TOMMY
Finally the pain starts to ease. It feels like I've been hurting forever - or at least several hours. I vaguely remember vomiting up the little breakfast I'd eaten, and then bile, followed then by the awful dry heaves. God, I hate those. I hear Pina running the scanner again as Zedd continues to hold me, his hand rubbing slowly over my aching back.
My voice is rough when I speak. "I think it's over."
"At least for now." I don't like the way Pina says that. "I want to get you down to the infirmary for a little while, Tommy, just in case."
"Can't I just go to bed?" I really want nothing more right now than to get cleaned up and sleep for a week and I know that's not going to happen as easily if I'm in the infirmary.
"I want to do a more detailed scan too so that we have the most current information about you on file for future reference. Just lay down and take a nap in the infirmary for a bit, if you don't have any further episodes in the next hour you can go back to your room and rest for the remainder of the day. Deal?"
"Deal."
"If you can walk, I suggest you do. Stretch your legs while you can" she adds getting up and doing the same with hers as Goldar follows suit.
I can feel Zedd's questioning look. I'm shaky but- "I can do it." And now I sound like a five year old insisting I can do something that I'm not sure of. Between Zedd and Dar, I get to my feet. I rub my eyes as they're aching now very likely due to how tightly I had them clenched against the pain I was in.
"Just go slowly, Thomas." We head for the stairs, Zedd making sure that he's constantly touching me, reassuring us both.
On the landing between the tower and the floor that Zedd's office is on, I stop suddenly. It's like someone's dropped a bag over my head. Stay calm, Tommy or you're going to freak Zedd out. His voice is muffled, fading as he speaks. "Thomas? What's wrong?"
"I can't see." I reach out, finding his chest and sliding my hand up to his face. My heart freezes as I realize that I can feel his mouth moving, feel the vibrations of his speech under my palm, but- "I can't hear you either." Okay that's not staying calm. Even if I can't hear my own voice now I'm almost positive it's now sounding as panicked as it does in my head. "Zedd, help."
I have no doubt that he's snapping at Pina right now, but at least with me being momentarily helpless he can't leave my side to attempt to kill her. I can feel what he's doing when he bends down and picks me up. He moves quickly and the lack of visual references makes it a fairly nauseating trip. Fortunately, with nothing left in my system, there's nothing to come up.
When the headache starts, I'm grateful that I still have Zedd blocked. This isn't one of my migraines, but it's still pretty bad. What in the hell are the powers doing to me? In spite of the pain, the scientist in me kicks in.
Pina said that the powers were changing me - probably so that I can actually hold these powers without them destroying me from the inside out. Recalling how ill Jason became when holding Trey's powers, how we realized too late that they were too strong to be held safely by a human, I have to wonder now if I would have suffered the same way if they weren't making me suffer now…and I am suffering now. Still though, it's better to have this happen now right? To have these changes alter me so I don't end up at death's door like Jason did.
I feel Zedd take my hand as he lays me down on the table before placing his own in mine and doing something. What the hell is he doing? Feeling him purposely moving the position of his hand against my palm, changing how his fingers are positioned between three ways over and over again it takes my brain a minute to catch up to what I think he might be trying. "I don't know sign language, Zedd."
Realizing I was right as he stops in defeat and rests his forehead against mine, I feel badly for him, but a bit calmer myself as I think about what's going on rationally now. The powers are changing me, I can accept that. They need to fix the damage I suffered so they wouldn't purposely add any to it, like rendering me blind and deaf as those would be a disadvantage to me in battle. Now, what if, to use these powers effectively, my sight and hearing have to be enhanced? If that's so, then the connections to my brain have to be altered as well - which explains the headache and the hopefully temporary loss of sight and sound. I can deal with that, because that means once it's done rewiring, I should regain those senses. The only big question now is what else are the powers going to change?
I squeeze Zedd's hand lightly. "I'll be okay, Zedd. I can't see you, but I know you're worrying." He raises my hand and presses a kiss to it - and it feels like a thousand tiny needles. I jerk back with a small hiss. "That - hurt."
He releases me immediately. Suddenly, I get the feeling that this is going to get worse before it gets better. "There's nothing you can do to help me, Zedd. You need to go do something else. I don't care if you pace the hall or go spar with Goldar or work on the tower. Just - do something that isn't hovering over me when there's nothing that can be done."
I can feel the shakes starting and my heart starts pounding again. "Pina, Dar - please get him out of here." I'm grateful that I have him blocked out and I hope that they've gotten Zedd out of the room when the convulsions start again.
