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She burrowed back into the warm covers She was still in her filthy clothes, but she felt the soft pressure of bandages on her feet Vaguely she re Slate’s question about her limp
A lamp on the bedside illuminated soft cream walls She was in a room, four solid walls around her It was so quiet She didn’t hear the rustling wind, or the Croven’s bells, or the sound of her running feet She looked up and saw a ceiling that was still Perfectly still She hadn’t felt this safe since she’d last been with Luround and sleek, but covered in heavy luxurious da on one wall, just a simple sketch of a tree, but the lines brimmed with expression Her eyes narrowed Was it a real Matisse? An oriental rug spread autumn colors across the floor How had Marron collected all of these things?
Sleep caain As she drifted off, she wished for another dream of Lu her mother’s favorite aria Then Lu Aria close
They’d be together again
When she woke again, she unwrapped the bandages fro bathroom, where she showered for the next hour She al over her tired muscles Her feet were a mess Bruised Blistered Scabbed She washed them and wrapped them in towels
She was surprised to find the bed made when she returned to the bedroo rested on the duvet, along with soft silk slippers A red rose sat on top of the stack Aria picked it up gingerly and breathed in the fragrance Beautiful Softer than the scent of roses in the Realms But roses in the Real about their scent? Was this his answer?
The clothes were pure white, the kind of white she hadn’t seen since she’d left Reverie, and far more fitted than the ca the change in the shapes of her legs and calves She’d grown stronger despite eating such er amounts
She heard a knock at the door "Co woman entered, dressed in a white doctor’s sh cheekbones and al in a rope that swung in front of her as she knelt by the bed She set down a steel case and unsnapped the thick buckles
"I’m Rose," she said "I’m one of the doctors here I’m here to have another look at your feet"
Another look Rose had already tended to her while she’d slept Aria sat on the bed as Rose unwrapped the towels The medical implements in the steel case were modern, similar to what they had in the Pod
"We provide aze "It’s one of the ways Marron sustains Delphi People travel weeks to receive care here These looknicely This will sting for a moment"
"What is this place?" Aria asked
"It’s been s Before the Unity it was a mine and then a nuclear shelter Now it’s one of the only places to live in safety" Rose’s eyes flicked up "We avoid trouble with the outsideto that They had shown up wounded, and with cannibals chasing after theraceful entrance
She watched quietly as Rose applied a gel to the botto sensation came, followed by relief from pain that had haunted her for a week Rose pressed a device that resembled a vitals reader to Aria’s wrist She checked the s have you been out here?"
"Eight--Ithe two days she’d been unconscious with fever
Rose’s eyebrows lifted in surprise "You’re dehydrated and undernourished I’ve never treated a Dweller before, but as far as I can tell you’re otherwise in good health"
Aria shrugged "I don’t feel like I’
She couldn’t finish the sentence No one was more surprised than she was about her health She re her head on Perry’s satchel early in their odyssey She’d been so tired and sore to the bone She still felt that way, like her muscles and her feet needed to heal, but now she had the sense they would heal She didn’t feel crarip of illness
Howwould it take to fix the Smarteye and reach Lumina?
Rose returned the reader to the case
"Did you treat Peregrine?" Aria asked "Who I came here with?" She could too easily picture the blisters across the solid bones of his knuckles
"I did You’ll heal faster than he will" She rested her hand on the opened lid, ready to close it "He’s been here before"
Aria knew she was being baited "Has he?"
"A year ago We grew close," Rose said, leaving no rooht we did Scires will do that They know exactly what to say and how it affects you They’ll give you what you want, but they won’t give you the unmarked skin around her biceps "Not unless you’re one of them"
"That was soopen of you," Aria said She couldn’t help i Perry with her Beautiful A handful of years older than Aria and Perry both She felt her face go hot but couldn’t stop herself fro the next question "Do you still love hihed "It’s probably best if I don’t answer that I’m married now and with child"
Aria stared at Rose’s flat stomach Was she always this candid? "I don’t knohy you’re telling me all of this"
"Marron told etting into I kneould never work I think you should know too"
"Thanks for the warning but I’ Besides, Perry and I are just friends Even that’s questionable"
"He wanted me to see to you first until he learned you were asleep He toldabout it I don’t think there’s much question at all" Rose shut the case with a loud snap, the hint of a smile on her lips