Ferra opened a treatment channel no wider than Vella's first two fingers. It curved through nullstone, avoided the reflected edge of the spatial glass, and stopped against the child's outer soul membrane.
The channel offered no room for a weapon, healing construct, or second hand. If the prison tightened, Ferra could collapse the metal guide before it cut inward.
Vella knelt outside the opening with both hands visible and said through the physical air, "I will place two fingers near your wrist, and I will stop whenever you pull away."
The child sat inside the four walls with her injured arm pressed against her chest. She could not answer the language, yet her eyes followed Vella's fingers as they entered the guide.
When the fingertips neared her bandage, she flinched without retreat, so Vella stopped and asked, "May I move closer?" while waiting through one complete twelve-needle cycle.
