Page 79 of Soar

“While we can do the work, very few of us—and that includes the Abe Clan—have medical licenses.”

The full implication of what Sora said hit Salem squarely, and he blew out an understanding “Ah.”

No wonder, then. They’d be able to treat their own here at home with no issue. But if something happened and they were drawn outside of their community? Then their hands would figuratively be tied unless they were willing to break laws in an emergency. Damn. Talk about a tough spot to be in.

“I’m one of the few who does,” Sora continued with an easy shrug. “But I wanted to travel the world as a nonprofit doctor, so I went the extra mile to get the license. You can see, though, how we desperately need you. You’re legal.”

In a stunning moment of clarity, he completely understood what they were saying. Why they were so anxious and excited to teach him, to make him one of them. He might very well be better put to use here than at his old hospital. It wasn’t like he was replaceable here.

The door opened and Ha Na waltzed in. “Oh, am I late? Did you start already?”

“Barely,” Amaru assured her, waving her into the chair next to Salem’s. “Still covering the basics of what all magic can do.”

Salem rubbed his forehead, feeling like he’d been given too many surprises all at once. “I thought my first talk with Sora covered all of this, but it turns out that was the summary of the summary, in a sense.”

“There’s so much to learn,” Amaru commiserated with him. “Sora’sstillteaching me what he considers basics.”

“And I spent forty years with all the basics,” Sora tacked on. “So don’t rush, Salem. There’s time.”

Ha Na’s eyes bounced around the group, her face lighting up. “Oh! Oh, he’s staying?”

“I’m staying.” Salem said this firmly because he one hundred percent meant it. “I’m not returning to America. At least for the foreseeable future, until we hit a make-or-break point. Like hell will I do that after what happened with Gregori.”

Ha Na reached right over and hugged him, her hair smelling of citrus and sun.

“Thank you,” she whispered against his ear. “Thank you so much. For loving Gregori enough to change, but also for staying. My own children will need you in the future.”

“You think I’m better than these three?”

“Once you’re caught up, you will be.” She leaned back, releasing him, her smile warm and grandmotherly. “Trust me. Sora and Amaru wouldn’t be so excited to teach you otherwise.And you can still help the children while you’re learning. Really, learning is a lifetime endeavor. You never really stop.”

The truth of her words hit home. Salem believed this firmly as well. She was right, he shouldn’t look at it as “I can’t work until I’ve learned everything” but more of an apprenticeship. He’d learn while on the job. Although he’d definitely be cramming the basics in first.

“Speaking of, let’s learn a spell.” Sora scribbled something down in a notebook and passed it over to Salem. “This is the diagnostics spell. Try it on Ha Na.”

He picked it up, accepted the bottle of captured sunshine Amaru offered him, and used it to power the spell. Which he pronounced very carefully.

“Shor dene zata na gev adi.”

The lines immediately drew themselves in the air above Ha Na. Exactly as he’d seen when Sora enacted this very spell. It was heartening for a full second before he realized he had no idea what he was looking at.

“Uh…I read this like a monitor screen last time, was I right or…?”

Sora stood from the table, coming around to his side, and started pointing. “You were right. The numbers above her heart indicate heart rate. Look at it the way you would a physical monitor.”

Salem focused there and read aloud, “Eighty. All right, so I know heart rate is normal.”

“Yup. Now, focus here below it. This is blood pressure.”

“One twenty-two over seventy. Wow, Ha Na, that’s an amazing BP for a woman of your age. I’d have thought you were forty with numbers like this.”

She preened, pleased with herself. “Honestly, it wasn’t so good when I first came into the clan. But with Sora and nowAmaru monitoring my health, it’s improved greatly. At this rate, I think I’ll de-age.”

“Physically, you’ve done just that.” Sora gave her a smile before pointing to the next number, lower down. “You see here there’s a red number.”

“Oh, yes, right over the abdomen.”

“What does it look like to you?”

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