âWellâŠâ John gave a slight chuckle and a sideways glance as Mina took the handkerchief from his hand.
âMy schedule is always welcome.â He then glanced away as she was doing her thing. His words caused Mina to give a pause in what she was doing, glancing at him with an inquisitive smirk. He crossed his hands at the back,giving any weird looks and gossips a cold glare, waiting for either Mina to finish or the carriage to arrive. Both seemed to come at roughly the same time.
âYeah, Iâd agree, though itâs probably different for me than for you.â John gave a rather faint smile, as the carriage stopped. Before the driver needed to hop down to service his guests, John already opened the door and handed the driver the destination and his payment. Before long, he was in the carriage, sitting next to Mina when she asked about the blood sample.
âOh for sure. Itâs been a while since I met your uncle, hope nothingâs up with him.â Mina couldnât contain the small laugh at Johnâs last words, trying to figure out what the best response would be.
âWell I suppose strange things have been happening with me for a while and my uncleâs condition isnât devoid of that.â She finally said, now unbuttoning her sleeves and rolling them up some. She seemed to relax a bit more, now out of the prying eyes of the public.
âWhile he has good days and bad days, the bad days are beginning to happen more often. The sunlight sensitivity seems to worsen on his bad days, he becomes rather irritable, and even I rarely see him anymore when those days are upon us.â She finally said with a sigh, glancing at John with a solemn smile.
âWell, thatâs never good to hear.â John crossed his arms upon Mina saying, his casual friendliness earlier noticeably vanishing.
âSo Iâve begun closely monitoring his vitals on those bad days and recently have been taking weekly blood samples to examine myself. Obviously Iâm no doctor, but Iâve found something curious and honestly youâre the only person, let alone doctor, I feel I can trust with this.âHmm, itâs back to the whole blood sample. He did tell Mina about how to take blood samples, yes, but that was a while ago when he was still living in Kolonivka. She did ask for specifics recently, which he didnât really pay much thought over other than the thorough technical description. But now that she said it, he was the only person she could trust. He really felt honored that this was the case, especially for someone of status and connection like Mina, who had no shortage of close confidants, and that often included the person who probably should have known this info before he did.
âFor sure, discretion shall be kept in my veins.â He said, tapping his index finger a couple times on his thigh.
âBut your uncleâs physician, who were theyâŠDr. Igor, right? Do they know this information?â A soft smile graced Minaâs lips before she reached over and squeezed Johnâs hand.
âThank you John, I truly appreciate you being discreet.â At the mention of Dr. Igor, however, a scene flashed in her mind. The older man had been berating Mina for taking some matters into her own hands, despite her attempting to share it with him. Her uncle had overheard the whole thing and an unusual burst of anger overtook him.
âAh, Dr. Igor unfortunately resigned after a small accident befell him several months ago. Iâve been the sole caretaker of my uncle since then.â She said with a sad sigh, not revealing much more than that.
âHe was gracious enough to leave me with some of his medical supplies, though, since itâs so hard for us to get good doctors willing to move to Kolonivka.ââThatâs a weird way of putting it.â Was what John thought as he heard of what happened. But he too left at that, as Igor was just a local physician and not a part of the Institute, and they didnât meet that much, so he couldnât know exactly what happened there.
âWell that sucks. There really needs to be more development for Krasivaya. They arenât getting enough attention.â John said, rolling his eyes a little, but returned back to the topic at hand.
âYeah, Iâll take a look. But the topic of importance right now is you. What were you doing in the execution arena there to be like that?â âAgreed.â Mina said simply in response to development, she truly was all for developing her lands more and planned to focus more on that once she became countess. For now, though, she was rather preoccupied in keeping the peace and caring for her uncle.
He moved the conversation on to the execution and why she was there. She thought for a moment on how to respond.
âI was there merely out of curiosity, I suppose. An execution with no explanation of the crime, I found it quite curious. Besides, itâs always good to know what crimes other kingdoms are dealing with in case it happens in your own, wouldnât you agree?â She explained, actually being rather truthful. She did leave out her initial suspicion of magic being involved.
âIt ended up being quite a bit more intense than Iâd anticipated. For one, it was far warmer than Iâd thought it would be. Then there was the actual execution. The man was absolutely mad and somethingâŠnefarious seemed to be at work there.ââI guess yeah.â In the world of politicking, it was probably so. Though for John heâd probably be fine shifting through the paperwork that accompanied these crime cases, but executions are perhaps the most obvious and exciting. He listened to her observation with a little bit of skepticism. Not for her words, her words he had no doubts about, but its implications. A warmer stage could mean a lot of things, from poor crowd control to ventilation, and a madmanâŠwell he had been a Caesonian onceâŠ
âThat could mean a lot, but I guess weâll see when we get back to the guest house.â He said, something which they were not that far away from. Very soon, the carriage arrived outside the guesthouse yard, and John, like usual, took the initiative and went ahead. He asked a maid for the usual items heâd need delivered to a vacant empty bedroom.
âAlright, letâs help ourselves.â John said, inviting her to sit on the bed.
âHow are you feeling exactly? From then till now. You can be honest with me.âMina had a request of her own of the maid, instructing her to bring her a box from her room. In said box was the blood sample sheâd mentioned to John earlier. For now, however, she needed to let John do his examination. So she listened to him, taking a seat on the bed and even getting a bit comfortable by leaning back.
âWellâŠâ She began to ponder, thinking of exactly what had all happened.
âI felt completely fine at first, I was speaking with Leo about the execution as it began. It wasnât until the execution began that the headache hit. I felt compelled at that moment to catch the eye of the dying man and thatâs when it all went black.â She went on to say, speaking the truthâŠfor the most part.
âAfter that I saw a memory of me as a little kid with a friend and my mother. Then I woke up and everyone was freaking out. I felt dizzy and weak and frankly quite parched, which is still how Iâm feeling honestly.â She explained with a small sigh.
âThatâsâŠâ Oddly specific timing...it is quite odd that it happened like that. Could that just be a complete coincidence? It better be so. It basically checked out with the other list of what seemed to happen.
The servant arrived at the room with a tray with two cups and a jar of cool water. As soon as the servant left, the doctor touched the jar with the back of his hand, making sure the water was relatively cool and not freezing. Then he poured both of them a cup, though Minaâs more full than his, considering she probably needed more of them.
âIf heat is just the issue, this should help after a while.â He took a sip of water before taking out a white fountain pen to write down a few things in the blank sheet of paper he had in his pocket, seemingly a checklist of sorts. Then, he raised a hand a little bit, with a little hesitation and a request.
âIf you donât mind.â While John was pouring the water, Mina tucked the box the servant had brought her beside her. She would wait for an appropriate time to present it to John, but for now she took the water and took a sip herself. The cool liquid was quite refreshing, not having realized how thirsty she actually was.
âBe my guest.â She responded as she leaned in a bit closer.
Gently, he laid his palm on her forehead before leaning forward and laying his forehead on the same handâs wrist, so as to compare the temperature. It was close enough that she could feel the warmth from him as well.
Mina sat silent for a few moments, simply watching John, his closeness not going unnoticed by her. He would likely find that she was a bit cooler to the touch than heâd probably expected, but sheâd always run on the cooler side when it came to her temperature. She always figured it was because she came from such a cool climate, but John didnât share it. His brows twisted in confusion but took his time to write it down carefullyâŠ
âWell Doctor, whatâs your assessment? Perhaps I need mouth to mou-â She began to say teasingly, eyes trailing over his face, his lips. She was cut off, however, by a sharp pain in her head and she sucked in a breath as she winced.
âThat damn headache is back.â She said through gritted teeth, her eyes clamped shut for a moment as she waited for the pain to pass. John almost dropped the note he was writing on, as he rushed back over to her side, an arm around her shoulders.
Almost as quickly as it had come on the pain seemed to subside and Mina slowly opened her eyes.
âYou know this is exactly how my motherâs so-called madness began. Headaches and fainting spells. Perhaps I am to end up just like her.â She said with a small laugh, but she couldnât hide the moment of fear she felt at the thought.
Johnâs eyes drooped down as he looked away, trying to hide away the worries he had for his friend. Everything he had been suspicious of recently - the Varian nobles the previous day, this weird execution, what Mina was going through, and now her motherâs story, something she had not really talked about until now - he was trying to dance around the uncomfortable possibility. Maybe it is time that he gave it the light that it deserved.
Like she once saidâŠ
âThe tears only flow when the coffins are closed.â Those close to him might be at risk at the momentâŠ
âGive me a second.â John stood up from his bed and headed over once again to the items that he requested. Two of the things he took out were both small canisters, but one that were difficult to notice was instead coming from his chest pocket. He handed both over to Mina.
âThis one helps with headaches. Itâs relatively harmless to have, but save it for what happens earlier. Just brew two teaspoon with warm water, just like how we have tea.â If she were to look inside, both are powder-like, but one is very visibly red and smelled pretty spicy. That one he handed afterwards.
âIf your symptoms donât go away, have this one, three teaspoons, and three salt teaspoons. It will be hard to drink at first, but it'll dampen these fainting spells.â âThatâs pretty much what I have for my assessmentâŠâ John said with a sigh. It was still a bit hard to take, and especially more so for Mina. He knew that nauseating moment; he knew how everyone whom he treated had felt.
âOh andâŠitâs not really that effective, butâŠâ And so he leaned in for a kiss on her forehead. A soft touch that lasted for only a brief moment.
âEverything will be alright. SometimesâŠmadness can be beaten.â An unexpected warmth bloomed in Minaâs chest as he kissed her forehead and his words only furthered that. He was giving her hope, the hope that she wouldnât end up like her mother. It was a comfort she hadnât realized she needed. So, setting the two small canisters on her lap, she reached up and gently touched his cheek before placing a kiss of her own on the other cheek.
âThank you, John. Youâve always been a wonderful friend and Iâm happy I have you to rely on.â
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