Iliana looked soberly down at her hand. It was the only thing that marred the picture; it was gory and shocking. But Iliana's gaze wasn't frightened. Instead, she looked wise beyond her years and infinitely sad.
"I... couldn't help," she said.
Keller opened her mouth. But before she could say anything, Nissa appeared beside Iliana.
"Here," she said in her practical way, loosening the carefully knotted scarf at her throat. "Let me tie it up until we can see if you need stitches." She
glanced up at Keller. "I got the license plate of the car."
Keller blinked and refocused. Her brain started ticking again.
"Both of you, go get the car," she said to Nissa and Winnie. "Ill finish that." She took Nissa's place by Iliana. "Are you really all right?" she asked Jaime, careful to face her directly. "I think we need to take all three of you to the hospital."
Part of her expected to see a flinching as the dark blue eyes under the soft brown bangs met hers. But, of course, there wasn't any. Nissa's memory blanking had been too good. Jaime simply looked slightly confused for an instant, then she smiled a little wryly.
"I'm really okay."
"Even so," Keller said.
There was a crowd gathering. Students and teachers were running from various corners of the building, coming to see what the noise was about. Keller realized that it had actually been only a couple of minutes since the car had gone roaring and screeching along the sidewalk.
A few minutes... but the world had changed. In several ways.
"Come on," she said, and helped Jaime up. She let Galen help Iliana.
And she felt strangely calm and peaceful.
Galen turned out to have several pulled muscles and lots of scrapes and bruises. Jaime had bruises and a dizzy headache and double vision, which got her actually admitted to the hospital-hardly surprising, considering how many times she'd been knocked down that day, Keller thought.
Iliana needed stitches. She submitted to them quietly, which only seemed to alarm her mother. Mrs. Dominick had been called from home to the hospital. She sat with the baby in her lap and listened to Keller try to explain how Iliana had gotten cut while standing at the chemistry room window.
"And when she saw the car almost hit Jaime, she was so startled that she just squeezed the beaker, and it broke."
Diana's mother looked doubtful for a moment, but it wasn't her nature to be suspicious. She nodded, accepting the story.
Jaime's parents had been called to the hospital, too, and both Galen and Jaime had to give statements to the police. Nissa flashed Keller a glance when the policewoman asked if anyone had noticed the car's license plate.
Keller nodded. She had already had Nissa call the number in to Circle Daybreak from a pay phone, but there was no reason not to have the police on the case, too. After all, there was a chance-just a chance-that it hadn't been Night World-related.
Not much of a chance, though. Circle Daybreak agents would follow Jaime and her family after this, watching from the shadows and ready to act if the Night World showed up again. It was a standard precaution.
Both Mr. and Ms. Ashton-Hughes, Jaime's parents, came down from Jaime's floor to speak to Galen in the emergency room.
"You saved our daughter," her mother said. "We don't know how to thank you."
Galen shook his head. "Really, it just happened. I mean, anybody would have done it."
Ms. Ashton-Hughes smiled slightly and shook her head in turn. Then she looked at Iliana.
"Jaime says she hopes your hand heals quickly. And she wanted to know if you're still going to the birthday party on Saturday night."
"Oh-" For a moment, Iliana looked bewildered, as if she'd forgotten about the party. Then she brightened. "Yeah, tell her that I am. Is she still going?"
"I think so. The doctor said she can go home tomorrow, as long as she keeps quiet for a few days. And she said she wasn't going to miss it even if her head fell off." Iliana smiled.
It was well into the evening by the time they all got home. Everyone was tired, even the baby-and Iliana was asleep.
Mr. Dominick came hurrying out of the house. He was a medium-sized man with dark hair and glasses, and he looked very anxious. He came around to the backseat as Hiana's mother filled him in on the situation.
But it was Galen who carried Iliana inside. She didn't wake up. Hardly surprising. The doctor had given her something for the pain, and Keller knew that she hadn't had much sleep the night before. She lay in Galen's arms like a trusting child, her face turned against his shoulder.
They looked... very good together, Keller thought. They looked right.
Winnie and Nissa hurried upstairs and turned down Diana's sheets. Galen gently lowered her to the bed. He stood looking down at her. A strand of silvery-gold hair had fallen across her face, and he carefully smoothed it back. That single gesture told Keller more than anything else could have.
He understands, she thought. It's like that moment when she looked at him and discovered all at once that he's brave and gentle and caring. He understands that she cut herself to try and save Jaime, and that people love her because she loves them so much first. And that she couldn't be petty or spiteful if she tried, and that she's probably never wished another person harm in her life.
He sees all that in her now.
Mrs. Dominick came in just then to help get Iliana undressed. Galen, of course, went out. Keller gestured for Winnie and Nissa to stay, and followed him.
This time, she was the one who said, "Can I talk with you?"
They slipped into the library again, and Keller shut the door. With everything that was going on in the house, she didn't think anyone would notice.
Then she faced him.
She hadn't bothered to turn on the lights. There was some illumination from the window but not much. It didn't really matter. Shapeshifter eyes were good in the dark, and Keller was just as glad he couldn't study her face.
She could see enough of his as he stood by the window. The light picked up the edge of his golden head, and she could see that his expression was troubled and a little uncertain.
"Keller-" he began.
Keller held up a hand to cut him off. "Wait. Galen, first I want to tell you that you don't owe me an explanation." She took a breath. "Look, Galen, what happened this morning was a mistake. And I think we both realize that now."