Nish nodded, though her worry didn’t budge an inch. Seeing Atticus like this, right on the heels of her finally saying goodbye to James, did nothing to calm her already erratic emotions, and it gave her something else to focus on besides her own aching heart. “The Carriage House,” she answered, still not looking in his direction despite the noticeable dimming of his presence. Her head was already hurting from crying and from loss, she didn’t need to make her growing headache any worse by looking directly at the sun, even while shrouded by cloud cover.
She shifted out of his way when he approached, saw out of the corner of her eye that he easily picked up the prone man, and then led them out of the room and down the hall, out the back door and towards the other building, all the while glancing over her shoulder as much as she’d dare to make sure he was following. It occurred to her, briefly, how strange this must look to anyone who might be glancing out a window just then. Would they see her leading Atticus home, unconscious and floating in the air? Or would they see the strange being that carried him? The thought didn’t last long, and soon she was holding the door open for him, leading him down a hallway where she confirmed with one of the roomates which one belonged to Atticus.
“I’ll stay with him,” she said once the reaper had laid the seer in bed. After what he’d done for her, it was the absolute least she could do. She pulled a nearby chair up close to the bed and sat down, watching Atticus and feeling her own energy start to drain away from everything that’s happened.
After a few moments of silence, she dared look up again, a quick glance and then away, to make sure he was still there, and then focused again on the blanket beneath Atticus. “Thank you,” she said to the other being sharing the room with her. “What you did...for James. Thank you.”