Regret

Picking Emily up, Nathalie rushed to the closest doctor she could think of. As the witches were heavily embroiled in the war with the demons, most witches with healing powers were either sent to the front lines or reserved for higher ranked witches.

However, Nathalie remembered that there was one witch that had some healing powers. At least, she could grow herbs that had healing properties. This could at least help Emily with the injuries she had. Overtime she might heal from these wounds. Feeling guilt deep in her hearth, Nathalie did not know how to face the healing witch, or Emily after she got back on her feet.

Arriving at a cabin just outside of the city, Nathalie pounced on the door. "Open the door! Open up damn it!" Nathalie shouted out sniffing her tears in. She had injured many other witches with her powers, however this was the first time that something this extreme happened. Looking over the body of Emily, even bones were exposed this time.

Emily's breathing becomes slower by the minute, making Nathalie even more anxious. The time, she used more force when pouncing on the door. "Open this damned door already, or I am going to kick it in!" Nathalie shouted in an angry yet teary voice. Having noticed the state Emily was in, holding back her tears had become impossible.

Just as Nathalie took a step back in order to kick in the door, the door opened. "Shut up already. What do you want, just leave me alone?" A groggy female stood just behind the door opening. At that moment, she at Nathalie and understood her urgency. "What happened, what have you done to this poor soul!" The witch screamed towards Nathalie.

Not being able to talk, Nathalie could only cry and not leaving her gaze from Emily. "I… I… I don't…" Nathalie couldn't finish her sentence, as she had to sniff every time she opened her mouth.

"Never mind that now, come in quickly" the witch said opening the door wide open. She turned around and rushed inside herself.

Walking inside with Emily in her arms, Nathalie looked around. She noticed the witch entering a room. "Come in her quickly!" she shouted to Nathalie. As Nathalie entered the room, she noticed that there were various herbs hanging in the room. There was a strong herbal fragrance.

The witch pointed to a table, "Put her on the table, so I can start as soon as possible." Nathalie directly followed her order. Having put her on the table, she got pushed away by the witch, who started directly applying herbal remedies onto Emily.

Nathalie just stared at the witch working. After around 10 minutes had passed, the witch finally slowed down and looked towards Nathalie. This time she asked her initial question again, but this time at a softer voice, "What happened, what did you do, tell me everything that happened."

Nathalie couldn't leave her gaze from Emily as she replied, "I don't know. There was an experiment and not long after an explosion. Everything happened so fast. I don't know what happened… I don't know!" Nathalie's eyes started to tear up as she recalled everything that happened.

"Will she be alright?" Nathalie asked after some time. "I don't know. I have applied some herbs on her. I am not the best at healing and most healers are currently away, so I don't know if this will be alright. Now everything depends on her and her willpower to survive." the witch said.

"Thank you Stacy for everything" Nathalie murmured in a low voice. With that Nathalie lost her consciousness and fell asleep.

…

Next thing Nathalie remembered was that she was lying on the floor. She could hear some birds chipping from the outside. Looking at the window, she saw the early sun, just rising. Standing up, she looked around and saw Emily lying in a bed, calmed down a lot and resting at the spot.

"Oh you have waken." the voice of Stacy came from the door opening. "Here have something to eat." Stacy said as she pushed a bowl of soup in the hands of Nathalie. "Don't worry about that girl, she is looking a bit better and hear breathing has stabilized. If she rest for another 2 days, I am sure that she will be fully healed."

Hearing these words, Nathalie's eyes started to water up again, looking into the bowl on her lap. "I… I am not su-… sure if I c-… c-… can face her." Having difficulties speaking Nathalie still tried to finish her sentence. Tears were dripping into the soup.

Stacy put her hand on the shoulder of Nathalie trying to calm and reassure her. "Don't worry about that, I am sure that it was not your fault. She sure will forgive you for it." Stacy's voice was dim, as she was not sure what to say.

Her voice becoming milder Stacy said, "For now, you have to regain your strength and eat something up, you have been a sleep for a whole day." Standing up again, Stacy left the room, leaving Nathalie alone.

…