Page 61 of Soar

Salem crossed to him quickly, putting a hand to Gregori’s forehead with a frown. “You’re burning up. Gregori, you should have told me you weren’t feeling good.”

“Came on suddenly,” Gregori said, then turned his head to cough. “I wasn’t feeling this bad this morning.”

“And you defused a bomb in this condition? You crazy person. All right, home we go.”

“Twist my arm,” Gregori joked with a strained and tired half smile.

Salem seriously did not like seeing him in such a poor state. Perhaps the silver lining to the bomb was being able to take Gregori home and look after him. He had plenty of medication at home, although he’d have to order in food later.

He bundled Gregori into the car. At this time of the day, traffic wasn’t horrific, so he was able to get them home without too much trouble. Gregori shuffled more than walked as they went up, his usual grace and energy just gone.

Gregori insisted on a shower, which was probably a good idea, considering everything. Salem shoved him in, pulling out a fever reducer and something for his cough. The second Gregori was out again, he dried the man’s long hair, as wet hair in winter wouldn’t help this situation get any better. Then he did an exam, but aside from the fever and cough, he couldn’t find anything to put his finger on. It was more a general malaise. Perhaps a cold?

“Cuddles?” Gregori requested plaintively.

Salem didn’t have the heart to argue when the man clearly felt terrible. “Sure.”

Gregori blinked at him. “Really?”

“Yup. In bed you go.”

There was his pretty smile. Gregori still shuffled, but he was very eager to get into the bed. The second Salem slid in next to him, Gregori curled up around him, arm over his waist, happy as a clam.

It took exactly two minutes and then he was out like a light.

Salem smoothed back hair from Gregori’s forehead, frowning down at him. He really didn’t like seeing his man sick like this. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

Those magic lessons in medicine definitely needed to happen sooner rather than later.

The next day, Salem woke to a still very sick dragon. Gregori’s fever had broken during the night, at least, but he clearly wasn’t doing any better. Salem fortunately had the day off, so he was determined to stick close and nurse his, er, boyfriend better.

This morning he took extra care to sneak out of bed, leaving Gregori sleeping, because right now sleep was the best medicine.

He thought about postponing his talk with Sora, but…Gregori had been true to his word and organized a Skype talk with him, and Salem was far too excited to postpone it. He had so, so many questions for the man. If he had possessed any idea of Sora knowing magic medicine, he’d have bent the man’s ear during the wedding. It just proved he and Sam really didn’t talk enough. Salem made a promise to himself he’d fix that because he was too disconnected from his twin’s life.

Anyway, he took the call while sitting at his kitchen table so he could take notes. He’d ask more about colds, too, with the hopes of helping with Gregori’s condition.

Promptly at nine, Skype started ringing. Salem hit Accept, feeling much like a new medical student, with the same kind of interest and anticipation. Learning new things was always exciting!

Sora looked a touch tired, as all fathers of young children were, but his smile was bright and without shadows. He spoke in a confident, unhurried manner, his voice smooth and pleasant. “Salem, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, Sora. Thanks so much for this, I honestly have more questions than anything after what Gregori told me.”

“I’m hopefully full of answers.”

Salem had no doubt he would be. “All right, give me the basics here. What all can spells, potions, and magical medicine do?”

“More than what modern medicine can do,” Sora answered bluntly. “Off the top of my head, it can correct vision, heal torn muscles and ligaments, correct illnesses and deformities of organs, et cetera.”

He stared at the man, quite sure Sora was pulling his leg. “Are you…are you kidding?”

“I’m not even exaggerating.”

Sora felt like his brain was a gerbil on a wheel, starting to panic as it moved in an unexpected way. “For instance…?”

“Hmm, for instance, had a case yesterday where one of the mages fell off the roof while they were doing some building work. Broke their leg in three places, tore ligaments, including Achilles tendon, the works.”

Salem winced. Just a torn Achilles tendon took a year to heal. It was no joke.

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