A Blur

The last several days have been a blur having slept for most of it. Geo had converted a part of the exam room into makeshift bedroom for me. One side contained the cot where I slept and a small cabinet for my clothing while the other was cluttered with unused lab equipment. It wasn't elegant, but I felt safe here. I hardly even noticed my surroundings until the third day into my illness when the fever finally came down.

I slowly opened my eyes and took in the patterns of the freshly polished metal wall in front of me. My whole body felt slow and heavy as it started to wake back up, but the itching on my chest was the quickest to wake. I went to scratch the spot but realized my hands had been bound in cloth. Confused, I rolled on my back and pulled up both my hands to examine them.

"You wouldn't stop scratching in your sleep." My head snapped to the unfamiliar voice, and I saw a young woman sitting on chair near my cot. She snapped the tablet she had been reading from shut and pushed her Arcan blonde hair over her shoulder. I felt like I had seen her somewhere before, but I couldn't place her. It wasn't until her piercing blue eyes met mine that I remembered who she was. She was Geo's sister. While her gaze was softer than when she looked at me back in the isolation chamber, it still held no warmth.

I gazed back down to my hands and could see red and yellow staining near my fingers on the white cloth. I looked down at my skin to take stock of what happened to me and cringed. The red blotches on my chest had risen, some gathering puss at the centers that must have oozed when I scratched them in my sleep. Looking further I could see it had spread onto my stomach and shoulders. I twisted a little to assess the rest of me which was a bad idea. One of the sores opened a little and the stench nearly had me gagging. I brougth the back of my covered hand over my nose and mouth to dampen the smell and slowly gather myself.

Geo's sister must have realized what I had done because I could hear her sharp intake of breath, but she didn't say anything. I was grateful for that. It is ridiculous to admit because I cannot help it, but I felt incredibly embarrassed and filthy. I heard her get up and hoped that she would just leave me here to hide away, but instead I felt her hand gently touch my shoulder. She helped rotate me onto my back and pulled away the covers.

Tears pricked at my eyes with embarrassment and fear. Nearly every part of my body was covered in sores. The only things spared were my hands, feet, and most of my face. If my condition scared or disgusted her she never showed it. Instead she placed the soiled covers into a hamper and grabbed a bowl and cloth.

"This salve will sooth the sores and help them heal," she told me before dipping the cloth into the ointment and applying it to my skin. At first it stung the opened sores, but soon a numbing sensation cooled it down. She worked silently, never looking me in the eye.

When she finished I could feel my body relaxing. "Thank you," I croaked, my voice hoarse from not speaking for so long. I coughed to clear it before looking up at her. "I'm sorry, but I have forgotten your name," I admitted.

"My name is Marea, and there is no need to thank me. I am here for my brother," she said as she cleaned up.

"Is he ok?" I asked with concern. "He didn't get sick, did he?"

"He is fine, healthwise anyway," she said cooly as she washed up at the lab sink.

"What do you mean by that?"

Marea turned to look at me with a scowl before leaning against the sink with her arms crossed. "The council is not pleased that you are here. You should have been taken to the infirmary where proper measures would have been taken. That is the protocol," she said sternly, but I could tell her lecture wasn't meant for me. She sighed deeply and with a shrug of her shoulders said, "but for whatever reason my brother keeps breaking the rules for you."

She stared at me intensely making me sink into my pillow just a bit further. "I am sorry," I whispered. "I think he just feels responsible for me since he was the one who woke me."

Marea let out a bitter little laugh. "That doesn't explain why he woke you in the first place. Try using that excuse on Thana and the council. Rumors are already spreading about you which have only prompted more rumors." Marea brought her hand up to her forehead and slowly massaged the tension building there. "I can't keep up with them all and silence them, and if this keeps going the bethrothal with crumble along with Thana's rule. And Geo..." She dropped her hand and gave me an icy glare. "I don't know what you have done, what powers you may have, but he had only one more chance." Her voice broke as she said this and her eyes became glassy with tears, but she quickly blinked them away.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything to help ease the situation and my guilt, but the sound of the door chime stopped me. Both Marea and I turned towards the room door to listen as we heard the front door open from the hallway. At first there was silence, but once the door shut I could Thana's unmistakeable voice echo down the hall: "Geo, what are you doing!"