~....~ denotes thoughts
~Hurts...hurts so much...~
She could not will herself to open her eyes. Her legs burned sharply, her stomach was writhing inside her. The room felt heavy with humidity, but a dull chill ran through her, causing her skin to prickle. It slowly came to her that she was on a bed, a soft one. ~Someone found me..~ She had trouble making herself care who it was. ~I'll pay them later...just wanna sleep...so long as everything's okay...~ Her stomach writhed again, and her heart skipped a beat with fear. A lump rose in her throat as she percieved the wetness of blood between her legs. Blinking back tears, she opened her eyes. ~I need help...~
A black mage sat beside her bed, quietly absorbed in reading a book.
The deed was done before she could even think. Rage and fear boiled within her, and a snarl broke from her throat. Belying her weakness, she sprang, dagger in hand. It had found it's mark twice before the reaction came and she was knocked back to the bed. The creature cried out in pain, its shaking hand clasped over the hilt that portruded from just under its collarbone. She backed against the wall, teeth bared in a rictus of fear and ferocity. She clutched her stomach and pulled her knees in as she cursed herself for doing no worse damage, because she would now certainly die.
She flinched, wild eyed, as the door slammed open and another mage burst in.
"What's wrong?!" it cried.. ~It speaks?~ "Oh...oh God, Mr. 288, are you okay?! W-what should I do, are you hurt that bad?!" It hovered over this "Mr. 288", who was gasping in pain as his silver blood soaked his robe and began pooling on the floor. Angry eyes turned to her and flared bright white. She snarled and faced them, the pitiful show her only defense.
"L-leave her be, 163. I-it's o...okay. Just leave."
"Like hell! You're hurt...I'm not leaving you here with...with a knife in your chest!" he cried, dancing from foot to foot. Mr. 288 gave a fluttering breath.
"It's in my shoulder, Mr. 163. It's...it's okay...I don't think she has anymore weapons. Just go f-for now, and don't tell anyone about this."
"But..."
"Please. Please." His voice was quiet and powerful. 163 shook his head in disbelief, glared at her with apprehension and fear, and quickly left, his knees trembling. Her mouth fell open some, and she shied back as the large type C mage rose from the floor and shakily faced her with...kindness?...in its luminous eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, lost for words.
"S-so..." he fingered the hilt of the knife gently, and she could clearly see that he was in great pain. Yet the expected magical blast, the death, did not come. "I suppose...you've seen our kind before..." he said softly. He reached for his golden staff, and she tensed again to flee--but he only leaned on it, his body sagging some as he took labored breaths to control the fear and pain. Silently, she relaxed, but could not help confusion. The other ones were not like this.
"You're different," she said flatly, her voice rasping from disuse.
"Do you mean from the ones that destroy villages?" She nodded, studying him carefully and easing the arms from around her belly.
"Those are asleep. Controlled, in a trance. I...we were like that...once..." She frowned. He was not lying. She knew this because she was an accomplished liar. There was not a trace of aggression or subterfuge, no pretended demeanor. Her legs ached beneath her, and her stomach twisted violently. With horror she watched as more blood dripped down her legs. ~God no...this is all I have left...!~ She suddenly retched, but there was nothing to come up. Gasping, she hemmed and regained her breath.
"W-what do you want with me..." she finally managed, hating herself for the weakness in her voice and body. "I have nothing for you."
"We want nothing." His voice was very tired, and he groaned as he finally sank into the wooden chair beside the bed. It creaked and whined with his weight. She stared at him, panting for breath as her gut settled vaguely. Not lying. Her hands wandered down to her burned legs, and she noticed for the first time that they had been bandaged. A sudden, unwordable conclusion formed in her mind, and a shame formed in her heart.
Quickly, she sprang forward and snatched her knife out of his body. He gave an astonished, small cry and grasped his shoulder tightly with a large hand. Swallowing, she gazed at the silver liquid on her dagger, at the figure that was rocking and trying to quiet the pain. With a shaking hand she ran fingers over the blood, warm like her own, and tried to shut out his soft sobs. Shivers worked up her back, and she felt the beginnings of shock take her, her body going numb. Her legs screamed beneath her as she stood, but she clenched her teeth and ignored them. His eyes met hers dully for a moment, then broke away.
"Aren't you going to defend yourself?"
"No. I don't understand the death yet, but I think among humans what we did calls for death," he gasped through gritted teeth. With a shudder of disgust she threw her knife on the bed.
"Oh, shut up for the light's sake," she muttered. "Here...get your hands off it, you're gonna infect it." His body tensed, but he obeyed. She frowned at the blood flow, silver and shining and so much of it. She felt at her waist for her medicine bag, and noted for the first time the torn condition of her dress and her exposure. But now was too late to worry about such things.
"H-here...take off your coat and let me do something..."
"What?" She weighed his tone--apprehensive, curious, someone frightened--but willing.
"I...I hurt you..." Her cheeks reddened with shame. "...so let me do what I can to fix it..." He regarded her intently, also weighing.
"Will it hurt? I...I don't know..." he said in a soft voice, a shudder working through his body.The strange wisdom in his eyes combined with the open expression of fear made her feel small and awkward.
"I'll do my best not to hurt you...I'll try hard." Her eyes clouded and she swayed, but willed herself to stay awake. He swallowed, but gave a small nod. With slow movements, she helped him to remove the coat from the side that she'd injured. He winced, but did not try to stop her.
"This w-works on humans, but I...I don't know about you," she said quietly, and pressed the shredded herbs to the gashes, twin puncture marks. He flinched as they stung at his skin, but remained still as she held them firmly in place. "It's to stop the bleeding. You've bled a lot." They waited in silence, the blood flow slowly easing. In an attempt to stay awake, she studied where she had hurt him. Where her knife had ripped and the whole area surrounding that, the skin was black. Making a show of adjusting the medicine, she ran her fingers over the black skin, curious. It was soft like that of a newborn baby, delicate like the petal of a rose. Further from the hurt, he was flesh-colored...like a human. She moaned softly with the effort of standing for so long.
"A-are you okay?" he asked softly. Tears sprang to her eyes.
"Did you...h-help me?"
"I watched over you some, but....it's Mr. 56 you want. He carried you in...and wouldn't...let anyone stand in his way...it's...it's him that usually watches you..." She frowned and leaned against the chair, too weary to ask why there were numbers for names. "You know, you can s-stay if you want...for a while at least..." She wavered where she stood, her vision dimming.
"Hmm...if I fall asleep, I need you to...put my feet up high..."
"What?" She blinked back tears of pure misery and clung to the chair, her hands falling from his wound. Wide yellow eyes, a bit pale, regarded her with surprise.
"An' you too...you...gotta...rest..."
Then his expression and everything faded to black.
Mr. 56 frowned at the human girl that he'd taken from the woods. She slept peacefully now, but for three days she had thrashed and moaned on and off, tearing at the sheets. Sometimes it seemed like she would wake up, but she would murmur all kind of nonsense and then pass again into silence. Sometimes she would cry and scream about fire and people trying to kill her. He faithfully continued to fulfill her bizarre request to keep her feet high--everytime she kicked the pillows away, he'd stack them again. But the continued noise and pain and his inability to do anything for it scared him, and with the misery and fear came tears and the aches in his throat. A whimper escaped him just thinking about it, that it might happen again and he would have to watch again. Mr. 163 said it was a fever, that this sort of reaction was normal when someone was very sick. Still, he had found it hard to sleep.
She had hurt Mr. 288, and everyone knew it. ~If...if she wakes up...will she try to hurt me?~ Despite his worries, he was careful to put Mr. 36's dagger on the shelf so that he wouldn't hurt her out of fear if she did wake up. ~Remember, she tried to heal him...she did...~He groaned, his stomach fluttering as he rested his aching head on his desk. ~But what if she doesn't wake up...will they bury her like they did Mr. 36?~ As a precaution against that, and so that no one else would be hurt or angry, he'd moved her to his hut and let her sleep on his bed. ~I wish...I wish 163 and 192 wouldn't be so mad...wouldn't disapprove so much...What if they're right? They're so much smarter than me...~
He didn't realize that he was weeping until he felt large hands rest on his trembling shoulders and he subconsciously hurried to wipe away his tears.
"Hey, you going to come out of here sometime this week?" a rich voice asked.
"Hello 44," he mumbled as the hands rubbed comforting circles on his back.
"Look, I brought you some biscuits and soup...you've got to eat something. You look awful. The poor girl--you'll frighten her to death if she does wake." 56 sighed. The smell in his hut was wonderful. Mr. 44 wasn't a bit larger than the other mages for nothing--he was a magnificent cook. But his stomach turned queasily, and he couldn't bear to look at the food even if it would hurt his friend's feelings. Suddenly, she began to moan. "Look at that, the fever's started up again." 44 tsked and moved to study her. "Have you been giving her the medicine that 163 gave you?"
"Yes...but nothing seems to work, and since she's asleep and all it's h-hard even to feed her..." He swallowed as the moaning turned into crying and convulsions. Shakily, he stood up in case he would be needed, and was nearly knocked down as 44 tried to back away.
"H-hey...that's pretty bad..." he said nervously.
"She's done it for three days now..." He trembled as she grew more distressed, his heart drumming in his chest with an unnamable terror. With desperate hands he gripped his friend's arm. "Oh...oh gods...44, do something so that she doesn't stop!" he wailed. 44 shook his head and took a deep breath.
"I don't know what to do..."
"Oh, somebody's got to do something...somebody's got to...M-mr. 44...36 was like this just before we got to this village...j-just before he stopped..." he cried in misery, sinking to the floor in panic and fatigue. Sobs choked his throat, and to his shame he couldn't stop them. "Oh, somebody help..." he whimpered. Strong arms wrapped around him, and he leaned into the warmth. In the midst of his own misery and her noise he noticed that 44 smelled like fresh baked bread and apple pie. He took those comforting scents in and allowed himself to be rocked gently. After several minutes, he felt calmer, and Mr. 44 still held him. "I'm so tired..." he whispered.
"I know." 44 gave him a reassuring hug. "Did you try this?"
"Try what?"
"This." 44 hugged him again, and he frowned.
"Well...no...she's asleep and really...um...upset...plus she h-hurt Mr. 288..."
"Worked for you. Maybe you should try it. Maybe she's scared..." 56 made a dubious sound, but both rose from the floor at the same time and stared at her.
"She's moving an awful lot..."
"You...you might have to hold her to restrain her...she might hurt herself like that..."
Newly determined, 56 eased himself onto the bed. Careful not to be hit, he gently situated his hands under her back and quickly pulled her to him. His head rang for a moment with the force of a flailing blow. He tried to hold her still, but her skin was slick with sweat.
"Um, hey...44?" he asked nervously. The larger mage nodded, and the bed creaked with the addition of his weight. He gripped her arms firmly held them to her side. She struggled, and 44 spluttered as her head hit him in the jaw and busted his lip. 56 cringed at the sight of the blood and closed his eyes tight. ~Any minute he's going to say it...he's going to be mad at me...~
But the struggling ceased before anything could be said. 56 cautiously opened his eyes and was met by a dull grey stare. His heart skipped a beat--this had happened before, but she'd never really awoke. ~Still, it's a good sign, right?~ He hoped desperately that it was.
"Hi...a-are you awake yet?" he asked, and was troubled to hear how pathetic he sounded. She blinked at him, then slowly ran a hand over her rounded stomach. To his surprise, 44 chuckled.
"Don't see how you stayed that way...you wouldn't eat." Her hands lingered there, and she panted softly as her body suddenly sagged in their arms.
"Hey...you...you alright...?" 56 asked, a panicked edge to his voice. ~Gods, not all that for it to be over now...!~
"Mmm." She closed her eyes. "Thanks." 56 swallowed, and the tears came again. It was a jumble of so many feelings...protectiveness, immense, overwhelming relief, and a few he didn't think he'd ever felt. She looked at him with heavily lidded eyes, a slight smile playing at her lips as though she had found some personal amusement. He quickly stood.
"44's right...you've gotta eat. You haven't eaten in days, so eat while you're awake, okay? Look, here's soup..." He took the cup that Mr. 44 had brought and presented it to her. She reached up with trembling hands, and he was apalled to find that she could not hold it for weakness. She frowned and tried to sit up.
"Here, wait just a sec." 44 gently pulled her backwards as 56 cleared the pillows away. As he threw them on the floor, he kept an eye on her. Her eyes kept drifting closed. ~If she goes back to sleep she might stop from not eating!~ So he decided to talk to distract her.
"So, I hope this bed is good enough for you...it's all I've got..."
"Mm-hmm..."
"And I hope the pillows were high enough...Mr. 288 didn't tell me how high to put them."
"Musta been..."
"Say, how come you wanted your feet up. That was kind of weird."
"For m'baby..." He smiled nervously, only half listening as he sat down beside her. Mr. 44 held her in a sitting position and was surruptitiously smoothing her hair.
"What?"
"To save my baby...I was losing her." The sentence seemed to take a great effort, but she had both of their full attention.
"What baby?" 44 asked, confused. She raised an eyebrow at them.
"Here." She patted her stomach, and they stared.
"In your stomach?" 56 asked after a moment. She nodded. "Um...is that okay?"
"Better than that." 44 and 56 stared at each other for a moment.
"Um, yeah. Here, you'd better have this while you're awake." 56 pressed the cup to her mouth, and with some hesitation, she drank.
~Hurts...hurts so much...~
She could not will herself to open her eyes. Her legs burned sharply, her stomach was writhing inside her. The room felt heavy with humidity, but a dull chill ran through her, causing her skin to prickle. It slowly came to her that she was on a bed, a soft one. ~Someone found me..~ She had trouble making herself care who it was. ~I'll pay them later...just wanna sleep...so long as everything's okay...~ Her stomach writhed again, and her heart skipped a beat with fear. A lump rose in her throat as she percieved the wetness of blood between her legs. Blinking back tears, she opened her eyes. ~I need help...~
A black mage sat beside her bed, quietly absorbed in reading a book.
The deed was done before she could even think. Rage and fear boiled within her, and a snarl broke from her throat. Belying her weakness, she sprang, dagger in hand. It had found it's mark twice before the reaction came and she was knocked back to the bed. The creature cried out in pain, its shaking hand clasped over the hilt that portruded from just under its collarbone. She backed against the wall, teeth bared in a rictus of fear and ferocity. She clutched her stomach and pulled her knees in as she cursed herself for doing no worse damage, because she would now certainly die.
She flinched, wild eyed, as the door slammed open and another mage burst in.
"What's wrong?!" it cried.. ~It speaks?~ "Oh...oh God, Mr. 288, are you okay?! W-what should I do, are you hurt that bad?!" It hovered over this "Mr. 288", who was gasping in pain as his silver blood soaked his robe and began pooling on the floor. Angry eyes turned to her and flared bright white. She snarled and faced them, the pitiful show her only defense.
"L-leave her be, 163. I-it's o...okay. Just leave."
"Like hell! You're hurt...I'm not leaving you here with...with a knife in your chest!" he cried, dancing from foot to foot. Mr. 288 gave a fluttering breath.
"It's in my shoulder, Mr. 163. It's...it's okay...I don't think she has anymore weapons. Just go f-for now, and don't tell anyone about this."
"But..."
"Please. Please." His voice was quiet and powerful. 163 shook his head in disbelief, glared at her with apprehension and fear, and quickly left, his knees trembling. Her mouth fell open some, and she shied back as the large type C mage rose from the floor and shakily faced her with...kindness?...in its luminous eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, lost for words.
"S-so..." he fingered the hilt of the knife gently, and she could clearly see that he was in great pain. Yet the expected magical blast, the death, did not come. "I suppose...you've seen our kind before..." he said softly. He reached for his golden staff, and she tensed again to flee--but he only leaned on it, his body sagging some as he took labored breaths to control the fear and pain. Silently, she relaxed, but could not help confusion. The other ones were not like this.
"You're different," she said flatly, her voice rasping from disuse.
"Do you mean from the ones that destroy villages?" She nodded, studying him carefully and easing the arms from around her belly.
"Those are asleep. Controlled, in a trance. I...we were like that...once..." She frowned. He was not lying. She knew this because she was an accomplished liar. There was not a trace of aggression or subterfuge, no pretended demeanor. Her legs ached beneath her, and her stomach twisted violently. With horror she watched as more blood dripped down her legs. ~God no...this is all I have left...!~ She suddenly retched, but there was nothing to come up. Gasping, she hemmed and regained her breath.
"W-what do you want with me..." she finally managed, hating herself for the weakness in her voice and body. "I have nothing for you."
"We want nothing." His voice was very tired, and he groaned as he finally sank into the wooden chair beside the bed. It creaked and whined with his weight. She stared at him, panting for breath as her gut settled vaguely. Not lying. Her hands wandered down to her burned legs, and she noticed for the first time that they had been bandaged. A sudden, unwordable conclusion formed in her mind, and a shame formed in her heart.
Quickly, she sprang forward and snatched her knife out of his body. He gave an astonished, small cry and grasped his shoulder tightly with a large hand. Swallowing, she gazed at the silver liquid on her dagger, at the figure that was rocking and trying to quiet the pain. With a shaking hand she ran fingers over the blood, warm like her own, and tried to shut out his soft sobs. Shivers worked up her back, and she felt the beginnings of shock take her, her body going numb. Her legs screamed beneath her as she stood, but she clenched her teeth and ignored them. His eyes met hers dully for a moment, then broke away.
"Aren't you going to defend yourself?"
"No. I don't understand the death yet, but I think among humans what we did calls for death," he gasped through gritted teeth. With a shudder of disgust she threw her knife on the bed.
"Oh, shut up for the light's sake," she muttered. "Here...get your hands off it, you're gonna infect it." His body tensed, but he obeyed. She frowned at the blood flow, silver and shining and so much of it. She felt at her waist for her medicine bag, and noted for the first time the torn condition of her dress and her exposure. But now was too late to worry about such things.
"H-here...take off your coat and let me do something..."
"What?" She weighed his tone--apprehensive, curious, someone frightened--but willing.
"I...I hurt you..." Her cheeks reddened with shame. "...so let me do what I can to fix it..." He regarded her intently, also weighing.
"Will it hurt? I...I don't know..." he said in a soft voice, a shudder working through his body.The strange wisdom in his eyes combined with the open expression of fear made her feel small and awkward.
"I'll do my best not to hurt you...I'll try hard." Her eyes clouded and she swayed, but willed herself to stay awake. He swallowed, but gave a small nod. With slow movements, she helped him to remove the coat from the side that she'd injured. He winced, but did not try to stop her.
"This w-works on humans, but I...I don't know about you," she said quietly, and pressed the shredded herbs to the gashes, twin puncture marks. He flinched as they stung at his skin, but remained still as she held them firmly in place. "It's to stop the bleeding. You've bled a lot." They waited in silence, the blood flow slowly easing. In an attempt to stay awake, she studied where she had hurt him. Where her knife had ripped and the whole area surrounding that, the skin was black. Making a show of adjusting the medicine, she ran her fingers over the black skin, curious. It was soft like that of a newborn baby, delicate like the petal of a rose. Further from the hurt, he was flesh-colored...like a human. She moaned softly with the effort of standing for so long.
"A-are you okay?" he asked softly. Tears sprang to her eyes.
"Did you...h-help me?"
"I watched over you some, but....it's Mr. 56 you want. He carried you in...and wouldn't...let anyone stand in his way...it's...it's him that usually watches you..." She frowned and leaned against the chair, too weary to ask why there were numbers for names. "You know, you can s-stay if you want...for a while at least..." She wavered where she stood, her vision dimming.
"Hmm...if I fall asleep, I need you to...put my feet up high..."
"What?" She blinked back tears of pure misery and clung to the chair, her hands falling from his wound. Wide yellow eyes, a bit pale, regarded her with surprise.
"An' you too...you...gotta...rest..."
Then his expression and everything faded to black.
Mr. 56 frowned at the human girl that he'd taken from the woods. She slept peacefully now, but for three days she had thrashed and moaned on and off, tearing at the sheets. Sometimes it seemed like she would wake up, but she would murmur all kind of nonsense and then pass again into silence. Sometimes she would cry and scream about fire and people trying to kill her. He faithfully continued to fulfill her bizarre request to keep her feet high--everytime she kicked the pillows away, he'd stack them again. But the continued noise and pain and his inability to do anything for it scared him, and with the misery and fear came tears and the aches in his throat. A whimper escaped him just thinking about it, that it might happen again and he would have to watch again. Mr. 163 said it was a fever, that this sort of reaction was normal when someone was very sick. Still, he had found it hard to sleep.
She had hurt Mr. 288, and everyone knew it. ~If...if she wakes up...will she try to hurt me?~ Despite his worries, he was careful to put Mr. 36's dagger on the shelf so that he wouldn't hurt her out of fear if she did wake up. ~Remember, she tried to heal him...she did...~He groaned, his stomach fluttering as he rested his aching head on his desk. ~But what if she doesn't wake up...will they bury her like they did Mr. 36?~ As a precaution against that, and so that no one else would be hurt or angry, he'd moved her to his hut and let her sleep on his bed. ~I wish...I wish 163 and 192 wouldn't be so mad...wouldn't disapprove so much...What if they're right? They're so much smarter than me...~
He didn't realize that he was weeping until he felt large hands rest on his trembling shoulders and he subconsciously hurried to wipe away his tears.
"Hey, you going to come out of here sometime this week?" a rich voice asked.
"Hello 44," he mumbled as the hands rubbed comforting circles on his back.
"Look, I brought you some biscuits and soup...you've got to eat something. You look awful. The poor girl--you'll frighten her to death if she does wake." 56 sighed. The smell in his hut was wonderful. Mr. 44 wasn't a bit larger than the other mages for nothing--he was a magnificent cook. But his stomach turned queasily, and he couldn't bear to look at the food even if it would hurt his friend's feelings. Suddenly, she began to moan. "Look at that, the fever's started up again." 44 tsked and moved to study her. "Have you been giving her the medicine that 163 gave you?"
"Yes...but nothing seems to work, and since she's asleep and all it's h-hard even to feed her..." He swallowed as the moaning turned into crying and convulsions. Shakily, he stood up in case he would be needed, and was nearly knocked down as 44 tried to back away.
"H-hey...that's pretty bad..." he said nervously.
"She's done it for three days now..." He trembled as she grew more distressed, his heart drumming in his chest with an unnamable terror. With desperate hands he gripped his friend's arm. "Oh...oh gods...44, do something so that she doesn't stop!" he wailed. 44 shook his head and took a deep breath.
"I don't know what to do..."
"Oh, somebody's got to do something...somebody's got to...M-mr. 44...36 was like this just before we got to this village...j-just before he stopped..." he cried in misery, sinking to the floor in panic and fatigue. Sobs choked his throat, and to his shame he couldn't stop them. "Oh, somebody help..." he whimpered. Strong arms wrapped around him, and he leaned into the warmth. In the midst of his own misery and her noise he noticed that 44 smelled like fresh baked bread and apple pie. He took those comforting scents in and allowed himself to be rocked gently. After several minutes, he felt calmer, and Mr. 44 still held him. "I'm so tired..." he whispered.
"I know." 44 gave him a reassuring hug. "Did you try this?"
"Try what?"
"This." 44 hugged him again, and he frowned.
"Well...no...she's asleep and really...um...upset...plus she h-hurt Mr. 288..."
"Worked for you. Maybe you should try it. Maybe she's scared..." 56 made a dubious sound, but both rose from the floor at the same time and stared at her.
"She's moving an awful lot..."
"You...you might have to hold her to restrain her...she might hurt herself like that..."
Newly determined, 56 eased himself onto the bed. Careful not to be hit, he gently situated his hands under her back and quickly pulled her to him. His head rang for a moment with the force of a flailing blow. He tried to hold her still, but her skin was slick with sweat.
"Um, hey...44?" he asked nervously. The larger mage nodded, and the bed creaked with the addition of his weight. He gripped her arms firmly held them to her side. She struggled, and 44 spluttered as her head hit him in the jaw and busted his lip. 56 cringed at the sight of the blood and closed his eyes tight. ~Any minute he's going to say it...he's going to be mad at me...~
But the struggling ceased before anything could be said. 56 cautiously opened his eyes and was met by a dull grey stare. His heart skipped a beat--this had happened before, but she'd never really awoke. ~Still, it's a good sign, right?~ He hoped desperately that it was.
"Hi...a-are you awake yet?" he asked, and was troubled to hear how pathetic he sounded. She blinked at him, then slowly ran a hand over her rounded stomach. To his surprise, 44 chuckled.
"Don't see how you stayed that way...you wouldn't eat." Her hands lingered there, and she panted softly as her body suddenly sagged in their arms.
"Hey...you...you alright...?" 56 asked, a panicked edge to his voice. ~Gods, not all that for it to be over now...!~
"Mmm." She closed her eyes. "Thanks." 56 swallowed, and the tears came again. It was a jumble of so many feelings...protectiveness, immense, overwhelming relief, and a few he didn't think he'd ever felt. She looked at him with heavily lidded eyes, a slight smile playing at her lips as though she had found some personal amusement. He quickly stood.
"44's right...you've gotta eat. You haven't eaten in days, so eat while you're awake, okay? Look, here's soup..." He took the cup that Mr. 44 had brought and presented it to her. She reached up with trembling hands, and he was apalled to find that she could not hold it for weakness. She frowned and tried to sit up.
"Here, wait just a sec." 44 gently pulled her backwards as 56 cleared the pillows away. As he threw them on the floor, he kept an eye on her. Her eyes kept drifting closed. ~If she goes back to sleep she might stop from not eating!~ So he decided to talk to distract her.
"So, I hope this bed is good enough for you...it's all I've got..."
"Mm-hmm..."
"And I hope the pillows were high enough...Mr. 288 didn't tell me how high to put them."
"Musta been..."
"Say, how come you wanted your feet up. That was kind of weird."
"For m'baby..." He smiled nervously, only half listening as he sat down beside her. Mr. 44 held her in a sitting position and was surruptitiously smoothing her hair.
"What?"
"To save my baby...I was losing her." The sentence seemed to take a great effort, but she had both of their full attention.
"What baby?" 44 asked, confused. She raised an eyebrow at them.
"Here." She patted her stomach, and they stared.
"In your stomach?" 56 asked after a moment. She nodded. "Um...is that okay?"
"Better than that." 44 and 56 stared at each other for a moment.
"Um, yeah. Here, you'd better have this while you're awake." 56 pressed the cup to her mouth, and with some hesitation, she drank.