Read Online Boreal and John Grey Season 2 by Chrystalla Thoma - Free Book Online

was going on.
    Three days of wheedling to convince Finn to visit the physiotherapist. What had broken him in the end, Ella thought, was the promise that the pain in his leg, that old badly healed fracture, would get better.
    Which meant the pain had to be near unbearable.
    Ella’s heart constricted. She took a deep breath and let it out, took her time watching him as he turned from his vigilance of the open door to the machines at the head of the bed. He was so tense sitting on the physiotherapist’s bed that tendons stood out in his neck.
    He reached up, tugged his black bandana lower over his ears, and leaned toward the machines, giving the flashing lights a suspicious look.
    Maybe it was time for a vacation. A real one, not a forced time in barracks with soldiers waiting outside in case a Gate opened. The Gates were closed, and the house at the beach sounded better and better every time she took in Finn’s thin face and the dark circles under his eyes.
    He wasn’t sleeping well, dammit.
    Well, neither was she, torn between her own nightmares and snatches of Finn’s memories with no way of understanding what it was she was seeing. Not with Finn unwilling to explain.
    Finn jerked around at the sound of a door opening, half-rising. So jumpy.
    The physiotherapist, a small, pretty woman, smiled at them. “You must be Ella and Finn. I’m Darla.”
    “Mike recommended you,” Ella said. “Said you were great with old injuries.”
    “Oh yes, that’s my specialty.” Darla approached slowly, her sneakers squeaking on the floor. “Are you okay there? Sorry I left you waiting.” She pulled a stool close to the bed and perched on it. Her blouse was pink with little hearts and her dark hair fell in waves around her face. “Hi Finn, nice to meet you. Let’s see how to get rid of pain, okay?”
    Finn sank back on the table, letting out a breath.
    Yeah, she was the least threatening person Ella had ever met. Mike had been right as usual. She’d buy him chocolates. The good, expensive kind.
    “I get people with all sorts of old injuries,” Darla said, her voice low and soothing. “Some broke their arms as children and never healed right. Others were in accidents and have spine problems. Nerves get affected in such cases, causing pain later on in life. There are ways to make it better.”
    Finn sagged a bit more, his grip on the edge of the bed loosening.
    “So, where’s the injury?” Darla made no move to touch Finn. Clever woman.
    “My leg.”
    “Okay. I just want to look at it, understand what happened. Then you’ll get an x-ray and we can get to work on it.”
    Finn hesitated. He glanced at Ella, then at the door. He winced, then bent over and rolled up his pant leg. There it was, the dark, raised scar running from his knee to his ankle.
    “Oh my,” Darla whispered, sounding mildly horrified. “Looks like the bone healed badly.”
    Ella observed them — her elf, his eyes hopeful, the physiotherapist, gentle, careful — and hid her smile.
    Because she was still angry at him. She couldn’t forget that.
    Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and walked to the door. “Yeah?”
    “Hey, this is Scott. Mike says I’m to remind you of dinner at seven. At Benedict’s.”
    Ella stepped outside into the empty lobby. They were the last customers. “Haven’t forgotten. Your anniversary.”
    “Six months. I deserve a Nobel of patience.”
    “Funny. Mike said the same about himself this morning.”
    Scott snorted. “Ridiculous. I’ve put up with — Mike? Mike!” A crash, a shout. “Hey!”
    Cold crept up Ella’s spine. She gripped the phone tightly. “What’s going on?”
    No answer.
    Shit. “I’m coming over,” she said, in case Scott could still hear her.
    A noise made her spin around.
    “Miss Benson?” Darla stood at her office door, wringing her hands. “Please come inside. I don’t know what’s wrong...”
    Ella was running before she realized what she was doing. She burst into the