A Fading Hope
Ch. 4 – Regret
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Allen awoke with a start. It was the middle of the afternoon, and he was still in the same position as he was last night. His heart ached with regret. Why had he told Lenalee all of what had been troubling him so easily? Maybe, he thought to himself, I was tired of living along. Allen had felt more alone every since Lenalee had lost her memories. But, Allen thought to himself, I made a promise, and I broke it. That makes me just as much a coward as I was back then.
He got up, and strode off to where breakfast was, which was right in the middle of where the tents were set up. Kanda and Lenalee were already there, and Allen suddenly, for once, did not feel hungry.
"Good morning, Allen!" Lenalee said happily, handing Allen a plate of pancakes.
"Oh, thank you Lenalee. How are you?" Allen asked, smiling brightly. Kanda looked at Allen darkly.
"Fine, thank you. Kanda, can you take this food to Lavi? I can't find his nurse anywhere." Kanda grunted harshly, and made off towards Lavi's tent.
"Allen, I can't thank you enough for clearing things up for me." Lenalee said. Allen nodded, but he felt like he shouldn't had said anything last night. Something unlike him had come over him. His heart started to race as a wave of nausea crept over him.
"Are you alright?" Lenalee asked, confused.
"Oh yes. Uhm, Lenalee? Could you do me a favor and not let anyone know...?" Allen trailed off, trying to keep a smile on his face.
"Of course. Are you feeling okay? You look pale." Lenalee pressed her palm against Allen's head. She gasped, and quickly grasped his hand.
"Follow me. You're burning up." Lenalee stated firmly. Allen dropped his plate of breakfast as it clattered to the cold, hard ground.
Lenalee led Allen through a narrow row of tents to a tent larger than the rest. Inside were two nurses and one doctor all huddled around an unfamiliar patient to Allen. As soon as Lenalee barged in, all eyes were on the two.
"Could you please see what's wrong? He's... he caught a fever all of a sudden." Lenalee said rapidly. The nurses grabbed Allen by his hands and set him down on a bed about a couple of feet away from the other patient.
"Thank you. We'll be done shortly. Please wait outside." One nurse said curtly. Her blond hair was pinned up in a bun, and she was at least forty years old or so. The other nurse was much younger, but the two looked like mother and daughter.
The doctor came over slowly, and he looked stern... and old. He placed a thermometer underneath Allen's tongue, but when the doctor looked at the readings, his face grew pale with fear.
"Anne, Melanie, please... go get him some medicine for a severe fever. Quick." The doctor pursed his lips, looking at Allen closely.
"When did you get this fever?" He asked.
"Just about ten minutes ago..." Allen said. Suddenly, Allen felt his body go numb. His vision became blurry, and the voices of everyone in the tent were starting to become fuzzy.
"Hang in... there..." Said a female voice, but Allen couldn't tell who had said it. A sharp pain jutted into his left arm and eye.
Allen felt someone shove a liquid down his throat, but it tasted horrible. Every so slowly, Allen drifted off to sleep with the faint screams and shouts of the doctor, nurses and Lenalee in his ears.