And a couple of minutes later a woman's voice announced herself as "Nurse Riley." You're Susan Malone's nurse?" I verified. When she allowed as how sh... was—either the guy had told her I'd passed the code word test or she was behind the times—I asked how her patient was doing."She's resting comfortably, sir," was the uninformative response."Can you tell me a little more than that?" I asked. "I mean, what's her condition, has she been awake at all, how's she tolerating the whatsis, you know, the. " That would be acceptable."(Underlined text is deleted text left in this version so the readerwill understand the events as they transpired.)He tells me when it is worn that it absorbs the magical talent of thewearer and stores it in the vial until released by the wearers tutor,or an agreement is made at the yearly review of the wearer's progress."Better." Oh, hush."He also tells me that the wearer is given the ability to learn magic inthe same way as he learned it in his youth."Oh, no you. "Lay Katie on top of her."Meredith pulled off her top and slipped out of her scavenged gym shorts and pressed herself down on top of the two distressed girls. Katie looked at her wide-eyed, but had sense of the moment enough to press her mouth against Meredith's in an all-encompassing kiss.Breaking the seal after a moment, Meredith addressed her counterpart."Kaitlyn! I know you realize it if you look inside yourself, but you're stronger than me!" she said hurriedly. "Concentrate. Send your. Trink grinned like a silly loon and clapped Drapper on the back "see that wasn't so bad" a voice spoke "Oh and Trink, we will talk again later, I have a few chores, for you" Trink groaned "here we go again." Laughing Drapper and a muttering Trink returned to the stables, wondering what would happen next.Marluxion stood next to the bed looking at the sleeping woman. He listened to her dreams and nodded satisfied, then held a paw over her and ran it above her body from head to toe, paying close.