The Noblesse and his Love

Chapter 61

*Frankie*

I scooped my sister up into my arms, being careful to remove the shard from the cement but not from her body. Her head lolled to the side like a broken doll's. My heart hadn't beat this fast since the time when Rai-Lin had been taken. Knowing time was essential, I began to run towards home, trying my best not to jostle her.

Rai-Lin's weak heartbeat thundered in my ears. For the first time in my life, I wish I didn't have such keen hearing. Normally, hearing her heartbeat was reassuring. Now, with its fluttering beat getting weaker with each passing minute, the sound was torture.

I rushed into the house and down to the lab. Master and the rest followed behind me. When I got to the door of my medical room, I turned my head slightly and said, "I need to do this alone. Having you all watching me will only distract me."

"Frankenstein," Master's voice was quiet as always but laced with helplessness. "Please, don't let my love die." I said nothing, just walked into the room.

Hooking Rai-Lin up to all the machines that would hopefully keep her heart beating, my hands shook. I stopped for a second to steady myself. My emotions hadn't been this out of control since the day Rai-Lin was taken. Now was not the time for me to be weak. I needed to be strong, so I could save my little sister's life.

*Raizel*

The pain. It was the only thing I could feel. Pain of the body, mind, and heart. The pain in my body I knew was the pain Rai-Lin was feeling, and it was excruciating. I could have cut the connection, could have saved myself the agony, but the thought of leaving her alone in her pain seemed like betrayal. I would never betray my love.

The pain in my mind was worse than the pain in my body. My mind was going through what I would do if I lost her, what I would do if she disappeared from me forever. The thoughts were debilitating. I could do nothing more than stare.

But the worse pain of them all was the pain in my heart. She was suffering. My poor love was suffering beyond anything I had ever suffered. My long sleep had been painless, but her sleep now was filled with fire. There was nothing I could do to take it away, nothing I could do to help her. All I could do was sit in this chair and stare, while all her pain washed over me.

*M*

The wait was agonizing. I had never been a patient person but waiting around while the person who had given me a family was fighting for her life was almost impossible. I had thought I felt helpless before, but this, this was torture.

I looked over my family as I paced throughout the room. Tao and Takio were huddled closed together, tears on both their faces. Seira had her arm wrapped around Regis's shoulders. The younger noble was looking extremely distraught, his hands shaking the tiniest bit.

And then, there was Raizel. He was settled in a chair close by the others, but I could tell by his eyes that he wasn't really there. His features were screwed into a look of pain. I knew he was feeling Rai-Lin's pain as she had told me about their bond.

I changed my path and went to stand close to Raizel. He didn't move as I came to a stop in front of him. "How much pain is she in?" I asked him, desperate for some form of an update on Rai-Lin.

He blinked slowly, coming out of his haze. His eyes, when he looked up at me, said everything. "She is feeling fire. Never have I felt such pain before."

I sucked in a breath. I knew Raizel was older than Rai-Lin and that he had seen and been through much. For him to say that he had never felt such pain before was terrifying. How could she survive such pain?

A voice in that back of my head whispered that this was my fault. Afterall, she had been distracted because of me. If she had been focused, that man would never have had a chance to hurt her in such a way. If Rai-Lin died, it would be because of me.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by Raizel's voice. "You are blaming yourself," He stared at me with dull eyes, and I nodded. "Do not. Rai-Lin would not wish for you to carry such a burden."

"How can I not?" I asked bitterly. "If I had fought better, Rai-Lin would not have gotten distracted, and she would not have been hurt."

"Perhaps not. But that is not what happened. Blaming yourself and wallowing in self-pity will not help her. It will only hurt as she will blame herself for your pain. Do not do that to my love."

I went to respond, to tell him I would do my best to not blame myself or at least not to let Rai-Lin know, when Frankenstein walked into the room. The rest of our family stood up, Raizel swiftly making his way to his servant. "Frankenstein."

"I have stabilized her condition, but I'll have to monitor her for a few days. The amount of power in her is still large and is slowing down her healing. I estimate that she should be back to full health in a week to a week and a half." Frankenstein's appearance was haggard, and his voice lacked it usual assertiveness. A frightened look still lingered in his eyes.

I made my way up next to Raizel. "She is going to be okay, right?"

Frankenstein's lips twitch into a small smile. "Yes, M, she will be alright," The smile slowly fell from his lips. "But I doubt she will wake in the next couple of days. Her body has been put under extreme duress, and I imagine she is still in a good amount of pain. Saying this, I will only allow one person besides Master in at a time. There is a chance she could feel your minds and get overwhelmed."

I lowered my head, letting my bangs cover the emotions in my eyes. I desperately wanted to run into the room where Rai-Lin was and make sure she was alright for myself. But did I really deserve the opportunity to go in there at all, let alone go in first? I was the reason that my family was in so much pain.

"M should go first," My head snapped up at the sound of Tao's voice. He was looking at me with worried eyes. "Everyone can see that you want to go to her. We can also see that you are blaming yourself."

"Which you shouldn't," Takio said. His eyes were steady but held the same worry that Tao's did. "None of us blame you. You did everything you could."

I scoffed, about to respond, but Regis beat me to it. "You don't think you did. But if you failed, then so did we. I was right there and wasn't able to do anything. Takio and Tao were out of commission as well."

"And I was too late," Seira said softly. "We all care about Rai-Lin, and we all failed her. But there is no use in drowning in guilt. She wouldn't want it for us, and we certainly don't want it for you. We care about you as well, M, and we are worried about you."

A warm feeling that I had been growing more accustomed to since our time as a family grew around my heart. This was something I had longed for, this family, and I refused to disappoint them anymore. I refused to disappoint myself. Feeling guilty about what happened would only cause me to push everyone away, and that was something I refused to do. This was my family, and I'd be damned if I wasn't going to fight for it, even if the battle was against myself.