"Hurry!"

Before I knew how much time had passed, he knelt down on the opposite side of Cordira and gripped my shoulder to halt me, carefully placing his other hand over Cordira's abdomen wound. He watched me concernedly for a moment as I sat back on my feet and tried to catch my breath, but I was still only worried about her.

"Help her!" I demanded breathlessly, beginning to feel lightheaded again. I didn't understand why he seemed to be afraid that I was going to collapse when his daughter was dying in front of him, but when he finally began concentrating on her, I held my breath, waiting...terrified...

As painful as her choking gasps were to hear, nothing had sounded so wonderful to me since we had all fallen into that cavern. I released the breath out of me, and with it went the rest of my strength. I heard Master Natiyr calling to me a few times, but even though he was less than a half meter away from me, it was so faint and distant, and I knew I was close to blacking out myself. I could only hear minimally; my vision had gone completely black, but as I lay on the ground again beside Cordira...I felt her hand find mine again and hold it tightly.

The rest of our time in the cave was more than a little fuzzy. I don't know how they got us back up to the surface, or even how long it took to get us back to Dalon. It had to have been hours, maybe even a day or so, because by the time I was able to open my eyes again, I was already set up in a bed in the Rys'tihn Manor's medical wing.

I still felt Cordira's hand in my grip, but as I looked around sluggishly...I realized I was imagining it.

"Hi, Sweetheart," my mom greeted me softly with a warm smile, the only one standing beside me as she gently brushed her fingers through my hair. "How are you feeling?"

I don't know how successful I was at keeping the disappointment off my face, but I tried to answer honestly so she wouldn't pry. "Sore," I managed to croak out, surprised at how true it was as I began to move a little. I didn't remember hurting so much earlier... "Why?"

Mom grinned a bit. "Why are you sore, or why am I asking?" She seemed to be in a decent mood even after what had happened to us.

"Why am I sore? I didn't fall that far..."

Her expression fell, though, as she gave a short sigh. "You fell far enough. You had a number of fractures in your feet and in your legs. They were little more than cracks in the bone, but...you're feeling them. Still, you were luckier than the other two."

My heart felt like it could've burst. "Dad! - is he -"

"He's fine!" she soothed quickly. "He'll be fine. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. Rech's still working on him, but he's through the worst of it." She stroked my head as I settled myself back down on the bed, grimacing in pain the whole way. "True to form," she sighed again, "your father took on the worst injuries he could. Fractured ribs, punctured lung, a number of other internal organs damaged... Honestly, sometimes I think he's making a game of it."

More than a little confused at her frustration, I blinked. "Mom?"

Returning her focus to me, she shook her head. "He'll be fine," she repeated with more confidence. "Don't worry."

"...and Cordira?"

Her eyes tracked away from me and across the room, and as I followed her gaze, I saw Cordira laying in a bed just like mine just a mere meter from me. She was perfectly still, her eyes closed without a hint of a quiver, and she was covered by a couple of heavy blankets up to her shoulders. I stared, waiting for her to turn her head and look at me, but...nothing.

"She's getting some much needed rest," Mom answered nonchalantly, "just like you should be."

Looking back to my mom, she only needed to read the expression on my face; I couldn't bring myself to ask. "The support rods miraculously missed any major arteries, and her kidney was reparable since she didn't...worsen the initial injury." After a moment, her expression glowed with subtle pride. "She said you helped her keep a level head."

What was I supposed to say to that? That I had to, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to keep mine? I blanked for a moment. "Yeah."

Her smile broadened. "You father's good at that, too. Lucky that he is, or your sister Dirani might not be here, either."

Though I wasn't sure what she meant by that, I decided that could wait until later. "Can I talk to her? To Cordira?"

With a hesitant glance over at her, I could tell Mom was about to say no, but the pleading look in my eyes swayed her resolve at the last second, earning another sigh from her. "Only for a few minutes. You both need to be resting, do you understand me?"

I nodded earnestly, giving her a weak smile in return for her permission. She rolled her eyes with a light grin, apparently surprised herself that she gave in. Leaning over me, she kissed me lightly at my temple and left after a moment, saying she'd be checking on Dad. Part of me wanted to go with her to see him first, but I could feel Cordira's consciousness stirring beside me. With a concerted effort to keep my groaning to a minimum as I moved, I slowly lowered my feet to the floor and stepped over to Cordira's side, glad my legs were holding my weight. I half expected them to fail, so I held tightly to her bed as I stood there in silence, hoping my discomfort wouldn't be obvious when she woke.

Looking her over, I hadn't realized before how much I adored her fire red hair. Of course, it was an unusual shade and it easily marked her in a crowd, but it was so uniquely her, and when the cave's glowing organisms had colored everything in a monochromatic blue wash, I missed its vibrancy dearly. I could never tell her that, though; she had recently come to hate how much her hair made her stand out, and she had even threatened to dye it something darker to blend in. But she couldn't do that, either, for fear of looking even more like her mother than she already did, which she hated even more...

"...Derek?"

Her eyes had only opened slightly, and I could hear her severe weakness in her voice. Still, I gave her a strong smile, glad that she was awake. "Hey. Now do you believe me? I told you we'd be fine."

She opened her eyes a bit more, but she was looking at me with a strange kind of...fear? What could she still possibly be afraid of? Mom had already talked to her, and surely her parents had, too. She had to know that other than the mysterious circumstances that had put us at the bottom of that monstrous cavern in the first place, we had nothing more to worry about.

"...are you feeling alright?"

She nodded, but I could tell it was only to keep me from pressing her further about it. I was beginning to worry that something else was bothering her, and it was like she didn't want to talk to me about it, which hurt deeply at the time. We had both just survived a terrible disaster together, but she looked like she didn't want to have anything to do with me anymore. She didn't say anything to correct my thoughts, which I'm sure she had picked up on by then, and unsure what else to do that wouldn't make it worse, I swallowed hard after a few moments and gave her a wan smile.

"I...I'm very glad that you're okay."

She again gave no response other than a weak nod, leaving me nothing short of dumbfounded. I returned to my bed wordlessly, not even feeling the screaming, aching pain from my healing legs.