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“Yes, you have your foot,” Grifforum said, sounding a rumble for agreement. “Your body is responding well to treatment.”

He pulled the bottom of the blanket to my knees. I tried to sit up, but dizziness got me. Tolly let go of my hand and put his Ident down so he could help me sit up.

I got to see my perfectly whole leg!

“My foot and ankle look so skinny,” I cheered. The sight made the tears stop flowing. “And my legs match again.”

I wiggled my toes experimentally and found it didn’t hurt to move them. Feeling brave, I flexed my entire foot. It felt stiff but not painful.

“Can you bend your knee too?” Grifforum asked.

I was getting a little dizzy sitting up and thought I’d done enough exercise. “Do I have to?”

Was that my voice sounding so whiny? That wasn’t like me.

“If you bend your knee, I’ll give you a treat,” Grifforum said.

“What kind of treat?” I asked, then realized how rude that was. “Never mind.”

I stared at my knee and told it to bend. It did, though it was even stiffer than my ankle. Weird.

“Does that hurt?”

“Nope,” I said, even as another wave of dizziness washed over me. My stomach had been neutral until now, but it protested by making me nauseated. “I want to lay back down.”

Tolly purred and lowered me back down. The nausea disappeared, making me sigh with relief. “That’s better.”

My body relaxed, and the floating feeling tugged at me.

“Do you want…”

There was no reason to refuse, so I floated back to sleep even as Tolly tried to talk to me.

The next time I woke up, my brain felt much clearer. I wasn’t in pain, but my dry throat and grumbling stomach told me I’d been asleep a long time.

When I opened my eyes, the lights were dim. Tolly was still holding my hand and resting his head on the bed next to my hip.

He looked sound asleep, making me hesitate to sit up. Still, I really needed to drink something.

Using my free hand, I pushed myself up and looked around. My movement woke Tolly, and he sat up with a grunt.

“Opal, is there something wrong?”

“Could I have some water?” I asked, not surprised to hear the croak in my voice.

“I’ll get that for you,” one of the healers said, making me startle. I hadn’t noticed her there.

As she turned to rush away, another healer stepped into view.

“You’re awake; good,” he said. It took me a moment to remember his name was Grifforum. He stepped close and looked down. I followed his eyes to see my uncovered leg looking back to normal. “We’re finished with the nanos, and by this time tomorrow you’ll be done here.”

“You’re amazing," I murmured, thrilled with the results. I moved my toes, ankle, and then the whole leg. Everything felt fine, only a little sore.

“I am,” Grifforum agreed. “When I heard you were coming, I studied extensively and came up with many different treatment plans to accommodate almost any injury or sickness. My work was rewarded by your health. I’ve also been able to enter new data in our files regarding human health and treatment.”

It was clear he was almost as proud of what he got to write as saving me. “I’m sure everyone who reads it will be impressed.”

Grifforum sounded a rumble of agreement, then moved to the side to allow the other healer to walk in with a tray. The bed was so big she was able to set it down next to me, opposite from where Tolly had been resting his head.