Chapter 167: Enhanced Senses

Elara:

What could possibly be worse than slapping Reign Valemont in front of a crowd?

Apparently, kicking him straight out of a hospital bed in front of a group of people and then having him glare at me like he was mentally calculating exactly how much trouble he could cause me without getting arrested.

It had been hours since that incident, and he hadn’t stopped looking at me like I’d personally committed some unforgivable crime. Not that I was scared. Absolutely not. Maybe a little embarrassed, especially considering the nurse, two doctors, Esmeray, Lorien, Kairo, and Alaric had all witnessed the entire thing. But there had been no other choice. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

The doctors had just finished examining me, and the nurse was now carefully removing the support they had placed around my fractured hand.

I watched as she flexed my fingers gently and confirmed that the fracture had already healed. Completely. The doctor looked almost as surprised as I was when he examined the scans and explained that my injuries had healed at a speed that shouldn’t have been possible.

"Your body appears to have a natural self-healing ability," he explained, still studying the results. "The injuries you sustained yesterday should have taken at least two or three days even with assistance of healing magic. Yet your fractures are already healed, and most of the tissue damage has repaired itself overnight."

He paused before adding that all I really needed now was another dose of healing medicine for the remaining exhaustion and soreness, after which I should be allowed to get discharged.

I wasn’t exactly surprised by the discovery anymore. Over the past few months, I had spent enough time in the infirmary to hear healers whisper about the strange way my body recovered.

Even back in Florida, I had always seemed to heal faster than everyone around me. I rarely got sick, and even when I did manage to end up with a bruise, cut, or minor injury, it usually disappeared within two or three days. At the time, I’d simply assumed I was lucky. Nothing about it had ever seemed extraordinary enough to make me question it. But things had changed since coming to Starfall.

The more my seal loosened, the stronger my body seemed to become. The first few times the healers had mentioned it, I hadn’t thought much of it, but now the difference was impossible to ignore.

Yesterday I had suffered a fractured hand, broken ribs, a deep wound in my thigh, a massive gash across my shoulder, and enough cuts and bruises to make the healers stare at me in disbelief. Yet less than twenty-four hours later, most of it had already healed.

I couldn’t help wondering if my self-healing was connected to the seal. Maybe as more of my original power returned, my body was slowly remembering what it was supposed to be capable of.

Whatever the reason, I wasn’t complaining. If becoming more powerful meant spending less time trapped inside hospital rooms, I was perfectly willing to accept it.

I asked the doctors about Jasper again before they could leave, because apparently I wasn’t capable of allowing them to escape without making sure I knew every possible detail about his condition.

Thankfully, they reassured me that he was stable, resting, and responding well to treatment. He still needed time to recover, but the immediate danger had passed. That was enough to ease the knot that had remained lodged in my chest since yesterday.

Once they finally left, I barely had enough time to settle back against the pillows before I heard footsteps approaching from the hallway. At first, I thought I was imagining it.

Ever since waking that morning, something about the world had seemed sharper. My eyesight appeared clearer, allowing me to notice details across the room that I wouldn’t normally have been able to see. My hearing had become strangely sensitive too. I could hear footsteps beyond my closed door, quiet conversations happening in the hallway, even the faint clinking of medical equipment several rooms away. And then there was my sense of smell. I could smell the antiseptic, the medicinal herbs stored somewhere nearby, the faint scent of snow drifting through an open window, and even the different scents belonging to the people around me.

At first, I’d wondered whether I was simply overthinking everything after the accident. But the longer I paid attention, the more obvious it became. My senses had genuinely improved.

That realization became even more obvious when I heard Esmeray outside my ward. I heard Lorien’s voice first, questioning where Esme had disappeared for the past hour.

There was a brief pause before Esme answered, his voice slightly sheepish as he admitted that he had gone to a nearby diner and asked to use their kitchen. He had cooked something for me because I hadn’t eaten since yesterday afternoon and he didn’t want me forced to eat the bland hospital food.

I blinked at the ceiling for several seconds. He had actually gone somewhere and cooked for me. Before I could process that, the door opened and he walked inside carrying a lunchbox filled with food. The smell alone made my stomach growl embarrassingly loudly.

His lips curved faintly as he placed everything on the small table beside my bed, and before I could even protest, he adjusted my pillows and carefully helped me into a sitting position.

"You need to eat," he said simply.

I didn’t argue even for a second. Whatever questions I had about him cooking for me could wait. I thanked him quietly and began eating, only realizing halfway through the meal just how hungry I actually was.

As I ate, my eyes occasionally drifted around the room, taking in the men who had somehow remained there through everything. All five of them. Reign included, although I still refused to look at him for too long after the whole kicking incident.

I hadn’t expected them to come to the hospital in the first place. Lorien, yes. He was the Headmaster, and my safety was technically his responsibility. But the four heirs? They could have arrived, made sure I was alive, and left.

Instead, they had stayed. They had stayed through the night while I slept. They had remained even when the hospital staff repeatedly reminded them that only one or two visitors were supposed to be allowed in my room. Apparently, those rules had eventually become irrelevant because none of the men had shown the slightest intention of leaving.

Kairo had returned after his brief break. Alaric had barely moved from his place near the window. Reign was still here despite the fact that I had literally kicked him out of my bed. Esme had disappeared for an hour only to return with food he had cooked himself. Even Lorien kept coming and going between the investigation outside and my room.

I didn’t know what to make of it.

These men had spent months making my life complicated in entirely different ways, and now they were all sitting around me as though leaving my side had never been an option.

I wasn’t sure whether it meant something or whether the accident had simply shaken all of us badly enough to blur the lines that normally existed between us. And honestly, thinking about it made my head hurt. So I decided not to.

For once, I would let things remain unanswered. I would eat my meal, make sure Jasper was okay, recover from the accident, and see what happened next.

Whatever was happening between the five of them and me could wait.

For now, I was alive. Jasper was alive. And somehow, all five of them seemed to care.