Hello, hello, hello!
For those of you who haven't checked, this is the third updated chapter. Go back to the other to read them in order :D
*Luna*
I just had to let Candace talk me into going to watch the stupid sky with her and Julius, hadn't I?
And I just had to watch how Angela and Gill were snogging for everyone to see, hadn't I?
Stupid Starry Night Festival!
…
"Candace, are you sure it's ok for me to come?" I asked my sister while we walked to the Maple District.
"Su…Sure! Julius told me to invite you as well" Candace said while blushing.
I have to accept the evening hadn't begun badly. Julius is a marvelous entertainer (not that I'll tell that to his face), and he knows a lot about fashion. When I was actually enjoying myself, girlish squeals interrupted our conversation. We all three raised our look to the tree by Brownie Ranch, where Angela and Gill were busy chasing each other and then kissing and doing Goddess knows what in front of the rest of the people gathered around the hill. Toby and Renee gazed at the stars, oblivious to the spectacle; Chloe and Taylor sported similar disgusted faces. Selena and Luke were laughing; Hanna was sighing, but her husband's eyes immediately went to his daughter and Toby, obviously alert if behavior like Gill and Angela's happened.
Seeing Anissa giggle and Jin arranging his collar while blushing slightly made me think how I wasn't supposed to be there. I grew angry. Stupid Angela! Stupid Gill!
I know it wasn't their fault.
I know it's no one's fault.
But I can't help this feeling…
"Luna, are you ok?" Candace asked while eyeing me worriedly. Julius was also looking at me in a similar way. It took me a few seconds to notice the tears falling from my eyes. Gasping, I hastily wiped my face with my sleeve.
Julius stretched, subtly covering me from anyone's view. He yawned noticeably, " Hmmm, it's too crowded over here, don't you think girls?"
"A bit…" said Candace as I nodded quietly.
"Luna, why don't you go by the beach and save us all a spot? I have to say hello to some friends, but Candace and I will be there in a flash," Julius asked, winking at me.
Understanding that he was trying to give me some time alone, I respected Julius in new ways. Perhaps he wasn't so bad after all. "I'll go now, then."
"And don't make any detours to the Inn! We'll know if you swung by to have a drink!" Julius shouted as I was running towards the town.
"Jerk!" I yelled before I made a turn to the Maple District. I tripped several times because of the tears, but I kept running. Always ahead…
Always ahead…
…..
Soon enough, I reached the beach. The sound of the waves helped me regain my composure. At the end, as Grandma said, there was always a new day tomorrow.
I decided to take advantage of my solitude and took off my shoes. Running to the shore, I felt the cold water and the sand under my feet: I hadn't had time to do this in a while.
Did I really expect for Gill to still be in-love with me? That was naïve…
My feelings didn't change, though. I always thought of Gill…
Time to think of somebody else, I guess…
While I was thinking, a shooting star crossed the sky. When I was a child, I always scolded Candace because she made a wish every time she saw a shooting star. It was nonsense, after all. How can a star grant a wish? But, no one would know if I made a wish in this moment, right? I'm all alone after all…
"I wish… I wish to forget Gill! I wish to be happy! I—Wahhhhhh!" I shouted as I tripped with something. I fell, submerging for some seconds, ruining my dress and getting totally wet.
Stupid shooting stars!
Splashing around, I managed to drag myself out of the water. At first, I thought I had tripped with a rock, but when I looked back at the shore, there was something else over there.
"What the…"
A man had been washed over to the shore, and I had tripped on his arm.
Puzzled, I crawled until I was next to him: he was blonde, a bit older than I was perhaps, with a silly cap that said UMA. He had a ragged, gray jumpsuit, with algae all over it. I placed my hand near his face; he was breathing, though barely. Suddenly, he raised his right arm and clutched mine powerfully:
"Elli… I need… Elli…"
Of course, I wasn't able to process this effectively: I was already shouting my brains out of fear. I struggled with his hand, but he held tight. This man had very strong hands…
"Hey, hey, let go!" I demanded, albeit weakly.
"Elli…"
"Yes, yes, but she's not here, don't you see?" Of course he couldn't see; he was thrown in the middle of the beach in Winter. But don't ask coherence of me: I was terrified. Where were Candace and Julius?
"Take this…take… it to her…" He let go of me and began fishing a soggy note out of his front pocket. In shock, I nodded and took the note mechanically. He seemed pleased and his arm fell violently to the ground. He was unconscious once more. For the first time, I noticed he was pale and his lips were blue… He could very well freeze to death if he stayed there any longer: Goddess knows how long had he been there already…
Pocketing the note, I took the man by his arms and began pulling him to the shore.
And pulling…
And pulling….
By the time I got him to the town's outskirts, I was covered in sweat and cursing everything I knew. Where was man-face Angela when you needed her? She could haul this guy up to the infinite and beyond, with her brutish strength. And I would be with Gill in that hill having fun, instead of dragging … dragging… whomever this man was!
When I reached the General Store, I banged on the door as if there were no tomorrow, but no one answered. Everyone was out watching the stupid stars. Frustrated, I went back to the corpse on the road and kicked him:
"Hey! Hey! Wake up!"
"Arghhhh…." the guy said, obviously awake now.
"I need you to help me! I can't keep dragging you all over town, and Goddess knows I can't carry you all the way to the Clinic!" I said while kneeling. I placed his right arm over my shoulders, "Come on, help me, I can't … do this alone…"
He shakily got up and leant heavily on me, "Sorry…" he whispered.
"Don't speak… Focus on the road…" I panted. He was heavy. "There is some still to cover…"
We dragged ourselves silently to the Clinic. Once we were there, I banged at the door: old Irene was a heavy sleeper as far as I knew. After a full minute of banging, a light turned on in the second floor and steps came downstairs. The door opened and the light from within blinded me for a minute:
"Luna! What happened?"
"He… on the beach…" I stammered as I felt my strength draining away. My vision clouded amidst Irene's alarmed voice.
….
"Luna…n..u…r me?"
"Eh…?" I whispered groggily. I tried to open my eyes, identifying blurry silhouettes in a white background.
"Luna, please, wake up…" Candace voice pleaded to my right.
Apparently, I had been taken into the Clinic. I struggled to focus my vision: Candace and Julius were next to my bed, Gill, The Mayor and Elli were on the other side of the room, most likely with the man I stumbled upon.
"What is going on?" I said while trying to get a glimpse of the man.
"Before he lost consciousness, he kept asking for Elli," Julius explained. "Candace and I arrived just as you fainted, so we helped Irene carry you both inside. Then she went to fetch Jin, and I the Mayor."
"I think Elli knows him…" Candace said, "She kept calling him Gray…"
I looked at Elli: she had been given a chair and took a seat, grabbing the man's hand gravely. The man was still pale, but his lips had regained a normal pink hue. He was under several covers and shook every now and then. Not far from his bed, the Mayor, Gill and Jin were discussing his condition:
"He is fine, a bit dehydrated though. I will observe him for 3 days, just in case" Jin said.
"Why would he be here, Father? Pascal says he hasn't heard of any shipwrecks recently…"
"I don't know son, but it was lucky Luna found him. He could have frozen to death over there at the beach; it's winter after all…" Hamilton answered, taking a look at Gray.
Jin turned and took Gray's temperature and pulse, taking some notes afterwards. He told Elli something I couldn't understand, and the woman nodded as she got up and left the room.
"Elli is going to stay with him tonight. He'll probably regain consciousness during the following hours, so he'll want a familiar face, I reckon," said Jin. He then turned to me: "How do you feel, Luna?"
"I'm okay…" I answered under Candace's anxious gaze. "When can I go home?"
"Whenever you're ready. If you feel dizzy or nauseous, however, come straight back"
"Yes, doctor…"
…
The next day was madness: the Mayor was banging on our door as soon as the sun rose. I was still in bed trying to continue sleeping. After some minutes, and just when I thought the visitor had gone away, I heard some knocks on my bedroom's door. Annoyed, I got up, put on my robe and opened the door. I stepped back, however, when a man in a clean suit (like those from the X-files working in labs) entered my room carrying a bag.
"Jin?" I guessed. There was really no one in Waffle Town who owned crazy stuff like that clean suit.
"Good morning, Luna," the doctor said on his business tone, "I trust you had a good night."
"Jin… I think the way I spent the night is the last thing on both of our minds right now…" I retorted. "Why are you here —at the Tailor's—using a suit to prevent contagious diseases?"
Jin gestured me to sit down and closed the door. His eyes peeking behind the mask were worried.
"Luna, do you remember the man you carried last night to the Clinic?"
"Yes…" and I knew this was going somewhere I wouldn't like…
"Gray, that's his name, comes from Mineral Town. He… well… he fled the town a couple of days ago, in a small boat…"
Ah, the plot thickens… "Why 'fled'?" I just had the hunch I wouldn't like the answer.
Jin paused for a second and took a deep breath. "About 3 months ago, one villager that had been traveling around the continent finally arrived home to his wife and children. The wife had a condition, a seemingly incurable disease. Unfortunately, her husband –while traveling around to find the cure—brought home a virus…"
A virus! "What does it have to do with me?"
Jin raised his hands to appease me: "Nothing yet, I assure you. However, this virus, because of certain unfortunate circumstances, spread throughout the village at an incredible speed. Mineral Town's mayor tried to contact the authorities at the Eastern city, but died before he could give a detailed report of the circumstances. The city authorities, meanwhile they assessed the situation, quarantined the town. Up until a week ago, they hadn't come up with anything, so Gray was sent out to get help…"
I was silent for a long time. I didn't need to be a doctor to know what Jin was trying to tell me: "Am I infected?"
The doctor negated with his head. "To be honest, I don't know. Gray's condition is stable, but the viruses take certain time to incubate. The symptoms he told me he witnessed on the infected can match at least 20 different types of viruses, so I don't know still the behavior of this disease."
I gulped. Nice way to start your day. What if I was infected? Would I die? What about Candace and Grandma? Grandma already lost a child when mom died. They were deeply depressed; I was a 4 or 5 back then, but I still remember their teary faces and swollen eyes. They won't be able to recover if I… "Did you tell Grandma or Candace about this?"
"I told them that the Mayor needed to speak with them regarding a project. I told them I would do a quick check up and then let you sleep. Only when they left I suited up and came in," he explained. "Your grandmother and Candace don't need to know… yet."
I stood up and paced around the room. "So, what now?"
"For your family's sake, I need you to stay in the Clinic until we figure what the virus is," Jin said as he opened the bag he carried. He began taking out a suit like his, but in a smaller size. "Put this on and we'll go to the Clinic using the back road. There are many tests I have to run on both you and Gray. Elli and my grandmother will be helping me analyze the samples and diagnose, if there's anything to diagnose…"
I got dressed in a flash: I couldn't risk Grandma and Candace coming back. I packed some things in a flowered suitcase and followed Jin out the door. As I was closing it, I saw the letter Gray gave me last night for Elli. I ran back and grabbed it: if Elli was in the Clinic, I could give it to her if I was to be confined until Judgment day….
You know the funny thing? I ended up at the beach because of a man. And now, I will end up in the Clinic because of a man too.
Conclusion: Men suck.