Page 119 of Akarnae

Fletcher had to help her swallow it, lifting her up from her horizontal position on the bed so that it didn’t spill. The moment it entered her system she breathed a sigh of relief. Her entire body relaxed as her senses dulled and the pain disappeared.

“Mmm,” she hummed contentedly, lying back again. “I like that oneverymuch.”

“That’s because it’s averystrong painkiller,” Fletcher said, mimicking her emphasis. “It’ll keep you comfortable overnight, but you should come back in the morning and I’ll give you a smaller dose again.”

“Mmkay.”

“I should mention that it also has sedative properties,” Fletcher said. “You’re going to be pretty out of it for the rest of the night, and you might not remember much from now until you wake up tomorrow.”

“Mmkay,” Alex said again, in a truly agreeable mood. She feltwonderful.

“Let’s put the rest of you back together and then you can go back to your dorm and sleep it off.”

“Sounds good,” she said, her words slurring slightly. “I like sleep.”

Alex kept her eyes closed while Fletcher cleaned the cut from her fight with Kaiden and used his healing salve to erase any evidence of the wound. When he was done he asked if she was hurt anywhere else, but she couldn’t think straight in her relaxed state of mind. In the end he had to ask her classmates, and after a moment Brendan admitted to whacking her in the head with his wooden staff.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Alex murmured through a yawn.

Fletcher ignored her and inspected her skull, finding a bump but nothing too serious.

“All right, I think you’re done,” he said. “How are you feeling now?”

“Like I’m a cloud of happiness riding a rainbow of tranquillity,” she said with a contented sigh.

Muffled laughter came from the boys and Fletcher seemed to be fighting a grin when he said, “Sounds like you’re good to go, then.” He opened the curtain and looked over her classmates with a critical eye. “Who’s the least injured here?”

“Me,” Alex answered, raising her hand in the air and waving it around. “I’m already fixed, remember?”

“Whoelseis the least injured?” Fletcher corrected, giving her a warning look.

The boys discussed it quietly amongst themselves before coming to a decision.

“Probably me,” Kaiden said. “I’ve just got a bruised ankle, but it’s not too bad.”

“Can you walk?” Fletcher asked him, and Kaiden nodded. “Do you mind taking Alex back to her dorm? I think it’s best if she has an escort.”

Alex was so focused on tracing invisible patterns in the air that it took her a few moments to realise they were looking at her. “What?” she asked defensively. “The colours are pretty.”

Kaiden tried—and failed—to hide his smile, and Alex definitely heard a snort from at least one other person in the room.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here,” Kaiden said, holding his hand out to help her off the bed.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Alex,” Fletcher said. “And Kaiden, come back here once you’ve dropped her off so I can look at your ankle.”

Kaiden agreed and Alex nodded dazedly before she followed him out the door.

“Is that my fault?” she asked as they walked slowly across the grounds.

He stopped her from walking into a tree and moved her back onto the path before asking, “Is what your fault?”

“Your ankle. Is that from when I kicked you?”

“Sure is,” he said, almost sounding proud.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Don’t be,” he told her, catching her easily when she tripped over a crack in the ground and setting her back on her feet. “You did well.”

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