As instructed by the doctor, a nurse came around every hour to his little hospital room, checking his vital signs, his heart, the bag the put clear liquid into his body, his injuries, everything. They made sure he was alright, and left the room, all of this taking about 20 minutes to do.
Ralph hated being like this, but it couldn't be helped. One nurse had told him he has a pretty high fever, and no matter what he couldn't stop shaking. Even with three thick blankets on top of his body, he still shook from feeling cold. He could barely keep food down as well. Anything he ate he just threw back up an hour later, the only thing he could keep down properly was water, but even then he would throw that up every so often.
He looked better than when he was on the island, however. He wasn't as skinny despite not having the ability to keep anything down, and the clear liquid that went into his arm and throughout his body made sure he had the nutrients his body couldn't get from the food. All in all, he was better than what he was on the island.
Every now and again, a group of littluns came and visited Ralph, with the permission of the adults, as well as being told not to cause him any unnecessary stress, in fear of the young males heart giving out once more.
"I'm quite surprised." A nurse said to Ralph, as she was doing the normal routine each nurse did.
Ralph looked at her, rather confused as to what she meant. The nurse understood this, shaking her head and laughing slightly.
"Those younger kids would have been more at risk of getting what you have than yourself. So, what confuses me, is why are you the only one infected, while those little ones aren't? Also, you were in worse shape than those kids."
She paused at what she was doing, which was checking the bag holding the fluids, turned to the confused boy, and said, "Why is that?"
Ralph looked at his hands, blinking as he screwed up his face a bit, trying to think. Lately he's been having trouble remembering things from the island, besides the death of his friends.
"Um… I was the chief, so.. I had to take care of the littluns and everyone else.. I didn't eat quite as much as them… Uhh... Some of them were also fed meat… But, I made sure to take care of the littluns as best as I could." Ralph explained the best he could, trying his best not to mention what kind of meat they had eaten. He feared he might start sobbing in front of the kind nurse if he did.
The nurse was silent for a while, before she nodded thoughtfully. "Well," she said, smiling widely, "I think that was a very wonderful thing you did, taking care of the younger ones, chief." She said, and ruffled the males hair a bit, causing him to smile slightly.
"Some of the kids wanted to come and see you, so I'll let them in, if you want."
Ralph nodded, and sat up some more in his bed as the nurse left. He always loved having the littluns come in and see him, because every other time he was completely alone with just his mind, which he realized was very dangerous. The kids always had some way of entertaining him, like playing card games, well more like him teaching them how to play, and attempting to play a few minutes later only to have them do something wrong, but Ralph didn't care. Sometimes they'd come and tell him a story or two, mainly when it was just a single littlun, but most of the time they showed up in groups of two or three, or sometimes four. The room was small, so there couldn't be that many.
The door opened, and this time, it was only two of them, but they looked very happy and energetic, laughing as they rushed in, closing the door behind them. One climbed up at the foot of the bed Ralph was laying on, sitting down next to his legs, while the other sat in the chair next to the bed.
He couldn't help it, he smiled and laughed at their energy and trying to get themselves situated. The one sitting in the chair reached into his pocket, and took out a box of cards. "We demand a rematch!" he exclaimed, only causing Ralph to smile and laugh more. "Alright, you're on."
Normally, only the littluns that had stayed with him on the beach visited, but every now and then a child that had become savage would come, and try to act like nothing had happened on this island, even though he could tell they felt sorry. He didn't blame them. They are children after all, so they had no idea what it was they were doing. Maybe if they had a few more years of knowledge they would have realized it right then and there, but that was the past, and he didn't hold the littluns responsible for what happened.
Ralph had come to notice something about himself. He was different before crashing on the island, more innocent and carefree, mainly worrying about himself. Now, he feels as if he has matured a lot more, and now cares greatly more for others than himself. Maybe that was just what happens when one is a leader of a whole bunch of people. Unlike Jack, he didn't let power get the better of him, and instead wanted to see the littluns safely home. Actually, he wanted everyone home. All the boys that where on that island shouldn't have been there. No kid… No, no one, littlun, biggun, or adult, should go through that.
He wasn't entirely sure if he blamed Jack and Roger for what happened on the island either. The beast was inside everyone, so there was no avoiding it. It would have been a matter of time before Ralph himself would have gone mad as well. Maybe not like how they went mad, but he could understand.
Another change that he noticed about himself, was that he still had long hair. Ralph wasn't sure he wanted to keep it this way or not, but hadn't asked so far for someone to cut it. He also thought he looked a bit more muscular. Maybe everything that came out from that island wasn't bad.
"Raaalph! How do you keep winning?!" the one on the bed with him shouted, before dramatically falling on his back and across Ralph's legs, careful not to hurt him. The other one crossed his arms, faking a pout but began giggling as he tried. "Sorry," Ralph said, shaking his head a bit in amusement, "but my mum and I play card games a lot."
There came a knock on the metal door, getting the attention of all the boys, before it opened up. A nurse walked in, and Ralph had forgotten it was time for one of them to check on him. "We'll play later or tomorrow." Ralph promised the boys with a smile, and they bounced in excitement as they hurriedly picked the cards up off the bed, and ran out the door, laughing and smiling the whole way down the hall.
She closed the door after the running boys, and began the normal routine. Really, it had only been three days he's been in the room, but it had felt like forever.
"How do you feel?" she asked him after she was done, and Ralph sighed heavily, sinking down into the bed. "Exhausted, and my head is starting to throb again." He said truthfully. It was odd how he felt so tired but hadn't done a single thing in days.
Anyhow, the nurse nodded understandingly, quickly leaving and coming back with two pills in her hand and a glass of water in the other. "If you can keep these down, they'll help with the headache and the fever." She explained, putting the tiny pills in the boys opened hand, and handing him the glass of water.
"Also, normally I wouldn't do this to you, but you have a visitor. Take those, and I'll send him in." she said over her shoulder, and left, closing the door.
For a moment, Ralph tilted his head at the door, wondering what she had meant, before turning his attention to the pills and water. He took one at a time, careful to not choke as they went down his throat. He made a face at the horrible tasting pills, but hoped that they would indeed help if he could keep them down.
Not long after her departure, the door knocked, and opened up slowly. Again, Ralph turned his head to the side, but started to panic when he saw the familiar face, although no longer in war paint and wearing dirty clothing.
Now, staring at each other, Ralph realized just how scared he was to see Jack face to face after the morning of being rescued. Would he still hate him? Does Jack still want him dead?
Ralph adjusted himself uncomfortably, holding the cup tightly in his hands on his lap.
But why did Jack want to see him?
