“I don’t accept that!” Liv declared. “I can’t. The Kindred have an incredibly advanced system of medicine, Sylvan. Surely there must be something you haven’t tried.”
He shook his head. “Unfortunately, this is not the first case of soul poisoning I’ve treated—or tried to treat. It starts in the soul but because your spirit is anchored to your body, eventually it affects everything. The symptoms are always the same—at first the victim feels nothing. Then the place where he—or in this case she—was wounded begins to show curling dark green lines, just below the surface of the skin. That’s the poison working its way from the soul into the body and ultimately to the heart. As the lines progress, the symptoms progress as well. Weakness, dizziness…”
“And then what?” Sophie demanded.
Sylvan sighed reluctantly. “And finally intense pain and death. But once she reaches that stage there are drugs we can give her—”
“To ease her pain? To help her die? No!” Liv shook her head emphatically. “Kat’s our friend—our best friend, Sylvan. And she’s a young, healthy woman. Don’t start talking that hospice shit to me—don’t you dare.”
“There has to be another way—something we can do. There has to.” Tears were rolling down Sophie’s cheeks now but she couldn’t seem to stop them. “Please, Sylvan!”
Sylvan looked almost as upset as she felt. “Talana—”
“There is something—at least we hope there is.” Lock came up behind them, and despite her distress, Sophie thought the light twin looked worse than she had ever seen him. His dark green uniform shirt and black pants were stained and dirty and the expression on his handsome features was one of weariness beyond endurance.
“What? What is it?” She and Liv both spoke eagerly at the same time.
“Deep has gone back to Twin Moons to beg help from Mother L’rin. She healed Kat the first time, we have hopes that she may be able to do it again.”
“What?” Sylvan frowned. “Deep has already left the med station? I was told he was gravely injured.”
Lock shrugged. “You know how quickly we Twin Kindred heal—Deep was already on the mend, even before we left the planet.” He cleared his throat. “It is his heart, not his body, that is broken now. He took a quick shower and left—against the advice of your colleague, I might add.”
“Twin Kindred do heal well and cleanly,” Sylvan admitted grudgingly. “You’re especially lucky your internal organs are self-sealing after any kind of blunt trauma or puncture wound. But I still would have liked to have a look at him myself.”
“We felt there wasn’t time to waste.” Lock spoke in a low voice and nodded at the entrance to the med center where Kat was resting in one of the private rooms. “If there is a cure for soul poisoning at all, it would be better to apply it early rather than to wait until the disease progressed to the…the later stages.” He coughed and looked away but not before Sophie saw the glint of tears in his brown eyes.
“True,” Sylvan said. “Well then, please let me know what he finds out.”
“Can we see Kat now?” Liv demanded.
“Certainly.” He nodded gravely.
Liv was already striding toward the med center entrance but Sophie hung back. “Does…does she know? About the poisoning? About how there’s no…no known cure?” Her throat was so tight she could barely get the words out.
“She knows,” Sylvan said quietly. “I don’t believe in keeping such things from patients.” He pulled Sophie into a tight embrace and buried his face in her hair. Softly, he spoke through their link. “I’m sorry, Talana. So sorry there isn’t more I can do. I know how very dear Kat is to you and Olivia.”
“She’s more than a friend—she’s like our sister.” Sophie wanted to cry again but she was afraid she would never stop if she did. “I know you’re trying,” she said aloud, kissing Sylvan on the cheek. “I won’t blame you if…if… I won’t blame you. No matter what happens.”
He drew back, searching her eyes for a long moment. “But I’ll blame myself. I want so much to make you happy—I’d do anything I could to keep you from pain. Anything.”
“Don’t. Don’t, Sylvan. I know.” Sophie kissed him again. “I have to go, Liv is waiting for me.”
He nodded. “Go then. I’ll be here if you need me.”
“I know.” She tried to smile but couldn’t quite manage it. She was still swiping tears from her eyes when she caught up to Olivia, who was hovering just outside the closed door of Kat’s room.