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(Jenny gasped and put down the journal. It was late in the evening, and Chidwi was suddenly behind her on the back of the chair, patting Jenny’s cheek in empathy for her shock.
Jenny remembered Tarafau had once commented that Lizzie had brought down a troll in combat, but never that she had killed. It was comforting to know that Lizzie survived to become not only an agent but a gate guardian, but she had no idea that Lizzie’s agent training had turned out to be as challenging as her own journey as a fledgling gate guardian in such a different way.
She found herself remembering waking up that night when Sam had abducted her and tortured her, only to have Bob and Burt come to her rescue.
Now she related to her aunt’s journey even more. It was very late; and, more than likely, if Burt had been there, she would have been told to put the journal down and go to sleep.
However, she needed to know. She could always sleep in...)
Lizzie awoke in a white room, not in her bed, and for a moment she wondered where she was. “Lizzie is awake!” came a celebratory exclamation from Ynni. Lizzie tried to turn her head to see her but couldn’t. Her neck was in some kind of brace. Ynni’s face soon appeared however, as she perched on Lizzie’s chest.
“Lizzie is going to be better. Lizzie will be fine, healers say so. Lizzie must be calm, and Ynni is here to help with calm.”
“Geln... is he...” Lizzie couldn’t finish the sentence.
“It is sad. The one Geln has passed the veil to the next dimension, Lizzie. Brother Gelns were also injured but are healing at their home for now. The Geln body is preserved and has been taken to Geln’s home. When the living Gelns have healed and are ready, they will return to mourn with their pod family.”
“What happen after I was hit? I remember seeing you and Liliath coming across the training ground, and then nothing.”
“We surrounded the ‘bad ones,’ the professors and troopers on one side and me and Liliath on the other. They stopped fighting at once when they saw Liliath. They have been taken and are being questioned by trained agents. The council is bringing representatives from their dimensions in to see if this goes farther than some dissatisfied trainees.
“Liliath has been in to see you, but you were sleeping. She will return when she knows you are awake.”
“What about the rest of my podmates?”
“Gi is in the next bed, sleeping. She has a number of cuts and bruises and some internal injuries, as she was dealt more blows than you. When the troll went down, she was struck by his club. Feth has a broken arm but is healing.
“Other than some bruises, you seem to have only one injury, to the back of the head. Your podmates will be in to see you when the healer clears you for visitors.”
Lizzie thought about what she could remember of the fight. It all had happened so fast, and she had only seen and heard things around the peripheral, outside of the focus Lall had trained them to achieve. She and Gi had fought as they had been taught, as a team, nearly vanquishing all of those sent against them.
She still didn’t understand why it had happened and wondered what would happen next. After all, they had a dead companion to mourn, injuries that needed healing, and their training to complete. They had been scheduled for another holiday, but Lizzie doubted she would want to head home yet.
She fumed at her current helpless state, immobilized and unable to do anything but just lie there. Ynni seemed to sense this and began to croon softly. Surprisingly, Lizzie did feel her muscles begin to relax, responding not only to the soft buoyant melody, but to the waves of mental comfort Ynni was emanating.
As she lay there, a tall slender being, nearly hairless with no apparent ears or nose, came into her view. Her oval face had a bluish cast, and her eyes were large. “I am Xia, a Drimm healer. I must examine you. It is good to see you conscious. All were concerned that the blow to your neck did too much damage. Please lie still as I check to see how you are progressing.”
Xia held up a device like a small tablet. The screen had indecipherable characters on it. She panned around Lizzie’s head several times and up and down her throat, across her shoulders, and then down her torso. She then examined the results on the screen.
“You are progressing faster and beyond our original hopes for you. According to these results, the healing we have done so far has had a good effect. According to our understanding of Earth physiology, you will need to stay in the brace in bed for a few more days; then you will need to wear a support collar and shoulder brace with very light duty for at least a couple of weeks.
“You will be allowed guests, starting today, with the caution that they not over-excite you. I understand you lost a member of your pod and that they are in mourning. I also know they may have a lot to tell you about the battle you were engaged in and the parts you missed. If at any time it becomes too stressful for you, your linkling companion will notify us. Understood?”
Lizzie started to nod and then remembered she couldn’t. “Yes, Xia, I understand. Do you think there will be permanent damage? Something that would prevent me from completing my training?”
“We do not think so, Lizzie Japhet, but it will be some time before you are healed sufficiently to engage in strenuous physical activity. You can do all other things related to your training, and appropriate assignments will be made during that healing process. At some point, you will need some physical retraining to rebuild the muscles and strengthen your neck and shoulders.
“There is a slight concussion as well that may mean you will have headaches and occasional dizziness until you are fully healed. It is encouraging that you are not only awake but alert enough to be able to ask such questions.
“If you have no more questions, I must report to the chief healer and get a message to Liliath. She is very concerned.”
“Actually, what about Gi? Is she just sleeping or...?”
“Your friend Gi is sleeping after surgery and has been given a calming tea to relax her. She will recover, probably quicker than you, but she will be in our care for a few days yet. I expect she will awake soon.”
Lizzie breathed a deep sigh of relief. It was bad enough they had lost a third of Geln, but to have lost Gi as well... she did not think she could have handled that.
“An apprentice healer will come in a few moments with a healing soup that you can take through a straw. I suggest you take in as much as your body will allow. The nutrients in it will speed healing. If you need us, tell your linkling. She knows how to get our attention.”
And with that, Xia turned and left.
Before Lizzie could take in all that had passed between her and Xia, a woman with dark eyes and a long black braid hanging over one shoulder of her bright blue uniform came to her side with a container, out of which extended a long flexible tube.
“Your soup, Lizzie Japhet,” she announced cheerfully. “I am Cassidy. I will help you for the rest of your stay with us. I understand you are from California. I am also from Earth. My father is Shepherd, guardian of the Canada gate. I believe you have met. Because I grew up knowing what he did and having an interest in healing as well as dimensional travel, with the recommendation of my dad and the other Earth gate guardians, I came here for my medical training.”
She squeezed a bulb at the end of the tube closest to the container a few times which pumped some amber liquid within a few inches of the end of the tube which she placed in Lizzie’s mouth.
“Just suck as you need to. The container is in a holder next to the bed. I’ve been instructed that your linkling, Ynni is it? Your linkling will be here to aid you and take away the tube when you are satisfied. I will be checking on you regularly, along with your friend, Gi. You can call out my name vocally if you need me as well. I am within hearing distance.”
“Thank you, Cassidy. This is delicious, and I appreciate your help. I’ll try not to be a patient who tries your patience,” Lizzie sent with a smile, grateful that the tube in her mouth didn’t prevent her from communicating via mindspeech.
She found that her throat was a bit sore and swallowing and using the muscles necessary to suck on the tube was a lot like any muscles would be after a long break between workouts. Nevertheless, taking breaks between swallows made it bearable.
From the bed she could not see at her left, she heard a yawn and rustling as Gi woke. “Lizzie! You’re awake! I’m so glad you made it. I was really worried when they carried you in on a stretcher soon after they put me in this bed. I didn’t get a chance to see what they did to you, as they whisked me away to surgery right after. I’ve been awake a couple times since. Xia said they’d done their best for you and that they would have to wait to see whether it was enough. I know you can’t turn your head to see me, and they won’t let me out of the bed just yet, but if you could see me, you would see I am grinning like Geln on the dance floor. So sorry a third of him didn’t make it.”
All of this had been said in a rush, as if she had been waiting anxiously to say it. She trilled a delighted arpeggio of sound as she spoke, ending in a more somber sustained chord. Since their visit to Gi’s home world, Lizzie had asked her to sing her words as well as mindspeech, because she had found herself wishing she had the time and space someday to learn the musical language of the Finquian people. She imagined it would be very different from anything she had ever tried.
“I think I will be okay, but not up to any workouts soon,” she sent back with a soft rueful laugh. It hurt to laugh, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Nor me. I think they put me back together pretty well, and they said none of the injuries would cause any permanent disabilities. But it sure hurts like crazy. When you got smashed in the back of the neck by that brute, I lost focus and got slugged in the gut. Lucky for all of us Liliath came when she did. We fought a good fight, but we couldn’t have held out much longer without more of us being seriously injured... or worse.
“I’m really worried about Geln. The two who are left are seriously disoriented without their brother. Of all of us, I am concerned that the wounds to their hearts might never fully heal.”
Lizzie finally admitted she couldn’t suck any more out of the cup and told Ynni so. Ynni gently removed the tube from her mouth and laid it next to the cup by her bed. Obviously, if she couldn’t even make it through a cup of soup in one go, she had a bit more healing to do than she had hoped she would.
She wanted so badly to go to her pod to mourn with them. She was grateful that Gi, at least, was here. She hoped it wouldn’t be long before her podmates would be allowed to come in for a visit. She also wanted a long talk with Liliath. She wanted to know what was happening and silently fumed that she was stuck, unable to move and do for herself.
“I’m not very good at waiting, Gi. I wish I knew what was happening out there. And I hate that we are now in a holding pattern about our training. I hope this isn’t holding the others back as well.”
“I don’t think it will. They are giving them a break and allowing them to go home for a short holiday when they are ready. The doctors seem to think that Liliath wants the pod to continue to move forward together.”
Lizzie wanted to reply that this would be good, but that she didn’t want to hold the others back. However, there must have been some more of those calming herbs in the soup. She felt herself drifting off to sleep before she could finish the thought.
