Chapter 92 - 86 - Stubborn Medicine
Taika took in a deep breath and held it. She was a healer. That wasn't just an extension of her magical capabilities – it was who she was. As much as she could fight, her real calling was to ease people's suffering, to bring her order to the chaos of the universe. Her magic was an extension of her very soul.
And Shouri was counting on her. Her partner, the Maestro who chose her out of every other Resonator in the world, the one who approached her and said "You, I want you."
Releasing her held breath, she opened her eyes. It was just her and Shouri, Rebecca having been sent back to the MA Office for the moment.
"Relax Taika, it's fine." Shouri smiled at her. "I trust you."
That was the worst thing he could say, especially being as heartfelt as he was, it just made her swoon and lose focus. Though she'd snap back to reality when the doctor returned. Behind him was a nurse pushing a cart full of medical equipment, hopefully, they wouldn't require it when she was through.
"Alright Shouri, are you ready?" the doctor asked.
"Don't ask me, ask her." He motioned to Taika.
The doctor scrutinized the lunar fox for a moment. She wore a determined gaze, nervous, but determined all the same. "Your etude is certainly strong. Only someone who thoroughly cares would be as nervous as she is." He nodded, approving of the Resonator.
The doctor lowered Shouri's bed, flattening it out so the Maestro was laid out as flat as possible. "Excuse me." The doctor moved the boy's gown up exposing his bandaged mid-section. "This might sting a little bit, but I'm going to remove your bandages. An etude expert like yourself must know rhythm passes most efficiently through direct touch," they spoke slowly and gently.
Shouri simply held a thumbs up and the nurse accompanying the doctor got to work delicately removing the dressing over the patient's wound. Taika's resolve flickered upon seeing the true nature of what lurked underneath the bandages keeping her Maestro together, her heart raced with fear. How did he survive this!? It was such a big wound, making a line from the bottom of his rib cage down to his gut.
"First time?" The doctor remained calm in the face of the wound.
"I probably looked worse before they cleaned me up," Shouri chuckled, trying not to put any more strain on the wound than needed.
"Most of the hard work has been done," the doctor told Taika. "If we lived in a world without magic, he certainly could have died from this wound, it would have been impossible to stabilize him long enough to get him into surgery," they advised her. "Even with the limits of your magic, do know you can still make miracles happen with the tools at your disposal."
Taika nodded.
The nurse stepped around the bed and cleaned Taika and Shouri's hands with disinfectant. "Take her hand," the nurse instructed Shouri, who did as he was told. Next was the instructions for Taika. "Now rest your hand on the center of the wound, be careful not to apply any pressure, and let it sit naturally."
With no hesitation, Taika gently laid her hand over her Maestro's wound. "Excellent." The doctor nodded. "Go ahead and cast La Bella Vita at Presto rank please, use the Staccato modifier," they advised the Maestro.
"Got it." Shouri paused, focusing on his rhythm and connection with Taika. "La Bella Vita, Rubato," he cast in defiance of the instructions given.
"What?! Don't!" the doctor shouted.
"Relax," Shouri said as Taika's hand began to glow with a warm light. "I trust her."
Despite giving his healer full access to his rhythm, Shouri noted she was controlling it perfectly fine – his trust was not misplaced (not that he ever doubted his loyal fox for a moment).
Taika meanwhile focused on the task at hand, there was a reason they wanted to limit her output. Magic could heal too fast, at least in deep wounds like this is what she reasoned out. Her Maestros flow of knowledge-rich rhythm coursed through her network of rhythm making her thoughts crystal clear and focused.
A will she wanted to exert upon her healing: start deep, heal out from the furthest point of damage, ease the chaos away, and chase it from her Maestro's core. That's how she directed her magic to function, ease it out, gently, slowly, free him from his pain. Those are the thoughts that floated around in her head as she committed herself to the task.
Healing surface wounds didn't require this much concentration. Shoot, she didn't even need this much focus when Rebecca decided it would be funny to compress Andi's face with her foot when they "sparred" three weeks ago.
This injury was the real deal. Shouri really… could have easily… died.
She felt her rhythm shift as the intrusive line of thinking shook her. No! She dismissed that dreadful thought away with a quick burst of her rhythm. Even if she was still getting over an ailment of her own, he needed her to be strong. He NEEDED her. She was NEEDED.
The vixen's eyes opened, blue rhythm wildly raging behind her eyes, glowing with such firm conviction and ferocity that the doctor and nurse were robbed of speech.
A stubborn healer is a good healer.
BEEEEEEEP!