THE HEALER WHO COULD NOT SAVE HER BROTHER

A NAME BURIED IN SILENCE

The morning sun came into the Healers Hall without being invited covering the stone walls in a pale gold light. Aria noticed this only because the darkness outside the windows was gone. She had not slept that night.

She was sitting beside the bed she had refused to leave all night with a medical journal open on her lap.. She had not read a single page. Every moment her eyes went back to the patient, Daren.

His breathing had become slow and uneven. Each time his chest went up the knot in her stomach got looser. Each time he paused the knot got tighter.

Hope can be a thing.

Aria had learned this years ago.

The sound of footsteps broke the silence.

Nyra came into the room carrying two cups of tea. Her hair was tied back in a knot and she looked as tired as she did.

"You have not slept, " Nyra said, giving Aria one of the cups.

Aria took the cup without saying anything. "Neither have you, " she said.

Nyra just shrugged. "That is different, " she said.

"How is it different?" Aria asked.

Nyra smiled. "I am younger, " she said.

Aria laughed before she could stop herself.

It was a laugh. It was brief.

It was real.

Nyra's smile got bigger. "There you are, " she said.

"Do not get used to it, " Aria said.

"I was not planning to, " Nyra said.

The happy moment did not last long. Daren made a noise.

Both women turned to him.

His eyes opened.

This time he was aware of what was happening.

"Water, " he whispered.

Nyra quickly got him a cup of water while Aria watched. His hands were shaking as he drank. He did not choke.

When he put the cup down he looked around the room before looking at Aria.

He seemed to know who she was.

Then he looked scared.

He was not scared of dying.

He was scared of Aria.

Aria ignored the feeling that was going up her spine.

"What is your name?" she asked him calmly.

He hesitated.

"My name is Daren, " he said.

"Do you know where you are?" Aria asked.

"I am in the Healers Hall, " he said.

That was good.

He still remembered things.

"Do you remember what happened yesterday?" Aria asked.

The color went out of his face.

His fingers went to the lines on his neck before he pulled them away.

"I got sick, " he said.

That was not what Aria was asking.

Aria leaned forward a little.

"Yesterday you said someone was waiting for me, " she said.

Darren's breathing got faster.

"I do not remember, " he said.

Aria knew he was lying.

Nyra stepped in gently.

"Maybe we should let him rest, " she said.

Aria did not like it.

She knew that pushing him now would only make him pull back more.

So she stood up.

"We will talk about this later, " she said.

Daren looked relieved.

As they left the room Nyra closed the door behind them.

"He knows something, " Nyra said.

"I know he does, " Aria said.

"He looked really scared, " Nyra said.

"He was not scared of being sick, " Aria said.

Aria looked through the window in the door.

"He was scared of what would happen if he talked, " she said.

Neither of them said anything for a second.

The Healers Hall was already busy.

There were patients in the corridors.

Children were crying.

An old man was shouting that someone had put a curse on his knees.

Nyra leaned towards Aria.

"I looked at Daren while you were getting supplies, " she said.

Aria looked at her.

"The silver marks on his neck..." Nyra said quietly. "They are fading."

Aria felt a little better.

Only for a second.

Because she remembered Liam.

His marks had faded too.

Right before they came back worse than before.

Aria tried to forget the memory.

It stayed with her long after she left Darren's room.

Liam's fever had gone down once.

The silver veins had faded.

Aria had celebrated early.

By the morning the veins had come back darker and worse than before.

Three days later Liam was gone.

Aria tried to push the memory

Not this time.

She did not want to lose another patient to the nightmare.

By afternoon the Healers Hall was not as busy as it was before.

Nyra was organizing medicines while Aria quietly went into the records chamber.

Not many people came to this room.

There was dust in the air and the room smelled of paper and ink.

There were thousands of files in the room, each one telling a story.

Most of these stories were forgotten.

Aria went to a cabinet at the back of the room.

She opened it. Started looking through the files.

She was looking for one name, Liam Voss.

When she found it she took a breath.

She had not opened this file since the day after Liam's funeral.

Then she thought there was nothing left to learn.

Now she was not so sure.

She took the file to a table. Opened it.

Everything looked familiar.

The symptoms, the observations, the treatments they had tried.

Something was not right.

There was a folded piece of paper at the back of the file.

Aria had not seen this before.

She unfolded it carefully.

There was no name on it in one sentence.

If anyone is reading this the official report is not complete.

Aria read it again.

Again.

Her heart was beating loudly.

Someone had put this note in Liam's file after it was closed.

Someone wanted her to find it.

Aria felt a chill go down her spine.

Whoever was leaving these messages knew where she would look.

The dying patient, the silver veins Liam's records.

None of this was random.

Aria heard a noise behind her.

She turned around. The room was empty.

Only the shelves stared back at her.

She took a breath.

"You are imagining things, " she said to herself.

The feeling would not go away.

Someone had been there.

Someone who knew she would come.

Aria put the note in her coat. Looked at Liam's file again.

The seal on the file had been. It was recent.

Not years ago,. Days ago.

Someone else had opened Liam's file before she did.

Aria left the room. Looked down the corridor.

There was a shadow moving. By the time she got to the doorway there was no one there.

Only a black feather, on the floor.

Aria picked it up. Under it there was a small piece of paper.

It had six words on it.

You are finally asking the questions.