Page 23 of Savage Elites

“Leopold?” I whispered.

Although Cormac had started the snide comments, Leopold had been the first to resort to profanity. Hypocritical, I knew, but Cormac’s resentment of the boys was understandable. Something had happened to his sister, and they had been involved to some extent.

Leopold inclined his head. “My apologies, Mr. Gibbons. Please insult me as you will. I, as a gentleman, have shoulders broad enough to withstand your insults.”

Cormac walked away.

I placed a hand on Leopold’s bicep. “Sorry. I keep taking his side.”

He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pressed a kiss on my forehead. “Gibbons has more problems than I can imagine. Understandably, you’d want to protect him.”

My stomach muscles clenched with guilt. Over the past few weeks, Leopold had become more to me than Sebastian’s sexy friend. While I still didn’t know as much about him than I would have liked, there was a kindness beneath his flirtatious exterior that warmed my heart.

He had been so generous and loving and patient during the Christmas break, and seeing him bicker with Cormac tore me in two different directions.

We continued down the hallway wrapped around each other.

“As I was saying before the interruption, Master Chang might be able to give you an alternative diagnosis. And he also combines TCM with conventional medicine.”

“He’s a western doctor, too?” I asked.

“Which is why he’s so popular.”

“Do you think I’ll be able to get an appointment so soon?”

A lazy smile spread across his features. “Master Chang is on retainer for Brunswick Bank. He’ll make time for you if I call.”

* * *

On Saturday, Leopold borrowed Sebastian’s Jeep for the journey south, and we set off at five in the morning to reach a row of Georgian houses on Harley Street, a prestigious road in London famous for private and specialist doctors.

Not so strangely, the headaches faded to a background ache for the journey, confirming my suspicions that Brittas Academy, and not my injuries, was the cause of my problems.

Master Chang was a lot younger than I had expected. He was a tall, Chinese man who wore a white doctor’s coat over a matching tunic and pants, and spoke with a slight American accent. While Leopold leafed through magazines in a plush reception area, the doctor took me into his room.

With its jasmine-scented air, white walls, and massage table, it reminded me of a spa. But the posters of skeletons, acupuncture points, and the spine reminded me that this was a place of treatment, not relaxation. My throat dried as I looked around for acupuncture needles, but I couldn’t find any.

“I’m going to ask you a series of questions about your health,” said Master Chang. “Most won’t be related to your head, but I need to get a full picture of Willow Evergreen.”

With a shaky smile, I nodded and prepared myself to respond to his inquiries.

After asking a bunch of questions, including some hair-raising inquiries about my periods, urination, and bowel movements, he finally focussed on my headaches and spent more time examining me than the neurologist at the Royal Infirmary.

He took my pulse, pulled down my eyelids, studied my tongue, and made me lie on an examination table while he twisted me in various positions to test the strength of my muscles. The entire process took about ninety minutes, and I wondered if this was normal in Chinese medicine or just a quirk of Master Chang.

Afterward, he asked me if I was on any medications. I pulled out the baggie of prescriptions I had received from the hospital, along with my discharge notes.

He read the labels. “It’s no wonder you’re struggling. Most of these contain ingredients that will make you drowsy, and this one is a sleeping aid, which you should only take at bedtime.”

“I did—”

“But your stomach and liver qi have stagnated, your spleen is overactive, giving you a cumulative effect of headaches and drowsiness. This combination is suitable for convalescence, not calculations.”

My shoulders slumped. “If I don’t take them, the pain gets worse.”

“According to your discharge notes, you should be coming off them soon. I can help you with TCM, but the pain won’t go away immediately.”

“How bad will it be?”