I give him what's meant to be a reasonably encouraging smile, but probably shows far more of my tiredness than I want it to.

"We were fighting Buglers -- more than I've ever seen before. Working our way back towards each other because we got swamped. I realised Eti wasn't with us," which was not the most enjoyable realisation of my life, "and sped off around the corner to find him."

Emi's in my face, and I touch his shoulder in reassurance, automatically, like I would for one of the others.

Huh.

"He'll be fine. I promise. Just a couple sprains, some burns, but he's been bandaged up properly and he heals quickly. He's on some heavy duty painkillers, so he's asleep. He's not in any pain just now."

I'm not exactly unaffected by Eti being hurt, and I wish I'd gotten there a few minutes earlier. But I'm aware that it could've been considerably worse. If I'd arrived later...