Could you possibly love someone you never met just because fate says you're supposed to end up with him? The idea had always seemed rather stupid to her, and taking part in classes that were all about how lucky you were to have fate design someone for you and how you were supposed to sit in your corner and wait until your soulmate was going to find you, about how the moment he sees you he will instantly fall in love with you and of course, her favourite part, the one in which you were so lucky to know exactly what he feels because that helped you guess each of his wishes and of course fulfill them, only made it worse. Of course, that day when she had first felt him, when she had run to her father, crying because she felt her soulmate's pain, the day her parents had first talked to her about the soulmate bond, she had asked a lot of questions, wanting to know as much about him as possible.
But the truth was, years had taught her it was better to wait. She wanted to be surprised, or at least that was what she used to tell herself at night. Her friends thought differently, though, and she had learnt the hard way that "I'm more interested in attending medical school than finding out who my soulmate is" was not exactly something appropriate to say. So she participated in her friends' games, trying to guess what he looked like, how he was going to sweep her off her feet the moment she would lay eyes on him, the works. Thankfully, her friends got married soon enough so they left her alone.
Come to think at it, she hadn't felt much from her soulmate in the last years. There was that time when she felt like a bird had pinched her, but that was pretty much it. Until one day, when she woke up and felt her body burning. She touched the back of her hand to her forehead, trying to determine if she had fever, but she felt normal to the touch. It didn't change the fact that her whole body was aching, or that she suddenly felt so tired that even getting out of bed seemed an impossible burden. That had been almost nine months ago and things hadn't changed that much in the meanwhile. On the bright side, at least she knew why she hadn't met him yet. Given the fact that London hadn't seen an epidemic of cholera in the past few years, it was pretty safe to assume he wasn't around.
"He's still not getting better, is he?" Patricia sighed as she absent-mindedly let her fingers pass through her daughter's curls.
"No." Helen sighed as she shifted under the covers. "I'm scared, mother. What if he doesn't survive this? It's been almost nine months, his fever hasn't dropped and I can feel him getting weaker with each day."
"I'm sure he'll be alright, honey." Patricia encouraged her. "I'm sorry you have to get through this. It's one of the downsides of the soulmate bond."
"What you mean there are more?" Helen laughed weakly.
"You try and ask your father what it was like when I gave birth to you."
"I wish I could do something to help him." Helen sighed. "I'm not saying I love him"- she added when she saw her mother's look- "but it makes me feel awful knowing that someone is in pain and I can't help them"
"Always the doctor, aren't you?" Patricia smiled. "But I know he will be alright in the end. After all, he has a lot to live for. He'll meet you one day and you two will marry and have children…"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Helen cut her off. "I still don't see how he being my soulmate forces either of us to go through all of that."
"You know I was just as skeptic when my mother told me about this. But trust me, it will change. The moment you kiss your soulmate you feel that everything has fallen into place and that you will never be alone ever again. And there is also the fact that you feel everything he feels, which… well. I suppose you can figure it has its benefits."
"But what if he doesn't like me? Father said just because you have a soulmate, it doesn't mean they have to love you back. He said some of us don't have soulmates, and some have more than one."
"Yes but those cases are extremely rare, Helen. And I would say you have a powerful bond with yours. Cholera or not, you shouldn't have taken it that bad."
"Somehow that is not very encouraging." Helen sighed. "As far as I know, he might not even survive this."
"Well you should make sure you stay calm then. Try and rest. He's busy enough fighting the disease, feeling you worry over him will probably make things worse."
"You're right." Helen admitted. "I will go to sleep now." She said and closed her eyes, waiting for her mother to exit the room. It was only when she didn't hear her footsteps anymore that she opened her eyes. Fooling her mother was easier than she had thought. Granted, she may have not loved him… yet, at least, but she would be damned if she let him die. Not on her watch, oh no. And yes, he was probably thousands of miles away, but it wasn't like it mattered. What it mattered was that in those moments, she could feel that he was thinking about giving up the fight, as if he had nothing left to fight for. Well that was about to change. What she planned on doing was nearly unprecedented and probably dangerous as hell. But all that mattered to her at the moment was to ensure he lives. So she grabbed her wrist and squeezed as hard as she could, as she let fever take over her.
It's not here. The virus is not in your body so anything you feel is just in your head. She tried to tell herself, but in that moment she didn't believe it. Not when she felt like a thousand needles had stung her skin at once, and not when she felt herself burning with fever. But if it helped him, none of it mattered in the end. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to maintain the connection open as long as possible, but in the end fatigue won over her and she fell unconscious.
However, her efforts had not been in vain because thousands of miles away, a young man had just got better and started negotiating with his father where he was going to go to study engineering.
