Page 401 of Alchemised
His face twisted. “I’m not—I was still—” He gestured at his chest. “It was something—to my spine, I think. I couldn’t see. Couldn’t move. I don’t remember when my eyes stopped—”
Helena’s throat closed, but she kept her voice steady. “Well, your heart is stable now. I don’t know how long the neurological symptoms might last. The best thing is to rest and give your body time to recover.”
The servants finally returned, carrying several wooden cartons of medical supplies.
Helena sat beside him, going through their contents. Many more vials of the stimulant, which she hoped not to need. Kaine fell asleep after a little while but kept jerking, his fingers twitching spasmodically. He’d start awake, still blind, searching for her, his fingers grasping, trying to feel her heartbeat.
Helena would reassure him that she was fine, and he’d pass out again.
She worried the most about his spasticity. He kept tensing, twitching, his muscles curling inwards, hands and fingers curving into claws.
Helena knew the stimulant caused withdrawal symptoms like that, but she was worried about those symptoms being combined with some kind of brain or spinal injury. Should she have let him be? Was it possible for him to end up with permanent nerve damage? He regenerated so poorly now.
She took his right hand in hers, working at it slowly, knuckle by knuckle, until the muscles were no longer curved and rigid. Every time she moved her thumbs, the tendons twinged against the nullium, but she didn’t care. She kept going, working up his arm to his shoulders, and then she started on the other hand. A gnawing pain radiated up her left arm, but she couldn’t stop.
This was all she could do, and she would do it.
She checked his heart. It was finally steady. His expression relaxed when she spoke. So she talked to him softly, about anything she could think of. All the things she’d always meant to tell him.
After half a day without waking, she hooked him up to a saline drip. He still didn’t stir. A few times, she heard footsteps in the hallway, but if Atreus was lurking about the house again, he didn’t come too near.
Finally, Kaine’s eyes fluttered and opened, falling on her.
She went very still. “Can you see me?”
He squinted. “Shapes at least.” He squeezed his eyes shut, wincing and reopening them. “I think it’s getting better.”
“Good.” She nodded shakily. “I was thinking perhaps the heart injury could have caused blood clotting, or maybe there was nerve strain. Either could cause temporary blindness.”
He gave an absent nod because it hardly mattered either way. His fingers trailed over, finding her. “Are you all right?”
“Of course,” she said, grateful he couldn’t see clearly, because she was too exhausted to lie convincingly.
He started to close his eyes, but then they snapped open again. “My father is at my door.” He sat up stiffly with a groan. “I need to go deal with him. There’s still arrangements I haven’t—”
Helena caught him by the shoulder. “You can’t get up yet. You’re not recovered.”
He placed his hand over hers, trying to squeeze, but instead his fingers spasmed. “My father cannot find me here. I don’t need to recover anymore. You have to leave tonight. I can’t make it a perfect trip, but there’s enough in place. You’ll be able to manage.”
“T-Tonight?”
He said nothing else. He stood up, pulling the needle from his arm, and dressing quickly. He struggled with the buttons on his shirt; Helena had to help him.
“My eyes are getting better already,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I can see how disapproving you look.”
He took her hands in his and after some difficulty managed to get his fingers steady enough to remove the manacles. She locked the copper back around her wrists herself.
“Keep the door locked,” he said. “I’ll be back by nightfall.”
CHAPTER 73
Julius 1789
HELENA STUDIED THE ROOM AROUND HER. IT was still cold there, even in the heat of summer. All the iron did not allow for much warmth. The sheets of her bed were stained with blood. The scent of decay lingered on the air, a creeping necrotic rot that had infected everything in her life.
It was strange to stand inside a prison, and dread leaving it.
She heard shouting and went to the window in time to see Kaine emerging from the front doors. He was moving more easily now. Atreus stood in the doorway, screaming at him with such rage that Helena couldn’t make out his words.
