Mimi lead the way into the bathroom. "RIght then. Stavros, you hold her while I get you both undressed, then sit her down on the stool and hold her while I wash her."

Stavros looked at her, stunned into immobility by her words.

Mimi sighed with exasperation. "All right. I guess I should explain, at least this time. Don't count on it being a regular occurrence."

Stav nodded dumbly, so Mimi continued, "She's far more ill than she looks, which is why I sent for Kaho and the twins. In fact, she's nearly unconscious right now. 'Suela might be willing, but she isn't nearly strong enough to support her, which leaves you. Oh, yes, I could do so, but there is no way in the world that I'm going to allow you to see me unclothed. You DO understand that, yes?"

Stavros nodded vigorously.

Mimi looked at him again, and said gently, "Besides, you're much like Jason. You're not going to care all that much about seeing naked girls until you find the one you fall in love with. I know for a fact that you've never, even once, tried to peep into the girls' changing room at school."

She finished in a harsher tone, "Unlike so many of the other boys."

As she was speaking, she'd deftly gotten Danica undressed, gestured for Stavros to get her seated on one of the bathing stools, and then had begun to get him out of his clothes as well while he kept Danica from falling on the floor. Once Mimi'd finished, she proceeded to sluice both of them off with several buckets of warm water.

While most of his attention was on keeping Danica from falling, he did notice that, no matter how vigorously she poured out the water, not a single drop ended up on Mimi's uniform or shoes.

Mimi nodded. "That's enough for now. Her hair will have to wait for another time. Go ahead and pick her up and get into the pool. Oh, and you don't have to pretend that you're weaker than you really are, like you do at school."

Danica had been, mostly, unaware of what was going on around her, other than noticing how nice the warm water had felt. She'd not had a decent bath for several months. However Mimi's words about Stavros' strength partially woke her up. Ah ha! That explained why he'd appeared to have trouble lifting her at school but had been able to hold her so firmly at the same time.

Her eyes were still closed when she heard splashing and then Mimi's voice, "No, not at the edge! She's so weak that she'll fall right over if you sit next to her, even if you're holding her arm. Go out into the middle and position her facing you with her legs on either side of you. Yes, facing you. If you sit behind her, she could still slip down, and I seriously doubt that she's going to want you grabbing her chest to keep her from going under. If you do it the way I told you, no matter which way she starts to fall over, you'll be able to keep her head above water.

"You DO know what Kaho will do to you if you let Danica inhale any of the water, don't you?"

Stavros' falsetto reply, "OH MY GOD! Yes, of course, facing me. Right away!" elicited a tiny giggle from Danica.

The center of the bath was about 15 centimeters deeper than the edges, so as to facilitate easier drainage when it was being cleaned. Thus, once they were in position, the water was right at Stavros' chin, and just below Danica's shoulders.

"Oh my, this feels lovely." Danica sighed.

She opened her eyes and saw Stavros' face only centimeters away. Before she could react, he exclaimed, "Wow! I didn't notice before, but your eyes are gold. And your pupils are like a cat's. They're so pretty!"

Gold eyes? Cat pupils? Everyone, even her family, had always said that her eyes were brown. Only her maternal grandmother, and the Wise One, had said that they were gold. Danica had never seen a real mirror, though she'd seen her face reflected in water many times. But water was rarely still, and she'd never seen her face clearly.

Without thinking, Danica leaned forward and briefly licked Stavros' cheek. Praise Allah! She'd been right after all when she'd tasted her finger. No wonder the Wise One had been grinning so hugely at Danica when they'd left her home. If they weren't so many kilometers and months away, she'd go back there and shake the Wise One till her head rattled. Then she'd hug her.

Well, imagining was fun, but reality called. She scooted closer to Stavros, until their chests were touching, then leaned forward, put her forehead on his, and began to chant.

Stavros froze in shock, and Mimi, who was behind Stavros, smiled as she saw in her mind two beings, one unaware of the other, fist pumping and shouting "YES!" As for herself, she sighed and relaxed. The last linkage was complete, and, so far at least, they hadn't been discovered by the enemy.

While that was going on, a golden glow began where Danica's and Stavros' foreheads were touching and gradually spread to encompass their entire bodies. It persisted for some time, and was still faintly present when Kaho, the twins, and Consuela bustled in through the door about 20 minutes later.

As soon as she saw the two in the bath, and, more importantly, the light surrounding them, Kaho skidded to a stop and the other three piled into her back. She absently braced herself against their weight then smiled tenderly. So... Phase IV was finally finished.

After a few seconds she cleared her throat, which broke Danica's concentration and drew her attention.

"I'm Dr. Fukui. These two are my assistants, Yoko and Hibiki. We're here to see about getting you better."

Danica nodded. Her mind was barely working due to a combination of her illness, the effects of the spring water, and the realization of just who Stavros was. Stavros did nothing other than sit, not thinking much at all. His predominate emotion was surprise. He'd not realized that holding a girl could actually be a pleasant experience. Up to that point he'd still been much like Paolo at the same age and had though of them mostly as annoyances.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

As always, Kaho took charge. "Consuela - out. You're not needed. Yoko and Biki, get some towels onto the massage table, and some others to dry the children with. Mimi - please stay for now. I don't know yet if I'll need you or not."

'Suela frowned, but, when faced with even bigger frowns on the faces of both Kaho and Mimi, she beat a hasty retreat.

The twins scurried about and arranged the towels.

Once all was in readiness, Kaho glared at Stavros, "Well, get on with it. Pick her up and get her on the table so I can see what's what."

"Uh. OK. But, how do I pick her up when she's like this?"

Kaho huffed. "You, girl, ah, Danica? Put your arms around his neck. Stavros, after she does that, put your hands on her cheeks, stand up, then carry her over to the table."

She did a credible "Why me?" then broke out laughing when Stavros, looking very puzzled, lifted his hands and put them on Danica's cheeks. The twins fell to their knees, laughing their heads off, and even Mimi was seen to be grinning.

Kaho shook her head to regain her composure then said, "Her OTHER cheeks you blockhead."

Stavros said, "Oh...", began to move his hands, then stopped. "But, ah...."

Danica put one hand on each side of his face and turned it to look at her. Her eyes were nearly closed and she looked to be nearly asleep. She started to speak but no sound came out. After licking her lips she managed to whisper, "It's all right, just this once. After today, no, not until we're married, or, perhaps, when we're engaged." She shook herself. "But we can work that out later. For now, do what the good doctor said."

As soon as she finished speaking, Danica's eyes fluttered shut, and her head fell forward onto Stavros' shoulder.

By then Stavros' mind was barely working, and he'd missed everything she'd said after saying it was OK to lift her that way. As it was, he blushed and said, "Uh, yeah, if you say so, I guess..."

Stavros stood, exited the pool, sat her precariously on the edge of the table, then turned to leave, only to be stopped by Danica's hand on his arm. "No. Do not leave maʻšūq. I know none of these people. I do not wish to be alone with total strangers."

So saying, she took his hand and thereafter refused to let go.

As they were getting out of the pool, Mimi turned to 'Suela and asked, "Why are you still here?"

'Suela backed out of the room so fast that she almost tripped.

The twins dried off Danica, Mimi did likewise for Stavros, then both were put in robes. Danica was positioned on her back on the massage table, after which she reclaimed Stavros' hand.

Kaho strode to the head of the table and put her hands on Danica's shoulders. "Give me a minute."

The "minute" stretched into five, after which Kaho sighed, then turned to Mimi. "Fixable, definitely, but I'll need both of the twins and Ailin if we're not to exhaust ourselves."

Looking down at Danica she said, "I have no idea how you've managed to deceive your family for such a long time. You must have been feeling miserable for several months at least, yes?"

Danica's eyes remained closed but she blushed faintly. "Oh, yes, that. Well, it was a hard journey, and they had so much to worry about already. I didn't want to add more to their burden."

Kaho glared at her, then her expression softened. "Children can be so stupid. If you'd told them what was wrong, of course they would have been worried. But then they'd have tried to fix things, yes? If you'd died, and you would have if your trip had lasted as much as another month, how do you think they'd have felt?"

Danica pulled Stavros to her, threw her free arm around him, and began to weep. Stavros, awkwardly put his left hand on her right shoulder and held her until she was able to stop crying.

Kaho grimaced. She'd almost let "propriety" worsen things...again! She'd intended to have Stavros leave, but, clearly, that would have been a major error. Sometimes the patient knows better than the doctor what they need. That was one more thing to add to her her list of things to improve.

Once she had stopped crying, Biki blotted Danica's eyes. Then Kaho continued, "Danica, you're suffering from malnutrition, which is part of the reason why you're so skinny, but you also have a hookworm infection, and that has made you severely anemic."

Seeing Danica looking at her blankly, Kaho mentally hit herself upside the head, and started over. "You have tiny worms in your gut that are sucking out your blood and making you weak. That, along with being chronically dehydrated, has also affected your kidneys and your liver.

"Fortunately, we can easily get rid of the worms, but building you back up to where you can function reasonably normally will take about two weeks. Once we get that far, I'll decide what further therapy you will need."

She raised her voice, "I know you're listening at the door Mrs. Donetti. I'd prefer for Danica not to leave till then. If she does, it's highly likely that she'll relapse. Would you allow her to use one of your guest rooms?"

The door opened and Miranda entered. Danica saw a tall, dark-skinned woman with a crown of silver hair. She squeezed Stavros' hand harder. This woman was more scary than Kaho.

Miranda approached, and put her palm on Danica's right hand. "As-salāmu ʿalayki little one. You are welcome here."

Danica immediately relaxed, smiled, and replied, "Waʿalaykumu as-salām. My thanks to you for your hospitality."

Ailin appeared at the door, and Miranda excused herself. Kaho introduced Ailin as "this is Ailin, another one of my assistants," which helped Danica, who had tightened up upon the appearance of another stranger, relax a little, though she was still holding Stavros' hand tightly.

"We'll do this differently today, and I'll need to make some adjustments so as to exclude Stavros from the field.

"Danica, we need to put a moist cloth over your face while we treat you. Is that OK?"

Danica nodded.

"Good. Now, Mimi and Ailin; both hands on her feet please. Yoko, you take her right hand and Biki, you put your hands on her left wrist. I'll take the shoulders."

Once they were all in position, Kaho said, "It's OK Danica, all you need to do is relax and concentrate on getting better."

Danica nodded again, and they began.

As when Kaho healed Mario, Miranda saw multicolored flashes of light leaking out from under the door. Likewise, as she had with Eugenia in the past, when 'Suela, who had been hovering while hoping to hear what was being said, began to ask what was going on, Miranda laid a finger across her lips to silence her.

When they were finished, Kaho came out and shut the door. "That was harder than it was with Mario. I told her that if she'd not been treated within a month she would have died. In reality, she had only about a week. We had to practically rebuild all the organs in her abdomen.

"It's a good thing that she wasn't my first severe patient. I don't think I could have helped her a year ago."

She smiled gently, "Fortunately it's now and not then. She's likely going to be fine.

"She is going to need a lot of rest, even more food -- probably about six or seven small meals a day for now -- and some tutoring so she won't fall behind in school."

Looking down at 'Suela, she drawled, "I wonder if Heidi and Sara would mind another student?"

'Suela grinned back. "Gee. I wonder... HAH! Those two will probably be ecstatic. I can't wait to tell them when they get home."

Next she turned to her mother, put on her "I'm going to die if I don't find out," face and asked, "Mother, what does maʻšūq mean?"

Miranda was puzzled by the sudden change of topic and asked, "Why are you asking that all of a sudden?"

"Because that's what Danica called Stav just before Mimi kicked me out of the room just now. I don't even know what language that is." After asking, 'Suela's face morphed into her most frustrated expression. Like everyone else in the family, she hated not knowing things.

Miranda smiled at 'Suela's expression, then frowned, and, finally, shrugged her shoulders. It looked as if a certain someone was meddling again.

"Well my darling, maʻšūq is Arabic, as were the greetings we exchanged. It means 'beloved'."

'Suela's hands flew to her cheeks. "Oh my God!"

She thought for a few seconds then smiled up at her mother and Kaho. "I don't think I'm going to tell him what it means. Are you?"

She was met by two conspiratorial grins.