THE HEALER WHO COULD NOT SAVE HER BROTHER

A NAME BURIED IN SILENCE

The guy made it through the night. Barely. Aria knew because she didn’t leave. Not really. Instead, she “read” some medical records and pretended not to watch his chest. Up. Down. Up. Down. Each time his breathing slowed, her stomach would twist in a knot. Each time it evened out, a sense of relief washed over her. She hated herself for it. There was no denying the truth, hope was a dangerous game and she learned that the hard way. 

Sunlight crept through the windows by the time Nyra got back with two cups of tea. “You haven’t slept.” Aria took a cup. “Neither have you.” Nyra grinned. “That’s different.” “How?” “I’m young.” 

Aria actually laughed. It was short, and caught her by surprise, but it felt good. Like opening a door she’d nailed shut in her life. Nyra looked way too proud of herself. 

“See? You still remember how.” 

“Don’t get used to it.” 

“I wasn’t planning to.” 

Daren groaned, and both of them snapped their heads towards him. His eyes opened. This time, they looked more clear and less lost. 

“Water,” he rasped. 

Nyra jumped up to help. He drank like he hadn’t had it in days, and then flopped back on the pillows. His gaze drifted all over and around the room, and then he focused on Aria. First, his eyes showed he was confused, and then it changed to fear. She always saw fear, and knew it well. 

“What’s your name?” Aria asked.

He seemed to think for a moment. “Daren.” I followed up, "You know where you are?" He replied, “Healer’s hall,” and I relaxed, knowing he still had the ability to think. “What about yesterday?” As expected, he seemed to have a problem with answering me, and said nothing, instead looking down at the silver veins under his skin. “I got sick,” he said. Aria turned to Nyra. To me it looked like he was just going to avoid the question and come up with some excuse. He most likely knew it too, and the fact he avoided looking at me like he was going to explode next was also interesting. Aria decided to switch things up and leaned forward. “What about yesterday? You said something.” Daren's shoulders tensed. “You mentioned you were expecting someone,” he said, and with that, Daren's expression of fear and surprise, who was waiting for you, turned into a look of horror. There was no possible way to fake that. “I…” he said, stuttering more than I'd ever seen, as he said he didn't know, which I was certain was a lie. “You do, just say it,” I told him. “I don’t,” he replied, as the room strangely fell silent. Finally, Nyra broke the silence. “Maybe we should let him rest?” she in a strong way of saying we should stop bothering him. I hated how right she was. “Okay, but the first thing we do when we come back is continue this,” I said. I regretted being annoyed at how grateful Daren was to have us leave. It probably meant we were making him more sick. As expected, the healer hall was busy and chaotic by midday. I heard complaints. One man. Ten minutes complaining. Back pain. Curses. No. Just old. Dried up coals and remained cursed to wither away before us. Nyra said later how it was the best excuse for a cursed man.

"Wanting magic is pretty normal." "Why should I care?" Nyra said, shrugging. "Difficult, confusing things happen." Where would things happen like that? Should Aria respond? What would she answer with? Silver vines? Daren? The things he spoke? Undeniably speak. "I need to see the evidence," Aria said. Nyra has that annoying look again. "You're trying to make sense or find evidence for controls rationality. Does that honestly make people feel better?" Arrive here, he learned that sometimes people don't return. Evidence isn't the only important thing. Late in the afternoon, he went to the evidence room. She had no plan to go here, bringing things gone. High stacks for evidence, covering the floor. Dust filled the room. Each piece of evidence is importantly close and waiting to tell its story.

Aria moved toward a cabinet in the back.

Over the course of a few seconds, she kept her hand over the drawer.

Then, at last, she opened it.

Dusty old case files lined the drawer.

Old enough to smell like dust and time.

Her heart raced.

Searching carefully, she found file after file.

Patient after patient.

Name after name.

Until finally

She found Liam Voss.

Her fingers stopped moving.

For a moment, she just looked at it.

She hadn't opened his case file in years, after the funeral, and after she had decided there was nothing more to learn.

She lifted the folder.

The familiar ache of grief returned.

Grief is strange.

It never really leaves.

It just finds better places to hide.

Aria opened the file.

The first pages were as she remembered.

The pages were cataloged by his Symptoms, then Observations, then Treatment, which was followed by Failure, which was repeatedly followed by Failure.

Aria swallowed hard.

Something at the back of the file caught her eye.

A folded piece of paper.

She carefully unfolded it.

It wasn’t in Liam’s handwriting.

Or in Aria’s for that matter.

It was just a note.

But the moment she read it, her face lost all color.

If anyone is reading this, the official report is incomplete.

Aria read it.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

And the note is clear.

Whoever placed it in Liam’s file did so recently, and did so with the intent of placing it there for Aria to find.

Alan continued to observe the scene posed before him as he skillfully navigated the throngs of the bustling, blanket smothered crowd. Like all great hunters, he was a patient, patient, and most importantly, quiet, man. He was most proud of his maturing impulses, but today was a special day for a whole slew of reasons. One of them was treating his smile like a hidden treasure. He locked eyes in a game of mutual respect and admiration. He won this round. On this particular day, after years of dragging on, most of him too fragile and broken to endure the weight of countless more secret seconds of torture, most of all for her. But, in her most favorite event of all, the big surprise. She was the one who came to the grand revelation for a change. After years of silence, among us, it was the one and only Aria who had finally decided to take matters into her own hands.