real quick.”

“Hurry back,” Gemma chirped.

“Yeah, you still haven’t given your input on your dream dragon,” Zagan complained, and I could see how hard he fought his teasing smirk.

I ignored him and left in search of Dr. Seward. He was in his office, looking at some papers. When I knocked on the doorframe, he looked up at me. “Ahh, Iyla. Hello.”

“I’m sorry to bother you,” I said, fidgeting in the doorway. “I don’t want to take up your time. I was just popping in to see if there were any updates from this past week.”

He gave me an understanding smile, one he’d no doubt practiced over his many years of dealing with families of sick patients. “Her condition has been more or less the same. I know it’s frustrating not to have definitive answers. Illnesses that you can’t see with the naked eye and work directly on can be especially hard. But Gemma’s strong. She’s a fighter. I promise to let you and your mother know anytime we get new results or her condition changes in either direction.”

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