The evening air felt nice on the roof.
The Clinic building was set up so that the front half was the offices and examination rooms, while the back half was living quarters. The roof of the three-story building was flat, with a five-foot-high lip around the exterior for safety.
After dinner, Justia excused herself and went up to the roof. I’d tried to get Aelin to go, but Ether had thought it’d be better if I went. I found the brunette Healer leaning on the wall, staring out at the city. I could hear sirens in the distance and the place looked so alive even at night. Zeb basically went to sleep shortly after sunset. Here, it looked like Harror actually came alive.
“This is where you grew up.”
Justia turned and looked relieved when she saw me. "Yeah.”
“What was that?”
“What?” She turned back towards the city.
I walked over and leaned on the wall next to her. "You looked like you were expecting someone else, but were relieved it was me.”
“I hadn’t expected to be back here so soon.” Justia shook her head. "It’s just… I don’t know.”
“How so?” I was confused. "I thought your whole deal was that you get to operate this Clinic and the All-Temple funds it so the Alards can’t take it over.”
“I love this place.” She rubbed her hands on the wall. "I love what it stands for, but I’m not ready to take it over.” She looked at me. "My father is in the mid-forties, but he goes on farming trips so sparingly that he barely makes enough to keep the lights on here.” She gently pounded on the wall and shook her head. "When I came back here, I thought it’d be a grand return, at the middle of the forties, maybe even the start of the fifties. I wanted to be someone that I could use healing magic to heal more people. Strong enough to farm even deeper, so we could thrive and not just survive. Strong enough that my family would be proud of me.”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“Your father seemed kind of proud of you tonight.” I rubbed her arm. "Hey, don’t worry about living up to those dreams and goals in the future. Those are in the future. This is the now. What will make you happy now?”
Her face turned red and she shook her head. We stood there with only the sounds of the city to fight the silence.
“What’s the deal with Paul and your mom?”
“Cousins.” She nodded. "Their parents were siblings.”
“Gotcha.” I nodded. "They seem pretty close.”
“It’s sort of a recent thing.” She looked down. "Well recent as like the last twenty years.”
“That’s very recent.” I tried to sound serious without laughing. "Practically yesterday.”
“Shut up.” She playfully pushed me. "They never saw each other for the first eighteen years of her life.” She looked up at the stars. "They didn’t even know they each existed until they met at the Cathedral.”
“Bad blood?” I guessed
“Grandma got married after great-grandpa died and my great-uncle saw it as a betrayal because he needed help trying to save the family business and she had other things she wanted to focus on. Things got said and now Grandma is the only one alive with regrets about the things she shouldn’t have said.”
“But they have each other now.” I smiled. "So that connection got repaired.”
“Except my grandfather’s brother is Farsch Alard. He owns…” She pointed at a sign for Alard Clinic that was across the street. It read ‘You get what you pay for, so pay for the best’
“Ouch.”
“Yeah.”
We stood there for a while, just taking in the sounds of the city and enjoying the seclusion.
“Are you going to be okay here?”
Justia looked confused. "I’ve lived here for eighteen years, I think I can survive less than two weeks.”
I nodded. "Know that I’m here if you need anything. We all are, even Rix in her own way.”
“Thanks, but really, I’m fine.”
“Okay." I motioned at the door. "I’m going to head back down. Your mother said your room hasn’t been touched, so you can stay there.”
She gave me a thumbs up, so I went downstairs to figure out the rest of the sleeping arrangements.