Chapter 199

Amber’s POV

As we walked to the nearby hospital, I noticed as we approached, that it seemed more like a clinic. It was only one story and not terribly big. Even for a town of this size, I imagined they would need more space. Everything must have been cramped inside.

We were about to find out.

Julian walked beside me, wincing only slightly from the pain in his shoulder. He was holding a towel to it, something I insisted on before we began this trek. But the towel was quickly staining red, which meant he was still bleeding. We really needed to get that silver out of him as soon as possible so that the wound could properly heal.

Rafael, meanwhile, seemed to be recovering his voice. I’d hoped he might use it to explain his relationship with Jessica, the rogue leader, but instead, he was grumbling to me.

“We shouldn’t be helping them,” he said. “There are reasons they are rogues, and as such we’ve cast them out. How weak does it make us appear to then change our minds and take care of them again?”

I was already annoyed about everything that was happening here. I was stressed about my part in leading my brother and my lover to this place. And I was worried about Julian.

So I didn’t have much patience for Rafael’s mutterings.

“Every life is worth something,” I said.

“Not rogues,” Rafael said stubbornly.

“Then what about the children?” I asked. “We all saw them. You can’t pretend otherwise.”

The packs, as a rule, didn’t exile children, which meant that they had to be a second generation of rogues, or perhaps even a third.

“They aren’t supposed to procreate,” Rafael said, speaking of them more like animals than people.

“They’ve had children,” I said. “They were cast out, not killed. They still have feelings and emotions, and a desire for family.”

“Who would want to bring children into this?”

People found hope in all kinds of situations, but accidents happened too.

Regardless, the why of it didn’t matter. The fact was, children were here, and they were innocent by nature. Though I wanted to treat everyone, regardless of age, I thought that would be enough to convince Rafael.

“She’s right,” Julian said from beside me. “It’s easy for us to turn our backs and stop thinking about those we exiled once they are out of the pack. I’m guilty of this too. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be given healthcare and shelter.”

He lowered his head as shame filled his expression. “I will need to speak with the council on this when I return home again.”

“When we return home,” I said, and took his hand.

He smiled at me. “We,” he corrected.

“Well, I guess we don’t have much choice in the matter right now, do we?” Rafael said. “And Jessica… I can’t believe she’s here.”

“How do you know her?” I asked, unable to leash my curiosity any longer.

“We –”

“We’re here,” the man who had led us to Jessica said. We’d earlier learned that his name was Bill, though Jessica called him Billy, which at the time had made Rafael glower. He’d been leading our little group, with two armed guards behind us. Jessica had rushed ahead.

Our conversation cut off as we stepped into the clinic. It was as I had expected but feared.

Immediately, the sound of cries and moans of pain filled our ears.

People were strewn everywhere. There didn’t seem to be enough rooms, so the waiting room was being utilized. But there mustn’t have been enough beds because people were lying on the ground with only a blanket between them and the floor.

Jessica was standing there by the counter. Behind it was a very exhausted looking nurse. They mustn’t have had electricity here, because she was scribbling everything down on a piece of paper.

I hadn’t noticed as much in city hall, with all of its windows, but here in this bigger space, it was darker. I realized the overhead lights were turned on or weren’t working.

I supposed that made sense. The town had been considered abandoned. Even if the electric lines were intact, someone would have noticed the usage here and come to investigate.

This was certain to make things more difficult.

Jessica waved to her people in pain. “Something is wrong with them. Fix them.”

I fully intended to. “First,” I said, and motioned to Julian.

Jessica glared. “My people are more important.”

“Everyone is important,” I said. “And if my companion bleeds out, I will not be forgiving.”

Jessica held my gaze for a moment. As leader here, she must have been used to her orders being received without question. Well, I was well-practiced in dealing with bullies, so I held her gaze unafraid and unintimidated.

Finally, with a sigh, she looked away first. “Fine. But there are no rooms to spare, so it will need to be done here. I will have some clean equipment brought out to you.”

“I will go with the nurse to get what I need,” I said. I hoped in a clinic, that people would be honest, but I didn’t know anyone here. So I was going to inspect the instruments myself and sanitize them personally before I put them anywhere near Julian’s open flesh.

Especially without knowing what the cause of the sickness here was.

Yet, as I went with the nurse to the supply room, I glanced around, looking at the patients as we passed.

There were similarities from what I had seen. Everyone seemed to be clutching their stomachs, and all were pale and sweating.

In the supply room, I confirmed my observations with the nurse.

“All of them have stomach pains that result in regurgitation or diarrhea, or both. They all have high fevers as well, which is the cause of the sweating.” She huffed a frustrated breath. “We have instruments, but no medicine. We are doing the best we can.”

“I didn’t mean to imply otherwise,” I said.

She sighed then, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. We are overrun. I’ve been here forty-eight hours straight and have only slept in small bursts under my desk.” She looked at me, and I could see the hope in her eyes. “Are you really Healer Amber?”

“I am,” I told her. “And I’ll do the best I can to help you.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

After collected what I needed and returning to the waiting room, I instructed Julian to sit down on one of the free chairs we could find.

“Take off your shirt,” I said to him.

He grinned at me. “Can’t even wait until we are alone, huh?”

I blushed, even as I rolled my eyes. “Now really isn’t the time.”

“I just wanted to make you smile,” he said and did I asked.

I leaned in and inspected the wound now that I could see it more clearly. Fortunately, the bullet wasn’t deep. Julian’s body was doing a good job of trying to push it out on its own. I wondered if his previous exposure to silver had helped him build up something of a tolerance.

“They don’t have any medicine,” I said. “There’s nothing I can do to dull the pain.”

“I wouldn’t take it anyway,” he replied. “Just do what needs done.”

After, with the bullet removed from Julian’s shoulder, the wound cleaned as best I could, and bandaged, I turned toward Jessica and Bill, who had been waiting nearby.

While I’d been helping Julian, I had been thinking.

“You said the river didn’t have fish anymore,” I said to Bill. He nodded.

It could have been that the previous fisherman had overfished the river, but… it could have been something else.

Looking at Jessica now, I asked, “Is the river your source of drinking water?”

If they didn’t have electricity, then they also likely didn’t have running water either.

“The river,” Jessica said. She frowned at me. “What is with these questions? You haven’t even inspected the people here.”

That was true. I needed to do that. But also, “Take me to the river. I need a sample of that water.”