Title:
Sleep Talker
Disclaimer:
Not mine…
General Info:
Rated K+
General/Angst
Author's Note:
I wrote this awhile ago for an online competition and decided to post it here now that the competition is over. (This is one of the reasons my Better or Worse story was on hiatus) PLEASE read and review. I love to hear your opinions. As always, thank you for taking time to read my story.
"No, you're not!"
The words continued to ring in her ears as she walked through the long, empty halls of the dark tower. Night was in full swing. The moons, having already crested, were currently making their way down to hide behind the horizon once more. This meant she had around four hours before the palace was brimming with people.
Her thoughts were so utterly jumbled in her mind she never really finished one before another bounced to the front. But all of them had to do with the unexpected, and heart wrenching, statement from earlier.
It took close to three months after the fall of the Sorceress to find a healer willing to perform the delicate operation to return Glitch to his former glory. With every medic and healer who refused to grant them their expertise, Glitch's eternal optimism began to fade out of existence. And with it went DG's faith in human compassion.
That is until they met Tucker Wills, a young healer who had performed the surgery once before with great success. DG's heart swelled at the sight of her first Ozian friend grinning from ear to ear.
But things did not go as well for Tucker's second re-implantation surgery. It took longer than expected due to how long the halves were unconnected. The result… a nasty infection causing Glitch to be doped up on intravenous CFCTBODG (Chemicals For Curing The Body Of Dangerous Germs) – Did everything have such long acronyms in the OZ? The other side term was so much easier… antibiotics, short, sweet and to the point.
He was unconscious for close to four days, suffering through a fever and the necessary removal of infected skin around the wound. It was unbearable to witness, but witness it she did. There was no force in the universe able to remove her from his side. Wyatt Cain himself didn't even try. Resorting instead to sitting by her side, offering her some of his immeasurable strength by simply holding her hand.
DG was ecstatic the moment Glitch opened his eyes and looked around the stark white room of the makeshift healer's quarters. Relief swept through her at the sight of his sharp brown eyes and she toppled over her chair in her haste to get closer to the bed.
But that's when it all went to hell.
"Glitch?" she'd prodded. He looked over at her face with such a blank expression her heart clenched in her chest. "It's me… DG."
Brows knitting together he looked thoroughly confused. "No, you're not!" he said with more conviction than she'd witnessed since meeting him dangling from the top of the Eastern Guild's cage.
She visibly blanched at the statement.
Her jaw hung loose on its hinges and there was nothing she could do to close her mouth. Wide eyes which normally held awe and naivety uncharacteristic of a woman her age, were instead laced with shock and steadily filling with water. Hands resting on her shoulders kept her from swaying where she stood and DG took some comfort from knowing Cain was still there.
So certain in the belief everything would turn out fine DG never prepared herself for the possibility of it going horribly wrong. Optimism wasn't necessarily her strongest trait but nothing could dissuade her from the faith she placed in the happy outcome they all deserved.
"Yes, I am," she replied in a scratchy voice, her throat having gone completely dry.
"No!" Glitch shook his head slightly from side to side in emphasis. She was momentarily surprised he felt no surge of pain from the movement. "Princess DG was killed by Azkadellia." He looked directly in her eyes as she felt the blood drain out of her face. "You can't be her. I was there. I saw her buried."
There was a definite haughtiness to his tone, something completely out of character for the goofy advisor of four days prior.
Shoulders slumping forward, DG knew his memories of their time journeying across the Ozian countryside together were gone.
She wanted him to start stammering, to say the same statement over and over again a few times so Cain would have to smack him hard on the back to get the broken record to stop DG wanted him to look at her with the twinkle in his eye that screamed of innocence and kindness. And while she didn't think that was too much to ask for, she knew he would never be the same again.
"What kind of trick is this? Azkadellia'll never get the sun-seeder information from me!"
Barely smothering a sob with her hand DG turned and fled the room for the safety of her quarters. There, she would promptly cry herself to sleep. There, she would mourn the loss of her friend.
By the time DG was able to pull herself away from her thoughts she was staring at the sleeping form of her memory-challenged friend. Not giving how she ended up there a second thought, she slid quietly into the seat next to the bed. Placing a hand on Glitch's – no Ambrose's – arm, she rubbed her thumb gently back and forth.
"Oh, Glitch," she whispered, watching the rapid movements of his lid covered eyes. "I already miss you so much."
He stirred slightly, eyes scrunching tighter together and tongue whipping out to wet his cracked lips. "I miss you, too, DG," he whispered back. And she started at the tenderness and sincerity in the words, not to mention the fact he remembered her. Not wanting to cause Glitch's memories of her to vanish, she reigned in her excitement.
"I never thought it would be this hard," she told him. "I can't stand the idea of us not being friends."
"I'll always be your friend, DG," Glitch told her as his head lolled to the side, facing away from her.
A feeling of great delight flowed through her body at his words.
She knew the moment he woke it would all vanish, but for now, at that moment in time, all was right with the world.
AN: If you're sleep reading, I hope you'll take the time to do some sleep reviewing!
