I woke up from some sort of nightmare I couldn’t remember with a sharp pain. I sat up, curling forward muttering “fuck” under my breath, desperate not to wake Anne. The instant it took for the pain to spread from my back and fade into the dull ache I was used to dragged on and left me out of breath.

“Zal?” Fuck, I did wake up Anne. At least it wasn’t too early, the sun was up.

“Zal, turn your back to me.” She sounded a little panicked.

“Does it hurt?” She asked.

“Did for a moment, now it is only a little more painful than usual.”

“Okay stay there I’ll be right back.” I was worried, Anne normally didn’t wake up this quickly.

She came back with a bunch of towels from the bathroom.

“Let me know if I hurt you.” I nodded. She gently wiped my back with a warm wet towel.

Anne sighed with relief, “Okay, it’s nowhere near as bad as it looks.”

I started to look over my shoulder to see, but Anne stopped me.

“It’s your wings, they broke the skin and you bled. The, I don’t know if I would call it a wound, it looks clean, if I had to guess this is normal.”

She let me look, and I saw the blood I had left on the bed. It was unsettling to see, never mind embarrassing that someone else would have to clean it.

“And some people think succubi aren’t women.” Anne smiled at her own joke, but all I felt was tired and a little out of it. Anne noticed and made sure I was looking at her and listening.

“I’ll deal with this, have a shower, get cleaned up.”

I didn’t want to turn my back to the shower, but the heat was nice, and would be nice on my back, and what else could I do. Thankfully the water didn’t hurt, but it felt strange for a few moments before I relaxed. I don’t know how long I stood there, watching my blood mix with the water at the bottom of the bath. Anne didn’t leave any towels for me, but I still decided to get out of the shower, I wanted to see. Two bits of bone broke through the skin. They looked rounded, not sharp like I expected, but I couldn’t be sure. The mirror kept fogging up and my back hurt too much to be able to reach the bone to feel them, not that I was sure I wanted to, especially as they were still bleeding.

Anne knocked on the bathroom door. “Can I come in?”

I nodded, somehow forgetting that she couldn’t see me, “Yea,” I said, embarrassed.

“Good news, they did have bandages, and it wasn’t that hard to convince them you don’t need a doctor, and I got more towels, but let’s get the bandages on first so you don’t bleed anywhere else.” Of course the bandages were the fancy kind with adhesive, I don’t know how I kept forgetting we were living like rich people. It was unsettling to have something stick to my skin, but I guess it was easier than wrapping them up. After Anne bandaged me she dried me off. I don’t know why I let her, I could have done it myself. I caught a glance of myself in the mirror, I looked, sad, probably wasn’t the right way to feel, I liked the idea of wings, and this was how it happened.

“Do you still have the address of Ezrylliil’s business or clinic or whatever, not that I’m worried, but we should go there, to be sure you’re okay.” Anne spoke gently.

“Victoria didn’t say anything about this?”

“She said there might be a little blood, but I don’t know how much a little is, especially to someone learning to be a healer.” Anne was trying to keep me calm, but even from what little I had seen I knew this was more than a little blood by any definition.

“You think you can ride?”

I nodded, it didn’t hurt that much, I just felt a little off. I didn’t say anything to Anne as I left the bathroom, just went to get dressed, but I couldn’t get my bra on.

“Love, maybe you shouldn’t, your bras are really tight, and with your back.”

“It’s fine, they have elastic in them.”

“Still, you can just wear a suit jacket, no one will know.”

I shook my head, that wasn’t an option, “Please, help me get it on.”

Anne sighed, “Fine, but if it hurts I am taking it off.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

For a moment I thought it wouldn’t be a problem, but the pressure on my back and the wounds hurt, enough that I couldn’t hide it and Anne quickly took it off. I sat on the bed, trying not to cry, but I was never good at hiding anything, especially from Anne. She sat down next to me, held me.

“It’s okay,” she said.

It’s not like I’d never cried before, but there was this underlying panic this time I couldn’t shake, even with Anne here for me. Gods I tried to focus on her holding me, her steady breathing, but it was like I was trapped in myself.

“We can go tomorrow, this is a lot for you.” Anne was too good to me, too patient, waiting until I calmed down to say anything, and was willing to wait longer for me to sort myself out.

“No, I want to get it out of the way.”

“Where is the address? I can figure out a route while you get dressed.”

“In the drawer with the guns.”

I considered the suit jacket, but the heat worried me, so I went with the loosest button up shirt I had and did my best not to think about it. Before we left I tried to go to the bathroom, to try to see if I had bleed through the bandages, but Anne guessed my intentions and stopped me.

“You look perfectly normal, and I’ll tell you if you bleed through.”

I felt lucky that Sweetheart was such a timid horse who followed the road without much input from me. I wasn’t focused, and we went slow. Anne still sat behind me, but she held on more to my hips, trying not to put any pressure on my back, and riding made me painfully aware of my lack of a bra. People weren’t staring, not more than usual, but I didn’t want anyone to be able to see me right now. Ezrylliil’s place was easy to find, it was on a major road, not sure which one, I wasn’t paying attention, Anne just told me to turn right or left as needed. I didn’t know if I wanted Ezrylliil to be there or not. I didn’t even know if she worked at her business like a normal person, she was rich after all.

When we got inside Anne took the lead with confidence I didn’t have right now. I was close enough to hear what she said to the cashier, but I didn’t listen.

“Zal?”

“What?”

“It’s gonna be about an hour wait, is that okay?” Anne seemed worried.

“Yea, I’m fine.” I didn’t want to have to come back.

I followed Anne as the cashier led her to a room in the back. As we waited she sat next to me, resting her head on my shoulder and taking my hand in both of hers, gently massaging it with her thumbs.

The way time passed it was like I fell asleep, but I don’t think I did. A soft knock at the door woke me, and the, doctor, healer, nurse, whatever, walked in without waiting for a response. They were human, which surprised me, but I don’t know if a demon would have been any better. They wore a simple uniform, black pants and shirt with a white apron, various medical things sticking out of the pockets.

“My name is Sam, I am a medical consultant here. Since there is no legally recognized certification for demonic medicine, anything said or done during this appointment is not legally medical and we are not responsible for any outcomes, do you understand?”

I nodded.

“Good, I hate saying that, we really try our best, but can’t be too careful. Everything that happens here is completely confidential. Do you want your wife here with you?”

I nodded again, neither Anne or I corrected them.

“So what brings you here today?”

Anne spoke for me without hesitation, “Her wings are coming in, and they broke the skin at some point in the night, and I’m worried. There was a fair amount of blood, and she’s in pain.”

“Some pain is normal, would you mind if I took a look?”

I shook my head.

“Great, I’ll look away and you can take your shirt off and lay face down on the table there. Let me know when it is okay to turn around.”

I did as they said, and Anne let them know I was ready.

There was an uncomfortable silence before Sam spoke.

“When did you put these bandages on?”

Anne continued answering for me, “Couldn’t have been more than two hours ago.”

“That is more blood than usual, I’m going to take the bandages off, is that okay?”

I nodded. The adhesive was too strong, hurt like a bitch when Sam pulled them off.

They were silent as they poked at my back. It hurt, and the seeming randomness of it made it more frustrating.

“Okay, everything seems normal,” Sam said, “but I can tell from your horns you’ve had some health issues in the past, do you mind telling me about it?”

“She was malnourished, both kinds, but we’ve fixed it.”

“Good, I can tell, your horns almost look normal. What I think is happening is your body is trying to make up for lost time, and on top of that it is also possible that your wings would grow quickly anyway. Sometimes the growth is faster, faster than the body's ability to heal. There isn’t much to be done about it. Keep the wounds clean, keep pressure off where her wings are growing and her back in general. Some mild painkillers might help, just take half the recommended dose for humans, and nothing derived from poppies.”

“Human painkillers work?” Anne asked, surprised. I was too.

“Not well, and not all the time, but they aren’t harmful at a low dose. Also, the new skin that grows over the exposed bone will be delicate. You’ll want to avoid putting pressure on it, keeping a bandage over them even after the bleeding stops should help, and a simple moisturizer will help keep the new skin intact.”

“Okay.”

“Any other questions?”

Anne looked at me, “I think we’re good?” I nodded.

Sam offered to bandage me up again but Anne didn’t let them, insisting she do it herself. I appreciated it, I didn’t like the idea of them touching me more than they already had. I followed Anne around as she bought everything and paid for the appointment. I was still out of it for the ride home, and I wasn’t able to stay awake when I was back in our room with our bed waiting for me.