Blue Dragon Part 48

'You can't, my Lady,' Miss Chen said. 'n.o.body can heal him with energy-it would destroy anybody who tried it. And he can't heal this himself, he's too drained. This will have to heal normally, and it will take a long time in his current state.' She glared at John. 'You said it would be okay okay.'

'It is,' John said.

We took him down to the infirmary where the Academy doctor saw to him. She used local anaesthetic to numb the wounds before she would st.i.tch them, despite John's protests. Normally an energy worker would numb any injury sites using the meridians, but n.o.body could do it for John without putting themselves in major peril. And we couldn't find a set of acupuncture needles; we never needed them.

'You should never have done that!' I said.

'You cannot stop me from being what I am,' John said calmly as Regina worked with the needle on his lacerated ankle.

'The pain will wear you out and use your energy,' I said fiercely. 'We'll all suffer for this. Being in constant pain is exhausting.'

'Is it?' John said, sitting straighter. 'I didn't know that.'

'We have a choice,' Leo said. 'Either feed you pain-relieving drugs or let you suffer. Either way, you will burn energy. This is a no-win situation.'

John was silent, his face rigid.

'You didn't know, did you?' I said softly. 'You've never been in real pain for any length of time before. You've always been able to heal yourself.'

'He was in pain after the Mountain,' Leo said. 'In the hospital.'

'They fed him some heavyweight stuff there,' I said. 'Nearly pushed him over the edge, I think. And then Ms Kwan fixed him up.'

'I'm right here,' John said.

'We are well aware of that,' I said. 'Decision time. Drugs, or leave it?'

'Leave it,' John said.

'Try the drugs first,' Regina said. 'Watch his energy. When the medication wears off, check again. Compare. I think you will find that the drugs make it easier for him.'

'No Western pills,' John said. 'Only herbs.'

'Whatever,' I said.

'The herbs and the Western medicine have the same effect, but the herbs must be boiled for at least an hour and a half and taste foul,' Regina said. 'I'll give him some a.n.a.lgesics and anti-inflammatories.' She paused, musing. 'I wonder if it will become infected, considering his current weakened state.'

'I'm still right here,' John growled.

'Leo?' I said.

Leo paused, then understood the question. 'I'm okay.'

'Don't worry about antibiotics. I don't think he'll need them if Leo's okay,' I said.

Regina studied Leo. 'What?'

Leo didn't say anything and I slapped my forehead with my palm. 'Men!'

'Oh, dear Lord,' Regina said softly. 'Why didn't anybody tell me?' She raced to her desk and scrabbled through the drawers. 'I'll need prescriptions right away. It will take weeks weeks for me to get the right c.o.c.ktail of drugs from the States or Australia, and acquiring them without giving anything away about our operation will be incredibly difficult. for me to get the right c.o.c.ktail of drugs from the States or Australia, and acquiring them without giving anything away about our operation will be incredibly difficult. d.a.m.n d.a.m.n!' She rounded on Leo. 'How bad was it? It was before you went to Malaysia, wasn't it? Tell me now now.'

Leo slowly and gracefully rose to his feet, towering over all of us. His face was rigid.

He fell to one knee before me and saluted, head bowed. 'My Lady,' he said, his voice hoa.r.s.e. 'I wish to make a request.'

I didn't move, watching him. 'Regina,' I said softly without turning to her, 'don't worry about the AIDS drugs. DNR. I'll manage the pain for him as much as I can.' I heaved a deep sigh. 'Leave it.'

Leo rose with a great deal of dignity and bowed from the waist to me. 'I thank you, my Lady,' he said softly. He bowed to John. 'My Lord.'

John didn't say anything but his face was tight.

Regina turned away and thumped the desk.

'Let's take him home,' I said with resignation.

'I don't need to be taken home,' John said.

'No, what you need is to be left in the middle of the street across the tram tracks,' Leo said with feeling. 'Let's get Simone and go.'

We put him in the front of the car. As Leo guided him in, he hissed with pain. 'I took the drugs,' he said. 'They didn't work.'

'I think they did, but not completely,' I said, buckling Simone into the seat in the back. 'You'll still be in quite a lot of pain anyway.'

'I don't know how you humans live with it,' he said.

'Is Emma human?' Leo said quickly as he pulled himself into the driver's seat.

John paused, the seatbelt buckle halfway into its slot. He pushed the buckle all the way in and faced the front. 'Interesting question. Hard to say.'

'We need an answer. There's dinner riding on it,' I said.

John didn't turn. 'Let me think about it.'

'If you need to think about it then she's not human,' Leo said. 'If she's human, you'd be able to say so right away. If you have to think about it then she's not.'

'I think he's right,' John said.

'Emma is human,' Simone said with conviction. 'But the snake isn't human.'

'Does that mean that I'm not the snake?' I said.

'That's right,' Simone said, facing the front of the car. 'Emma's human, but the snake isn't.'

'I think she's right,' John said.

'We can't both be right,' Leo said.

'I am human,' I said. 'I can't do anything that a very talented human can't do.'

'Yes, you can,' John said. 'Humans cannot work with shen. Humans cannot heal with energy. Humans cannot run one hundred metres in three seconds.' He gestured at Leo next to him in the front. 'Absolutely no human could lift him with one arm.'

'I win, Emma,' Leo said. 'Face it. You're not human.'

'What am I then?'

n.o.body said anything.

We went to the American restaurant in the Peak Tower and Leo ordered the most ma.s.sive steak that I had ever seen, so rare it was still mooing. I ordered vegetarian pasta.

I took a sip of the beer and winced.

'What?' Leo said.

I studied the bottle. 'Ever since I started working with energy, alcohol tastes strange. Wrong. I don't like it any more.' I put the bottle down and glanced around for a waiter. 'Mineral water.'

After the waiter had brought the mineral water I poked my fork into my pasta with amus.e.m.e.nt. 'I might as well shave my head and start wearing brown Taoist nun's robes,' I said. 'No meat, no alcohol, no s.e.x. I'm a freaking nun.'

'At least if you dressed like that you'd be tidy,' Leo said. 'You wouldn't always look like you fell out of bed in the clothes you wore the night before.'

I reached across the table and gave him a push. 'Oh, thank you very much very much.'

'Not no s.e.x,' he said, grinning.

I stiffened. 'How the h.e.l.l do you know about that?'

The grin didn't shift. 'Obvious. I heard you two sneak out. Gone all night.'

I dropped my head. 'That was the last time, Leo.'

He leaned across the table and took my hand. 'You can't be sure of that, sweetheart. You two might have another chance. Remember what the Tiger said.'

'No,' I said, looking up into his eyes. 'That was the last time. I know. You know those kids-Scott and Tymen? They'll be like brothers one day. I know know.'

'How do you know?' Leo said, his face becoming sterner. 'What do you mean, you know know?'

'I just know,' I moaned, leaning my chin on my hand. 'I know absolutely for a fact. Scott and Tymen will be like brothers, and John and I will not have another chance before he goes.' Suddenly I knew something else, and I was so sure of the feeling it took my breath away. 'And we will accept the girl from New Zealand and she will do remarkable things.'

'You had that look on your face again,' Leo said, studying me.

'I had that feeling again,' I said. 'I know know.'

Leo dropped my hand and pulled his own away. 'You really are are becoming an Immortal.' becoming an Immortal.'

I ran my hands through my hair. 'I hope so, Leo, and I hope you do too.'

'Eat your dinner,' he said, picking up his steak knife and slicing into the enormous slab of bleeding meat. 'I can't become an Immortal. If I had to go vegetarian it would kill me.'

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

My parents insisted on coming down from the palace to attend Simone's end-of-school concert. Simone was delighted, and my parents were too. She really was becoming like a granddaughter to them.

I drove my parents and Michael in my car, and Leo drove John and Simone. Before we left, Leo jokingly told me that we needed to buy a van to carry our growing family. I glared at him.

We parked at a nearby shopping centre; our special parking treatment wasn't valid on a night where everybody would be attending. A couple of the Tiger's Hors.e.m.e.n met us at the car park-my parents' guards.

We were all alert as we walked over to the school, even my parents. They'd been attacked by demons before while out with us. John was doing his best not to limp, but it was obvious that the ankle was still giving him trouble, even after a week. Regina had taken the st.i.tches out that morning.

Simone was entirely unaffected by the danger. She held my hand and skipped beside me, prattling excitedly about her part in the performance. Her cla.s.s was reciting a poem in Putonghua about tigers, complete with tiger masks and costumes.

When we reached the school, the White Tiger was waiting for us at the door with a satisfied grin. He wanted to see Simone's cla.s.s recitation too. Simone was thrilled and ran to him. He hoisted and spun her, making her squeal.

We went inside and sat without incident. The Tiger made himself invisible and stood near the stage, guarding. The Hors.e.m.e.n guarded the doors, and Leo leaned against the wall at one side of the auditorium, dark and unmoving.

Michael was doing something behind the scenes with the lighting for the production so we didn't see him, but Simone's little cla.s.s doing their tiger poem were delightful. John had a proud smile a mile wide as he watched his daughter perform. I glanced at him questioningly a few times and he silently shook his head. About halfway through I began to relax; obviously they weren't willing to try us with so many people around.

When the show was finished we all met outside the auditorium.

'Do you want to come back to the West now, or go up to the Peak for a while?' the Tiger asked my parents.

'Is it safe for us to stay?' my father said.

'Should be okay if you're with me,' the Tiger said.

'Ah Bai,' John said, 'it would be better if you take Simone directly to the Peak. I will take Emma. Leo and Michael can take Brendan and Barbara. We know who they're after.'

The Tiger gestured and the Hors.e.m.e.n approached from where they'd been guarding the perimeter of our little group. 'One in each car.'

'My Lord,' the Hors.e.m.e.n said.

'I'll see you at the Peak,' the Tiger said. He glanced down at Simone. 'Come on, little tiger. I'll take you home and you can play with the big tiger.'

'She's really getting far too old for this,' I said as they disappeared together, Simone wearing a cheeky grin.

All of us were tense and alert as we walked back to the car park. John concentrated, and Gold appeared in the middle of the group.

'Can you sense anything?' my father said, his voice low.

'No,' John said. He concentrated again and his eyes turned inward as he walked. 'Ah Bai and Simone are back at the Peak, and they are fine.' He shrugged. 'Maybe they won't try for us with so many guards.'

'I hope not,' I said as we paid the parking tickets.

We reached the cars without incident.