Morning dawned early and bright.
What woke Mira up was not the creeping sunlight that was crawling into the room through the partially opened mini blinds.
It was the uneven sounds of Zander's breathing.
He was dreaming. It did not sound like a good dream.
At first, he merely uttered a few groans. But then he began thrashing about. His movements were wild enough to tear the IV needle from the back of his hand.
Mira jumped up from the loveseat she had been lying on and rushed to his side.
"Zander. It's ok. Zander. Please calm down. I'm right here with you. It's ok. Hush darling. Shhhhh."
Zander's eyes flew open. He stared at her, uncomprehending. The fear in his eyes was palpable.
"Zander, it's me Mira. I'm your wife. Don't you remember?"
He began howling and pushing Mira away.
The sound of thundering footsteps could be heard running down the stairs. It was Erick, Theo and Daran. They had all heard the commotion.
"Hey! Zander, buddy. It's me, your cousin Erick. You remember me?"
Zander's eyes moved towards Erick's voice in recognition.
"Here I am. It's me. See?" Eric pulled the hair band Mira had tied from his nape.
Instantly, a cascade of lush thick turquoise blue hair tumbled around his shoulders. This was the signature glamorous Erick Rashak look that everyone recognized.
Zander closed his eyes. It was as if even visual stimulation was too much for him.
Sensing his confusion, Daran and Theo stepped back into the shadows as to not alarm him further.
Erick shook his head.
I'm going to have to hook myself onto your crown sweetheart. I need to use it as an access point to communicate telepathically with Zander.
Mira nodded and established the link to Zander's energy wave pattern. She gave a thumbs-up indication to Erick.
Hey brother. It's Erick. You still remember me right? Zander? You there brother?
Erick. Zander called out in his mind. Where am I?
Tears sprang from Mira's eyes. Because she was the link between them, she could hear both of them talking.
He sounded so hopeless and so lost.
Erick placated him with a gentle soothing voice.
Zander. It's ok. Just relax. You're in your wife's house. She is taking good care of you so just relax alright?
Zander grabbed onto Erick's hand.
Don't leave me Erick.
Brother, I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay right here with you. We are going to get through this together, I promise.
Don't leave, Erick.
I'm right here. Hang in there Zander.
This seemed to calm Zander down a bit and he closed his eyes, but he gripped Erick's hand with an intensity that was heartbreaking to witness.
Mira closed her eyes for a moment—but only for a moment. She reached out and reinserted the IV needle so Zander could continue to receive his medicine through the drip bag.
Zander opened his eyes at Mira's gentle touch but he did not pull back. It seemed that as long as Erick was there, he would allowed her to do what she needed to do.
Erick, he does not recognize me.
It's ok. Time will heal him and he will remember you again.
But what if he never remembers me?
Then he will just have to get to know you again.
But he doesn't even remember that we were married.
Then he will just have to fall in love with you again.
What if he never falls—
Stay strong and have faith. I believe that the same reasons why he fell for you in the first place will be the reason why he falls for you again.
You think so?
Erick nodded. Think positive and trust in Zander. I know it's scary but we have to trust in him. Trust that he will be able to find his way back home from wherever he is.
Mira's hands shook as she readjusted his nasal cannula. She hoped Erick wasn't just saying that to make her feel better.
Faith, trust, and love.
Those were not just buzz words printed on a warm and fuzzy sign.
She had to embrace those actions because they truly were not passive emotions. It took a lot of effort to act with faith, act with trust, and act with love.
Ugh.
She needed to refocus. This was not about her. This was about Zander and his long road to recovery.
Now that he was awake, maybe she could get some medicine down his throat.
Can you persuade him to take this medicine?
Mira handed him a Dixie cup with the appropriate time/date written on it.
Allow me.
Slowly and with much patience, Erick managed to get Zander to swallow the pills.
This one action alone used up most of Zander's energy. He sank back onto the couch and closed his eyes.
Okay Zander. I'm going to transfer some energy over to you now, you hear me? You're getting a bit low.
Erick turned to Mira.
Ready?
She nodded.
Yes.
She smiled at Zander.
You're going to feel much better really soon. Hang in there Baby.
Zander opened his silver blue eyes and stared at her.
Go away. I don't know who you are. Leave me alone.
Mira took a deep breath.
Okay fine. If he could not recognize her as his wife, he would have to recognize her as his healer.
She stood up with her arms akimbo, looking down at him.
"Stop acting like a spoiled baby or I'm going to start calling you Baby. You don't need to know who I am to tolerate my presence. You just need to know I'm your healer."
Zander fixed his silver blue eyes on Mira.
She steeled herself and continued in her commanding queen voice. "You have a few injuries that need to be healed and I am going to do my best to help you heal, so stop being a baby!"
She tried her best to glare at him as if she was being firm and unyielding in her Queen's Court.
He stared at her with a confused look on his face and then he closed his eyes again.
Mira could barely choke back her tears at how pathetically gaunt and sick he was. His pale face showed clearly, his pain and confusion.
Her tall, ripped, extremely capable, devastatingly handsome husband was now a cadaverous invalid who was so broken he was barely alive and could not even remember his own wife.
She looked over at Erick.
Please start the energy transfer to him.
You got it. Ready?
Yes.
Once again, Mira found his unique colorful strands of blue and purple energy. Then she backed away to allow Eric access.
Half an hour later, Erick was satisfied that Zander's energy field was starting to recover to an adequate level.
By this time, Zander had fallen asleep again.
He's not letting me get close to him. The only thing I can do for him is to help heal his body.
We can do this. Hold onto your faith in your men.
I do have faith in both of you.
Erick reached out and cupped her face in his hands, as if he wanted to kiss her. But he remained still, as if it was an imaginary kiss he was giving her.
What he did not realize was that imaginary kiss held real emotions. Mind-bonded as they were, she could feel the depth of his feelings behind that imagined kiss.
It might as well have been a physical kiss for all the intensity of passion that he transferred to her.
========
Morning came and went and the men were getting bored so she parked them around the television and had Nellie play a testosterone-filled action movie that she thought some coarse barbaric warrior types like them would enjoy.
She called for a pizza to be delivered and then went about her nursing activities of sponge bathing her patient.
As long as he could see Erick, sitting at the other end of the living room watching something on the screen with a couple of other men, he capitulated without any fuss.
As Mira worked, she spoke to him in soft even tones, in the same manner she often spoke to Felix when she bathed him.
"Look at you. You're doing great! Your fever's down and your pain is controlled by the medicine so your body can rest a bit and not have to fight so hard." She wiped his face and cooed softly.
"I used this fresh verbena lemon scent for your bath so you will smell nice. It's got a bit of aloe vera in it so you won't smell like dishwashing liquid, I promise." She grinned.
He looked at her, uncomprehending.
"Okay. Gonna take this stanky thing off you. We have to wash the sweat off your body. Your fever broke and you've been sweating up a storm! But no worries. That's a good thing."
She pulled off the offending sheath he wore and finished wiping his upper chest area and his arms. Then covered him with the quilt and started in on his lower body.
"Okay, relax Baby. I'm just gonna clean you a bit."
Zander was her husband. She was familiar with his entire body even though they had only been together for a short time. Yet, at that moment, she felt shy about touching him.
It wasn't because she felt he had changed into a different person, but rather that in his mind, she was not his wife.
Still, healers touched strangers everywhere to do healing. The touches were not personal and could never be, so Mira tried to mentally and emotionally distance herself from her work.
She cleaned him everywhere with the verbena-scented soap water and then covered his body again. It actually made her feel better that he was feeling better.
"Now that you're all clean, let's get some rice soup into you, shall we?" Mira looked up with a gentle smile.
Her smile faltered as she faced his cold icy silver blue eyes.
"I know you're not hungry but I made some chicken soup with a bit of rice in it. Your body needs something to begin the healing process."
His eyes grew even colder.
"Hmmm. Let me go get the soup. You just hang out on the sofa and rest ok."
Erick
Yes, sweetheart?
From across the room, she could feel Erick's eyes fixated on her.
I need your help to get Zander to eat some soup I made.
You made some soup?
Yes
Let me taste it first.
Haha. You think my cooking is so bad he won't eat it?
I didn't say that.
I can feel your emotions, you goon.
Erick grinned without saying another word.
Since the soup was a simple chicken soup with rice, it was an easy pass with Erick.
It didn't take long before he was sitting alongside her as she spoon-fed the soup to Zander. He dutifully ate the soup but was only able to get half a bowl down before he turned away, unable to eat any more.
She was actually okay with that. His body could not take much food at this point anyway. He just needed to eat enough so he could take the pills.
Afternoon came around, Mira took Daran and Theo to the mall to get them some new clothes.
She was very much aware that the three of them made quite a sight. Daran was a dwarf who was not even five feet tall, and Theo was a giant at 6'8".
First they visited the petite men's store where Daran got the royal treatment, with clothes that actually fit him well.
Then they visited the big and tall men's store where Theo was able to snag several pairs of pants and jeans that fit his body well. He was also able to get some shirts that hung low enough and didn't ride up his body.
Mira took advantage of Theo's body to model a few other outfits which she grabbed for Erick.
Once Theo was completely dressed, he looked like a sports celebrity. He attracted so much attention that it was difficult to move around the shops.
By the time they got home, Mira had almost forgotten she was with a dwarf and a warg.
But Erick had not forgotten.
"Daran. I need for you to take a trip back to Ashrya. Find out what happened in Topaz."
"Yes, Your Royal Highness."
"Alfric, Ziggy, and Jana are still in the danger zone. I sent you people into the fire. If the situation is bad, get our people out of there."
"Then I will leave at twilight tonight."
"Take the warg with you. Bring him back when you return."
Theo's eyes were thankful. He needed to see for himself that Jana was unharmed.