~ 7 ~
Matt could only stand to be in the hospital for exactly two days. It seemed to be everyone's limit. Except when Wanda dragged me to accompany her this place and that, I spent much of the time hanging around the hospital and trying to make myself useful, while trying not to annoy him too much. He was back to his pre-accident 'hate the Soul' attitude, so I was careful not to cross him within those two days. That was easily done, if I kept myself busy.
I discovered that one thing I could do was fix the holes in torn clothes. I myself didn't remember previously doing such a task, but it was obvious that my Host apparently did. So I spent hours sitting on a cot with my legs crossed under me and piles of damaged clothes surrounding me on both sides.
With Matt well-set on the path to recovery, Doc saw no reason to guard us much. He and Candy periodically took turns visiting us along with some other Human, but most of the time he spent in a room right off of the hospital. I thought it was some sort of storage room where they might be working on something. But of course just speculating wasn't enough for a person like me, so I had to see it for myself.
So the first time we were left alone and Matt was asleep, I snuck into the other room. They were working on something, though not what I expected. Two bodies lay there seemingly asleep, or maybe even comatose. IVs were attached to their arms, and I scratched the crook of mine unconsciously.
They were both men, young and well fit. I had met all the members in this small community, and I had a good memory for faces, but I was pretty sure I hadn't seen them before. Were they sick? Another cave accident, perhaps? They looked fine, if the empty expressions on their faces were ignored.
I shuddered when the realization hit me: the cryotanks placed like headstones beside them weren't empty like the ones in the hospital's main room. I opened one just to make sure, and I smiled sympathetically at the silvery, glittery, poor Soul resting inside, unaware of what was going on. I reasoned that it was alive, since most Souls would have turned the Human brain to mush, destroying themselves along with the Hosts so the barbarian Humans wouldn't catch them. Only those like me, or still in contact with their Hosts, survived.
As their plan unfolded before my eyes, I closed the lid and tapped my fingers lightly on top of the cryotank. Freeing Humans without killing Souls; I was impressed. Wanda must have showed them how to do it. How many Humans knew our secret now? Had they told others? That wasn't good, and it could become a serious problem if more and more Humans found out and started attacking us. But they had used the cryotanks to save us, and that gave me hope.
I quietly left the room and returned to the hospital where Matt was waiting, awake.
"Is there any secret you haven't found out yet?" he said sarcastically and gave me a stern look.
I didn't answer. I pushed away the clothes that still needed to be sewed, and I curled up on my cot without saying a word. I needed to think first before I could discuss any of it.
After the first twenty-four hours of convalescence, Matt was up on his feet and walking around the room, using sticks for support. He wasn't fully healed yet, and the exercise tired him a great deal, but he insisted on doing it and didn't ask for No Pain, although it was obvious he wasn't comfortable at all. Candy scolded him for his foolishness and lack of patience, and only the threat of giving him some Sleep got him back on the cot where he did fall asleep, exhausted.
He was still sleeping when Sunny brought us lunch.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I meant to come and get it, but I lost the track of time," I apologized and jumped up to take the tray from her.
"That's alright, I don't mind." She smiled shyly and placed the food on the table. "He's asleep?" She nodded towards Matt.
"Yeah, he's tired." And sleep was preferable to my company.
"He scares me…" she murmured.
I picked a lettuce leaf from my plate and gave it to the rodent, the third prisoner that shared our solitary confinement. "He's not that bad." I shrugged. It wasn't her that was the target of his murderous glares, and if he'd gone so long without killing me, I reckoned she was safe.
Sunny nodded, not entirely convinced, and started for the exit. But there she stopped and looked back. "Umm… can I ask you something?"
"Yes, of course." I followed her outside into the corridor, where we could talk without whispering. "What is it?"
"How are things outside?"
"I'm not sure what you mean."
"I haven't left the caves since Kyle brought me here over a year ago. I miss it."
"Uhh…" I ran a hand through my hair. "Well, it's not like I've been out here lately either. Within the past year, things haven't changed much. It's the same world, same colors, same sun."
"I miss it all," she repeated. "I miss the world, the colors, the sun," she confessed.
"Why don't you both go out then? On a raid or something. I'm sure Kyle wouldn't mind." I had heard them making plans for a new one recently, so it was no secret.
"Oh, no, I couldn't do that." She shook her head, horrified. "I couldn't risk losing him. If he gets caught, he'll kill himself, and if he fails… then he won't be Kyle anymore. I've waited for him for so long… no, I can't lose him." She sounded almost desperate. "I love him."
"Oh, Sunny…" I sighed and, giving in to the impulse, I hugged her. She was only a little bit shorter than me, and we both looked younger than our Hosts' real ages, and we were both trapped here. "You won't lose him." A Human would have noticed the lack of faith in my voice, but she didn't.
"Thanks." She smiled.
"Lunch is getting cold!" Matt called impatiently. Maybe he didn't want us to talk alone for too long – two Souls plotting together against the Humans.
"Yes, Master," I grumbled and rolled my eyes. "I have to go," I told Sunny. "Thanks for bringing lunch."
I walked back inside and placed one tray in Matt's lap. I took my own plate and carried it to my cot.
He didn't start eating right away.
"You don't believe that," he said instead.
"What?" I looked up.
"That she won't lose him."
"Us Souls are such poor lairs." I smirked ironically.
He looked at me like he was still waiting for an answer.
I shrugged. "If he loves her, he won't do anything to hurt her. Including get himself killed."
"I think he does love her."
So did I. Something had to be wrong with the O'Shea brothers, something in their genes, because they had both fallen head over heels for Souls. How twisted was that?
"Love kills," I stated coldly and went back to my lunch.
It was his turn to give me a confused look.
