Chapter 3

After what seemed like forever for them both, Khai and Anaya reached the clinic. Khai subconsciously held her hand the whole time, stealing glances at her to make sure she was okay and still walking next to him.

Anaya tried to get her hand out of his grip, but her attempt was so weak that she gave up after trying twice. His grip wasn't harsh and the feeling of his hand on hers didn't really bother her. She briefly wondered why, before the pain consumed her thoughts.

She tried to distract herself from the pain, watching as the blood flowed from her pale palm, over his tan fingers and down her arm. Her head spun lightly, but she steadied herself. She brushed the dust off of her skirt and walked next to the man who seemed to be in a bigger rush than she was.

The clinic was close to a 10 minute walk and when they finally reached there, Khai pushed the door open and stepped in with Anaya. She noticed that the clinic was a fairly large room, with a few beds, a small desk and a few waiting chairs. Some of the beds had the curtains closed around them, but otherwise the place was empty.

"MAEVE!" Khai's voice came out louder than he wanted it to.

A young woman, who Anaya assumed was Maeve, peeped out of one of the curtains.

"Shhhh!" She tried to silence Khai with a finger on her lips. She stepped out and looked at both Khai and Anaya. "I swear, I'm going to sedate you and beat you up one of these days! Do you not know that this is a clinic?"

Anaya widened her eyes at how Maeve spoke to the young man, but she looked up at him to see that he was hardly bothered.

"Help her Maeve. Now." He commanded.

Does everyone speak like this at Arcane? Anaya wondered if this doctor and Khai knew each other from before.

Maeve looked at Anaya and then at Khai before she excused herself from the patient she was addressing earlier. She walked towards them before motioning at Anaya to sit on the nearest bed.

Khai still wouldn't let go of her hand and walked with her to sit on the bed, next to her. Maeve dragged a stool and sat in front of Anaya. She looked at the beautiful girl in front of her before she moved her attention to her hand. She gently held her fingers, attempting to examine the wound.

"Let go of her hand, Khai." she said, and it finally dawned on Khai that he was still holding onto her hand. He reluctantly let go, before instructing Maeve to be careful.

'Khai. So that was his name.' Thought Anaya. She didn't even bother to ask for his name until now because she was so engrossed in the pain. She looked up at him and saw that he was busy examining Maeve examine her. He seemed genuinely worried, she thought.

She moved her eyes from Khai, to Maeve. Maeve had tan skin and curly black hair that was cut into a pixie cut. Her dark brown eyes looked almost black as they hid behind her glasses. She had a round face and high cheekbones. He lips were painted with a deep pink and she has small freckles across her nose. She looked cute, thought Anaya.

"What is your name, sweetie?" Maeve asked. Khai's ears perked up as he watched the girl next to him, waiting to hear her next words.

"Anaya. Anaya Willow." A sweet voice came from her. Khai fought a smile as he heard her speak. He didn't know it yet, but he would follow Anaya to the ends of the earth if she asked him to.

He watched the soft curves of her jaw move as she spoke, telling Maeve what happened and how she fell. Her voice was like music to him and while he frowned at what she was saying, he wanted her to keep speaking forever.

"Can't you just heal her?" he asked Maeve impatiently. She was still bleeding and he was subconsciously annoyed that Maeve was taking all of her attention.

"We don't heal wounds that aren't war wounds Khai." Maeve rolled her eyes. "We don't want a permanent scar on your hand now, do we Anaya?"

Anaya shook her head and mouthed the words 'No way'.

"Okay, gimme a moment." Maeve got up from her seat and walked to a cupboard nearby. She opened the door and pulled out a small bottle and an injection. She tore the needle and attached it to the syringe before pushing it into the bottle to get the liquid into the syringe.

Both Khai and Anaya watched what Maeve was doing and what was about to happen suddenly dawned on them both.

"Mmmm, no. I don't want that, can we skip that, please." Anaya panicked. Khai looked as troubled as Anaya sounded, giving Maeve an irritated look.

"The stone is lodged in there pretty deep. You will need stitches Anaya. I don't want to treat you without numbing the area." Maeve explained.

Khai watched as Anaya's breathing got louder. She was scared and he was so mad at himself that he thought he might combust. "Hold my hand and squeeze it as hard as you want." He said.

"Hey, hey.." he gently moved her chin to look at him. Her eyes welled up with tears and she looked like a sad little pup. His heart clenched. "Don't worry. Just hold my hand a squeeze tight. Close your eyes and don't look at the needle. It'll be over before you know it."

Anaya nodded. Her erratic heartbeat slowing down at his words. She took a deep breath and exhaled. She saw Maeve walking over with the injection and she quickly took Khai's hand and closed her eyes tightly shut.

She squeezed so hard she was afraid she would crush his bones. Khai barely felt a thing, except for the sparks that spread through his hand, but he grimaced at how scared she was. He glared at Maeve to hurry.

Maeve looked at the strange sight in front of her as she walked over to the bed. Anaya was terrified, which was understandable. But she was strangely comfortable with Khai. What surprised Maeve was the look that Khai was giving her, like she was trying to hurt a national treasure. She shook her head and focused on Anaya.

She gently held her fingers and started to inject the numbing fluid into her hand. Khai's other hand moved to hold Anaya's hand in his and the three of them collectively exhaled when she finished injecting the fluid.

"Okay, the worst is over." Said Khai, voicing everyone's thoughts. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. The relief in his voice was palpable, but all he knew was that he was glad Anaya wasn't in pain.

"This will take a minute or two, but you should stop feeling any pain after that. I'll be right back" with that, Maeve got up and walked over to her previous patient. She threw one look at Khai and smiled before she disappeared from their sight.

Anaya opened her eyes to Khai still looking at her. She steadied her breathing while staring into his eyes. He had rich, soft brown eyes, a chiseled jawline and a sharp nose. His warm tanned skin accentuated his high cheekbones and full lips. His ruffled hair looked like he ran his hands through it quite often.

"How do you feel? Did the pain stop yet?" He asked. Anaya blinked and blood rushed to her face knowing that he caught her staring at him. His voice was softer than before, almost a whisper. She shook her head in response and opened her mouth before she realized her throat suddenly felt dry.

"Water…" she whispered and her voice came out somewhat croaky. Khai simply nodded and let go of her hand, walking to the desk at the front of the room. He picked up a jug and a glass before pouring some water into it. He tipped the glass and drank some himself, Anaya noticed his adam's apple bob as he drank the water.

She continued to stare as he filled the glass again and walked towards her. As if there was a cosmic pull, their eyes didn't leave each other's. Khai handed her the glass and she gulped down the water, as if she had been thirsty for days. A few drops trickled down the sides of her mouth and she used the back of her hand to wipe it clean.

Khai licked his lips as he watched her. Suddenly embarrassed, he turned to stare at the window. 'What is wrong with me? I'm going to ask Maeve to do a checkup.' He thought.