***CONTENT WARNING! Mild swearing***

Fixing her eyes on Neil, he seemed to Lenora like an avenging angel. This was the second glimmer of hope that at least something during this whole sordid ordeal was turning in her favor. Valerie had come through and brought the doctor to her, and Lenora would grasp at anything he had to offer to help her feel halfway normal again.

“I think under the circumstances, you’d better call me Lenora. I reckon we’ll be going through a lot together.”

Smiling, Neil nodded and waved his hand before Lenora’s forehead to take her temperature. This was much better than sticking a thermometer into someone’s mouth. “And I’m Neil. You’re right. We’re in this too deeply for formalities.” His smile rearranged itself into a frown. “You’re burning up with fever, and you have a behemoth case of pneumonia.”

“Brilliant deduction, Dr. Watson,” Lenora quipped, trying to grin a little. The corners of her mouth did manage to curve at seeing Neil’s own slight grin. “Um, so…how bad am I?” she asked, her expression turning grim.

Neil sighed, sat on the edge of the bed beside her, and took her hand. “Well,, I commend you for your inner strength and will to fight. Anyone else as bad off as you are would be dead or damned well near it. Frankly, you’re lucky to still be with us.”

“It’s my mission to get back to my family. I do not want to die in here.” Lenora produced a bone-rattling cough and whimpered in pain. “As bad as this hurts, I must survive. I must!”

“That’s why I’m here.” Neil patted Lenora’s hand, then squeezed it before focusing his attention on his bag and sifting through its contents. “Now then, did you take the stuff I left for Valerie to give you earlier?”

“I did. The nausea has quieted down a good deal, and I was able to get in a little sleep while she left me to bring ye here. As ye already know though, it was full of dreams. Dream visions I call them.” She sighed, the last of it ending on a wheeze. “Maybe…hopefully, I reached one of them. Maybe one of them felt me.” She quickly explained her abilities, giving Neil the barebones edition of what her magical powers could do.

“I am familiar with them, Lenora. Valerie has told me a great deal about you. Plus, you have an extremely detailed chart at the hospital outlining your medical history, magical experiences, and record of your blood donations to the special Supernatural blood bank. For your sake and theirs, I certainly hope you made a successful connection. None of you deserve what happened, and I feel partially responsible for causing you all such anguish. It’s a wonder you’re even speaking to me, let alone trusting me with your care.” Neil blew out a long breath and looked down at Lenora’s hand resting at her side. “I’m so terribly sorry. I hope one day you can forgive me even though I don’t deserve it in the slightest.”

Lenora reached for his hand, holding it between her fevered ones. “I understand. Truly, I do. Ye tried to help me, Neil. I know your heart, and I sense how knowledgeable and capable of a healer and clinician ye are.” She placed her right hand over his heart, smiling as she felt the doctor’s compassion and caring shining through. “Ye see, ye gave me the strength to muster a smile. Having ye here to help me makes me want to fight even harder. Ye are good for my morale.”

“I’m glad, Lenora. You need the will to fight in order to help get you better.” Neil offered a fleeting smile, then looked at her in self-loathing. “What I put you all through. The clone…”

“Ye were frightened for your mother. That is powerful motivation, my new friend. However, this is a big learning experience. Giving in will only drag ye deeper into the abyss, and blackmailers will demand more and more every time ye cave.” As always, when giving sage advice and when she felt deep emotion, Lenora’s Irish brogue thickened. “I think ye now know where to go to for help. Mathiilda will rant and rail at ye for a time, but she will listen. Just show her that ye are sincere, and she will help ye.”

“Valerie says your husband called some family meeting that’s supposed to happen at first light tomorrow morning.” He looked at his watch and whistled. “Strange hours we’ve all been keeping. Sunup is only a few hours from now. Anyway, I’m supposed to go to Mathilda later in the afternoon. Truth be told, I’m quite scared of her.”

Lenora nodded her understanding. “Mathilda isn’t one to trifle with. Just be honest with her, and she will listen. Follow everything she tells ye, for she will not steer ye wrongly.” She eyed each vial and bottle Neil pulled out of his bag to set before her. “I dreamt that this meeting is to talk about exhuming me…eh…my double. Your clone will certainly be discovered, Neil. Tyrone, Mathilda, and the others will know what to look for, and they’ll discover that what is buried will not be me.”

“I know. I’ll come clean about the entire thing, I promise you.” He handed her a small vial with liquid in shades of blue swirling inside. “Drink this first. It’s a stronger, much more potent anti-nausea potion. You’ll be able to keep stuff down. It’ll lasts for a couple days, but I’ll leave more for when you need it.”

Without question, Lenora drank down everything Neil gave her. He explained what everything was for, some of which she knew while others were unfamiliar. “When we’re both in the clear and out of danger, we must exchange Alchemy recipes.”

“That would be great! A lot of these are of my own creation. They’ve gone through extensive testing, so don’t worry about strange side effects. You’ll just be very, very drowsy and want to sleep all day, but that’s exactly what you need. You need your rest, Lenora.” He reached his hand to feel her forehead. “Your fever is coming down already, and I’ve performed a charm to take care of the night sweats and to keep you dry and clean.”

“Yes, I felt it, and I thank ye for your kindness.” She touched his hand, squeezing his fingers. “May your heart soon be lifted from sorrow, and may the sun carry ye once more to beautiful and balanced tranquility.”

Neil felt unexpected tears sting the corners of his eyes. “You have such a beautiful, loving spirit, Lenora. Even now after everything you’ve been through…you’re a lovely person. It’s no wonder so many people love you so. My mother…she’s a great fan of yours.”

Lenora smiled at his compliment and squeezed his hand again. “Your mother is fortunate in having such a wonderful, compassionate son. I hope to meet her one day. Neil, after all this is said and done, I want us to grow our friendship. There is much we can learn from each other.” At seeing Neil cock a questioning eyebrow at her, Lenora continued. “We were put in each other’s lives for a reason, Neil. There are obstacles we must overcome to be free of the dangers we are in, but if all three of us stick it out together, we will triumph.”

“I’ll do anything I can to get us all out of this mess,” Neil said.

“Me, too,” Valerie said determinedly.

“All right then. For starters, here is what we need to do.” Lenora was relieved when the potions quickly took effect, for she was able to take a much deeper breath than she’d been able to in weeks. “I’m to play along and get Allen to trust me. I think I can do that. I do, indeed, feel sorry for the poor man. He is clearly addled, and I suspect he is off his medication. Valerie, if ye can somehow look for a medication list for Allen in Shane’s stuff, do what ye can to get it to Neil. Neil, if ye can get them filled, please do, and then give them to me for keeping. I’m sure between the two of us, we can come up with a shielding spell to keep them hidden from Shane. I will work on Allen and convince him to take them, and I’ll administer them to him myself. Naturally, we will need to keep Clayton from finding out. I’m hoping that if we can get Allen to clearer thinking, he may be more receptive to telling me things we need to know. I don’t expect him to actually let me go, but I think we can uncover some valuable information. My hope is that we can even help him, too. Och, that poor, poor man!”

“I’d say someone is feeling much better,” Valerie grinned in spite of their dire situation. “Lenora strategizing. I love it. Right. I’m in.” It was the first time she’d spoken since Neil commenced his thorough examination of Lenora.

“And me,” Neil replied. “I’m in total agreement. Allen needs help as well. He’s definitely in need of treatment. Now, here’s another thing we need to consider. We’ve got to find a way of breaking this curse or hex, whatever was used to magic this cell. It drains you of your power, Lenora, and that is part of what is weakening you. That and being deathly ill is a horrible combination. I will consult my Grimoire and see if I wrote down anything over the years that can help us. My guess is that as Clayton can’t cast magic himself, he bought some kind of curse from a witch or wizard who practices the dark arts. Rack your brain, too, Lenora, and see if anything comes to mind.”

“I can do that. Plus, the sooner ye get me stronger, the sooner I can test things out in here and see what the limitations are to my magic whilst trapped inside. Och! I wish I had access to my own Grimoire to consult. Well, we’ll just have to see what this old noggin can do.” She shrugged and tapped her head. Moments later, however, Lenora produced a jaw-popping yawn. “I think I’m running out of gas, my loves.”

“Then, sleep, Lenora. That’s the best thing for you right now,” Neil said, gently pushing her back onto her pillow.

“Just promise me something.”

“What?” Valerie asked, stroking her sister-in-law’s hair.

Lenora’s eyes slid closed, but she fought them open for just a moment more. “Promise me…if I don’t make it back in time for…” She trailed off, her eyes closing again.

“What, sweetie. What is it?” Valerie coaxed in a soft whisper.

“Promise me…tell the wee ones…how much I love them if I don’t make it in time…for their birthdays.”

“I’ll tell them, Lenora. I promise.” Tears stood out in Valerie’s eyes as she leaned over to kiss Lenora’s brow.

Lenora blinked once before her eyes slid closed once again. After a soft sigh, her breathing became deep and even, unlabored, at least for now, by Neil’s potions. Before escorting Valerie to the cell door, Neil performed a restful sleep spell over his patient and left her to the healing slumber she so desperately needed.

Author’s Note: I’m sorry if this chapter seems a little short. I wrote something longer, but then, it got too long and so felt it was better to break it up into two smaller chunks. This means you will likely see the next chapter in the next day or so. I’ll post it once I get done with the editing and screenshots.

Just as a fun little thing – I’m a pretty big fan of the TV show Charmed and have always wanted to get my mitts on a replica of the Halliwell sisters’ Book of Shadows. I normally don’t get a lot of trinkets from book series, movies, or TV shows I like, but once in a while, I’ll fork over the lettuce if some sort of collector’s book grabs my attention. Some years back, I wound up pulling the trigger and getting a collector’s edition of Beetle the Bard. Harry Potter fans will know exactly what I’m talking about. 😀

Anyway, long story short, I did manage to find q Book of Shadows replica and got my hot little hands on it recently. Yep, I probably paid way too much, but let me tell you, the thing is huge, heavy, and jam-packed with stuff from the show, like the spells, potions, and notes written by the three sisters and family members now deceased. It really is a beautiful piece. Although my witches are more traditional and not wiccan based, the book is inspiring me to make my own sort of Forever in Time reference book to keep track of the spells I write for my characters, how their powers have evolved and grown, and things the characters need to know and will learn as Supernatural folks.

Sounds exciting, right? Well, hang onto your hats for now, my lovelies. 🙂 This is just in the thinking stages for right now and nothing serious has been planned. If it does come to fruition, I’ll make a video flip of it for my YouTube channel and share that link in a future blog post. I love journaling, and anything creative I can do with something in my HUGE collection of blank journals appeals to me greatly.

So, I’m curious. Has anyone else made a sort of Sim book, journal, or something that represents your own SimLit story or even a favorite Save that’s near and dear to your heart? If so, I’d love to hear about it.

As always, thanks for reading, commenting, liking, sharing, and subscribing.