I awoke with the blinding whiteness of hospital walls surrounding me, and the sight of a nurse hovering over me. “W-what… am I doing here?”
The nurse blinked, “Oh, you’re awake. That’s good. You were sent here by an office mate, apparently you fainted when you were working because of a fever. There were also mentions of overworking, yes?”
Paling, I realized that I was absent from work. “This is really unnecessary! I am fine, my temperature’s just up by a bit.”
I tried to sit up on the hospital bed, but the nurse pushed me down, “I’m sorry, ma’am, but for your health we must monitor you for the time being just in case this fever may worsen. We were looking through your health, and we realized that you are malnourished. You haven’t been eating very well, I suppose?”
Now that has been mentioned, I remembered all my previous meals and realized that it has been a while since the last time I cooked something fulfilling for myself. It was really silly.
I sighed and relaxed on the bed, "Look, can you just give me some medicine? I really have somewhere I need to be."
The nurse laughed and spun a pen around her fingers, "Now that is just proof of you overworking. Let me repeat myself... you have to stay in bed for a while until we can release you."
I guess there was no point in protesting. Any more and she would sound like a little kid who refused to be bed ridden, just because they wanted to go outside and play. A little grumpy, I closed my eyes. My reasoning was far different though.
"Now, just get some sleep. If you need anything just press that button over there." with that, she left me to my own thoughts.
Sleep? I just got sleep, and now she's asking her to fall asleep again? There was a limit to the amount of time one can rest. It was like how a needs bar was maxed, and the character was no longer able to continue a certain action.
I was stuck here to remain bored until the hospital deemed her ready to leave. Perfect. I would have used this amount of time for much more profitable use.
Looking around, my bed was not next to the window even though there was no other patient inside of the room. Perhaps the nurse won't notice if she switched the beds.
I stood up and calmly walked my way through the mint curtains to look out of the window, looking down at all the people passing by. The touch of the glass felt ice cold on the tips of my fingers, reminding her of the snow that littered the ground in my dreams.
Opening the window, the cool breeze hit my face. It was then I realized how hot I was. Not in that context, what I meant was my fever may be a lot worse than I thought it was.
Well, standing around in front of the window with snow starting to fall inside was definitely not healthy, and I've done a lot of things lately that wasn't sufficient to my health.
I closed the window and hugged myself, trying to get myself warm. Perhaps the bed right next to the window was not a good idea after all. For now, I guess I should follow what that nurse said and take my rest on the bed.
I haven't been getting enough sleep lately. Kind of.
Well... I've been sleeping the necessary amount of hours that an adult should be taking. Truthfully, it may not be straight through, but it was still the same amount. Why was she so... tired? And why did she only recognize this now?
Perhaps... yeah. Perhaps I should return to the bed. I had a splitting headache.
With a groan, I tucked myself back into the hospital bed. What was my temperature? That nurse should should've told her. Ughhh.
Will Allen be alright without me? He did tend to be quite disorganized when I wasn't around.
As if answering my question, something right next to me beeped. It was my phone. With a grunt, it took me a lot more effort than I usually had to just to get it from the side table. How convenient that my belongings were right where I needed them.
I checked the messages to see:
Mr. Allen: Get well soon. You deserve this rest.
Well... um, I guess I can't say no to that now. I have been working hard lately, and maybe I do need this break. But how can I enjoy a break when I am going to be going through it having a fever.
I breathed out, and closed my eyes. I tried to relax my body, but I was too tense. It was making it harder for me. Frustrated I sat up and shoved the fluffy covers away. I can't sleep.
I know that I shouldn't be stressing myself out right now, but I can't help but think about the kids. Looking at my phone's clock, at this time they should be gathering more hibernating rabbits. If they could find any, that is. It was almost lunch time, after all.
Changing my position on the bed, I found myself lying sideways and my head upside down right at the edge. I could feel the blood rushing to my head; an unpleasant feeling. Nonetheless, I continued that position.
I noted that I was wearing one of the hospital's clothing. How they got me to wear it without waking up I don't know, but the real question is: who in the world changed me.
Uh... best not to think about that.
I rolled around the blankets, turning myself into a sushi roll. There was already air conditioning within the hospital, meaning that there was a heater, so the cold air that entered when I opened the window was gone very soon.
Now I was wishing that I had a roommate, it would certainly make things less boring for me.
I already tried to sleep, it didn't really go well. All there was for me to do was to lie down bored, and maybe count the tiles on the floor or something.
I wonder when they would give me food... hopefully the food in hospitals wasn't as bad as they describe it to be in movies.
After a while, an overbearing silence filled the room, giving me the urge to scream. Silence was never really my favorite. Ouch. I should've phrased that differently. I mean silence as having no sounds, not Silent. D-do you know what I mean?
I laughed to myself. I must be going crazy if I'm starting to talk to an imaginary person. Or maybe I'm just that bored.
Usually when I was in my house, I would play music in order to fill the soulless air. It always calmed me down, or made me feel better... and less lonely.
My head hurt. It was getting hard to breathe. I rolled around, unwrapping myself from the white sheets, and covered myself with them. It was hot too.
With hooded eyes I thought: At least I'm warm. The kids are suffering through a winter without this convenience.
Blinking, I was starting to feel drowsy. It was the fever for sure. I closed my eyes and rested my head against the only pillow.
Sleep. I needed sleep. Sleeeeeep...
"I think she's awake now!"
The sound of White's bubbly voice was the first thing I received from my senses, and soon the sight of all the kids hovering around me flooded my vision.
"She's burning up! Did you guys notice? Do you think we should throw her into the snow to freeze? If she dies at least her corpse would be preserved." Coocoo giggled and flipped her short hair.
Instantly, I stood up. "Please..." I panted, "Don’t go through with that idea." I would die for sure.
"Relax, we won't kill you." Eldest said sitting on the floor with her arms crossed, and said the next words in a quiet whisper she thought that I wouldn't hear, "At least they won't."
Theories of Lucy planning on killing me are starting to become very solid. I wouldn't be surprised if she took the opportunity to kill me now given my current state.
"Wow! Don't stand up right now. You'd give yourself a head split like a blade onto wood." Johnny cackled to myself, trying to contain his laughs, "You get it? Cuz, you know-- wood. Split into two."
"Yeah, yeah... What Joke's trying to say is that you're not feeling well, obviously. So you should lie down a little while longer." Second pushed her back down, "We already got the heater going for you."
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Johnny twitch a bit at the sound of his former code name. Did it bother him?
"Do you want something to eat? I can go get you something." said Second.
"You are very annoying, you know that, Orphan? We already have to scrounge up whatever food, and now we have to waste it on you?" Eldest grumbled from her side of the corner.
"Eldest, you're being mean!" Silly jumped and stuck her tongue out,
It was true. I was being a nuisance.
"We should get her to the herbalist!" said Coocoo.
"That is a good idea, Coocoo. Joke, do you think you can help me carry her all the way up those mountains?" Second asked.
"Sure!" said Johnny. He ran upstairs and disappeared for a while, until he came back down to say, "That might be a problem. A small storm is going on right now, it would mean freezing to death if we went outside now. Hahahah! We don't want to become icicles now do we?" Johnny held up his arms, "No, no, no... No need to reply. I'm too cool for it anyways." He busted out laughing and held his stomach, "You get it? Cool? Cool because cold, like cold, cold cool. Hahahahahah!" suddenly he stopped, "But seriously, though. We can't go out. Not right now."
"Then what do we do..."" whispered Second, who was kneeling right next to her. I could tell that his worry was genuine, it was kind of sweet.
"It's alright, guys. I'll just sleep this out." I gasped from the ground. It was hard to breathe.
"Let's all sleep, then." White scurried to my side and tried to lie down, but when he came in contact with my skin he yelled, "Ah! You're hot!"
Second placed his palm on my forehead, "You're right... it's getting real bad."
"You must have the immune system of a child to have a fever that Second would consider 'bad'." Eldest laughed.
"You know, if you can't say anything nice then why don't you say anything, Eldest?" Second was mad, "You've been doing nothing but insulting Orphan ever since she arrived, and I don't know if you haven't noticed but she's actually nice!"
"What are you doing taking her side, Second? Can't you see that she's been messing up our lives ever since?!"
"Messing up how? She helped us find the heater, she tried to help us get more money for food, and she gave us a place warm to sleep every night. How is she messing up our lives, Eldest?"
"I-- You're supposed to be my brother, why are you fighting against me? See? We're not supposed to be fighting, and we're fighting because she--" eldest pointed at where I was lying "-- came into the cottage!"
"No, we're fighting because you don't know the first thing about getting along with other people. Why can't you see reason, sister? Get out of your selfish world and try to think about our opinion instead of your own. We LIKE Orphan, okay!?"
“I am not going to hear this right now. I’m leaving.” Eldest angrily stomped her way up the cellar, and surprisingly they didn’t hear the sound of the exit banging.
Once again, silence filled the room. It was a very awkward silence.
This was bad. Eldest and Second were fighting because of me, and I would try to fix it if it were not for the fact that I was bedridden right now.
After a while, Second finally managed to calm his breathing. “Sorry about that, Orphan. That was just Eldest being a drama queen. I guess she’s just not used to having someone older than her around. N-not that I’m saying you’re old or anything! I mean—I was trying to say—uh, mature!”
I would laugh, but I really wasn’t feeling well. All I was able to do was give him a tired grin. Yep. Why was Eldest the leader again? Second did a much better job.
“What are we going to do, big brother Second?” White asked, worried.
“Well, I guess all we can do now is wait it out for the night. Make her sweat out the fever.” Second said rubbing the back of his neck unsure, “Let’s gather around her.”
“You…” I wheezed in a breath in order to continue my sentence, “You might catch… whatever I have.” I said in between pants.
“Don’t underestimate us, lady! We might not look like it, but we’re very strong.” Said Coocoo, already getting ready to lie down next to her. She wasn’t planning on making any skin contact with me though after seeing White’s reaction.
The others piled around her just like they always do. I smiled. I liked this. I wouldn’t mind if it became a habit. Would this only be for winter? It could get very hot during the summer, so maybe they wouldn’t have the will to cuddle with each other.
With effort, I patted all of their heads one by one as a sign of thanks. All of them returning it with a bright smile of their own; except for Silent, the kid never seemed to smile. The only way I knew that he liked the patting was when he scooted closer to me.
Thinking back, will my dreams continue to be this way? Will it last throughout the winter? Will I be able to see them until the summer? Will they disappear soon? Thinking about it… I didn’t want them to disappear.
These dreams may seem crazy and completely unreal but they were nice dreams. Granted, there were ups and downs like freezing winter, rags for clothes, no food, a bit of scorn from the villagers, and a teenage girl I silently named Lucy, but these kids were great.
For some reason, I was starting to get really attached to them and it’s only been a few days.
I didn’t want them to go away. I wanted them to stay.
I closed my eyes shut and breathed. Please… please don’t take away this ray of light from me. I want this to continue forever.
Outside of the cellar, you can see Eldest glooming around in the dark with her knife clutched in between her fingers. She was silent; her messy bangs hiding her eyes from sight. With a sudden yell, she threw her weapon until it landed itself onto the weak wooden wall.
Everything was perfect. Perfect! Until ‘Orphan’ came into her life. It was just her and her siblings; the happiest they could be.
Eldest didn’t want things to change so fast… She curled up into a ball, trying to make herself warm and stared into the dark walls with nothing but the faint glow of the moon’s light coming through the window.
If only Orphan wasn’t here.
Author's Note:
Well would you look a that! The first chapter I've uploaded since... what? six, five months? Well I have a reason believe me. I'm quite surprised actually that I even got the inspiration to make this. Wish me luck on writing the next chapter. \(^ 0 ^)
ns 15.158.61.8da2
