Hi there,
I won't say that I'm proud of this chapter.
The POV is all over the place on this one, so, be aware of that. And I basically had to force myself to write this, because there is no other way of getting out of writer's block.
And the next book comes out in less than a month.
And I'm slightly scared. LOL
Though it seems like no one really cares about the forum I created. But I don't mind. Maybe it'll get some attention after the book comes out.
But the new chapter is here. And it's super long. But doesn't really contribute to the plot in any way. But that's how I write. Slowlly burning like charcoal. And maybe I'll actually get to the fun stuff after this. Like Alice getting healthy. Because this has gone on for way to long.
To the fic! (￣▽￣)ゞ
"Well, when you look at that!", Delalieu swooned as soon as he came in through the door.
He looked around the room, looked at Alice sitting in the bed, and looked around again. A smile on his face.
The new room had the same sterile white walls as the quarantine room, but was slightly smaller than the aforementioned; which wasn't that much of a surprise considering that the quarantine room was built to be able to host more than one person at a time. The main difference was that Alice's new room had windows. Facing outwards.
"And it's a room with a view!", he remarked as he walked up the bed. Alice was sitting with the cover snugly rolled up against her stomach, and nodded approvingly at his remark.
Said view wasn't much more than the quadroon and the wired fence beyond it, with the gray sky looming above everything. But who were they to complain? It was better than the hallway.
"I like it much more than the other room. They said I can pick the curtains and stuff!", she told him.
"But I'm not sure of what to pick though…", she said and studied the windows, as if trying to imagine what they would look like.
"I'm sure whatever you pick is going to be very nice, dear", he said and sat down on the chair placed next to the bed. These two objects were one of the few items in the room; since it was sparsely furnished and hadn't been occupied by anyone for quite a while before Alice moved in. There was the bed, the chair; a side table and a low bureau, with the only decoration being one of Alice's drawings; which was kept up by four simple stripes of stationary tape above the bed frame.
"And I have something for you!", he announced and couldn't help but smile even more at the sparkle of excitement that lit up in her gray eyes.
He took out an envelope and gave it to her. It only took her a few moments for her to open it with her flick fingers and pull out the paper that resided inside.
She drew a light gasp.
"It's my card, isn't it?", she asked and looked at him.
"Mhmm", he nodded.
"Wow!", she gushed with childlike excitement as she removed the card from the bottom of the page and looked it over.
The card was the size of an ordinary credit card, although it was made of titanium. It had a hologram print of the Re-establishment symbol that shone in the colors of the rainbow as she angeled it back and forth in the light.
"They even spelled my name right!", she said and showed him.
And indeed, Alice Sjögren was neatly printed in the NAME's category.
"And what's your registration number then?", the lieutenant asked her.
She looked at her card again for a moment.
"Six two four eight, line, seven five A Q", she read out loud.
"Good, Though you don't actually have to say line", he chuckled.
"Now, Alice, you have to have that card with you at all times", he told her, this time in a more solemn tone since it was an important matter.
She nodded.
"And it's very important you learn your registration. I should be able to wake you up in the middle of the night, ask you for your number and you'd be able to tell by heart", he said in a recall to his days in school when his teacher would lecture his class about French inflections.
"I'm sure you already know what happens when a soldier asks you for it and you don't…"
"Mhmm, they get angry and bring you here", she said and pointed downwards to indicate that 'here' was the base. Delalieu nodded, even if her answer sounded nowhere as severe as the actual repercussions. He was going to let her stay blessed in her ignorance.
He turned to the envelope to bring out a lanyard, and while he did that Alice kept herself busy by inspecting her card.
"I think I've come up with a way to remember the numbers!", she announced after just a few moments.
He looked up from the envelope with wide eyes.
"Oh really?", he wondered.
"Mhmm! See, six minus two is four", she explained at she pointed at the small numbers on her card,"and if you go back a step two times four is eight. Then the two last number are the uneven numbers between four and eight!", she said and looked extremely proud.
"And for the letters?", he asked, not unkindly. He was actually rather amazed that she had come up with it so quickly; and in such a clever way (at least in his opinion).
"I'm thinking since A is the first letter in the alphabet, that's a one. And I'm pretty sure Q is the seventeenth, so one plus seventeen is eighteen, and eighteen is four plus six plus eight."
He blew a low whistle.
"That ought to be hard to remember, darling", he said, trying to not sound discouraging. She still frowned though.
"But hey, I know!", he said suddenly.
"Warner's eighteen."
Her grey eyes shone up in joy.
"That'll be perfect!", she said.
"Six two four eight, seven five... A Q!", she repeated out loud for a few times for the lieutenant.
He didn't bother to remark that it would only work for a few months; hopefully Alice would have learnt them by then.
When Alice felt satisfied Delalieu helped her get the card properly secured in the case. Then he explained to her what she was supposed to do if she ever lost it, since they would hopefully be able to find it with the built in tracker.
He had been there for a while then, and he had started to notice something. He turned to Alice.
"Isn't it a little chilly in here?", he asked her.
Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell into a baffled grin.
"Why do you think I'm sitting under the blanket!", she said.
"Well you can't have it like this, dear, you're supposed to rest up aren't you?", he said as he rose from his chair. He went to see the thermostat sitting on the wall on the other side of the room.
"It's only 65!", he exclaimed and shuddered at the mere utterance of the numbers he read.
"No wonder I'm feeling the chills!", he said.
"Do I have a fever?", Alice asked from over the bed.
"W-what?", Delalieu stammered and immediately went back to her and put the back of his hand against her forehead. It wasn't particularly warm.
"No darling, you don't…", he said, a little confused now.
"But isn't 65 a lot?", she asked, and he heard the worry in her voice.
He stared at her for a few seconds.
"Aah! Oh no, it's Fahrenheit, darling! It's about… um…", he blew some air through his moustache. He muttered some math under his breath.
"Twenty...? Twenty degrees Celsius, I'd suppose…", he said with a shrug.
"It's very cool for a hospital room, I'd say. I mean, you even have goosebumps!", he said and stroke her left arm. She was only wearing a white t-shirt, the same kind she had been wearing for the previous two weeks, which displayed her goosebump covered arms.
"Let me see if I can…"
"They said that we're not allowed to touch that…", Alice protested as he went back to the little device on the wall.
"Who said?", Delalieu asked. He tried pressing the buttons to try and find the settings, but did not have much luck.
"The nurses. Doctor Veens. Probably Warner when he comes by", Alice said.
He frowned. He wasn't eager on going against the orders of medical personnel.
"And you don't have any long sleeved shirts? Or a cardigan?", he wondered.
She shook her head.
"They can't be serious…!", he huffed.
She shrugged.
"I don't have much clothes here…"
"I'll go see if I can find someone, you can't have it like this!", he decided.
He walked up to the bed and picked up his jacket from the chair. An unfamiliar scowl on his face. Not that Alice had known him for that long, but this was the first time she had seen him anything remotely close to angry.
"They're going to tell you no", she told him, as if to prepare him for the worst.
"You don't know that", he waved off.
Then he flicked out his jacket and draped it over her thin shoulders. She looked at him in surprise, but didn't say anything.
"You just stay put and try not to freeze to death. Alright dear?", he said and adjusted the collar so that it fell more comfortably, even if it covered her with no problem since it was so big.
"Alright", she said and pulled the jacket to snuggly fit around her.
He looked just about ready to leave when he did something that surprised the both of them. He raised his hand and with his thumb graced a gentle circle on her cheek. Alice's eyes shone up for a moment and they both smiled at each other. And then Delalieu left the room looking very determined.
Mere minutes after the lieutenant had left Warner paid a visit.
"What are you wearing?", he asked as soon as he came in through the door.
"Isn't that Delalieu's?", he continued, starting to sound even more bewildered.
Her amazed look was enough to tell him he had been right.
"Why are you wearing Delalieu's jacket?", he demanded. A slight scowl on his face now.
She shrugged.
"He lent it to me since it's so cold in here", she replied.
Warner glanced at the thermostat and deemed it to be a valid possibility.
"Is he coming back soon?", he wondered, still with his hand on the door frame as he hadn't yet decided if he was coming into the door or leaving again.
"He was going to ask the medics about the temperature."
Warner thought over this for a second.
"Well, that probably won't take too long", he declared and strode into the room.
"How did you know?", she asked.
Her grey eyes were wide with expectancy.
"Know what?", he asked, not catching what she was talking about.
"That it's Delalieu's", she said.
"Oh", he said.
"Well, for starters, it has the Lieutenant emblem."
He walked up to the bed and pointed at a metal brooch on the chest of her borrowed jacket.
"Then there's the ribbons, the same Delalieu has", he said and redirected his finger to point at the small colored squares over the pocket.
"Those aren't ribbons!", she protested.
"They're just called ribbons. They're more like…", he waved his hand as he searched for a fitting parable,"mini medals, in actuality."
She took a second look at them with newfound interest.
"What are they for?", she wondered.
He scowled at little, as if he was calculating if it was worth spending his time explaining. Then clicked his tongue and sat down in the chair Delalieu had left.
After all, he had time to kill.
"It displays rank and accomplishments in the military. I have this, showing I'm Colonel here in sector 45", he pointed at a small blue square with yellow lining on his own uniform. In the middle something was embroidered. Something gray the girl couldn't make out.
"Then there's this one, which means the same thing. But I only have two of those", he said and turned sideways to display a sort of brooch pinned to his shoulder. A silver bird with its wings extended. In its claws was a branch of some sort. She realized it had been the same on the ribbon.
"Are those grapes?", she asked as she leaned it to have a better look.
"No, those are not grapes", he replied curtly.
"Well, what are they?", she deadpanned.
"An olive branch", he replied.
"Do you know what that means? 'To offer an olive branch'?", he asked her, to which she shook her head.
He figured as such.
"It means to offer peace. It's dates all the way back to Ancient Greece", he said. "You see, the eagle is offering peace, and it is my job to try and maintain it", he explained and turned himself away again to sit down in the chair.
"That's pretty cool", she said.
He scoffed.
He sure had never heard it being phrased like that. Cool was not something he thought about when he gave out orders about executions and massenslavment of the people he was supposed to care about.
But he couldn't be too hard on her. He hadn't told her that the other talon was sporting a bundle of arrows.
"Ah", he said suddenly.
He reached forward and took the card hanging on it's lanyard and brought it up to look at it. His green eyes ran over the text, then they aimed at her.
"Have you learnt you reg number yet?", he asked her.
"Mhmm!", she eagerly nodded, then she straightened her posture as if she was holding a lecture in front of the class.
"Six!", she said.
The chief commander watched her as he waited for the rest. But the pause grew too long.
"Er…"
He scoffed in disbelief.
"It starts with a six and ends with AQ…!", she objected.
"How is it that you can figure out the code to my room, but not remember a number code for a few minutes?", he asked her.
She glared at him, but it wasn't serious. Not that he really cared.
"How far have you've gotten in the book by the way?", she wondered.
"No further, I'm afraid", he replied.
"Why is that?", she asked.
"How do you imagine I'd have time to read while dealing with you?", he asked in a low voice, clearly annoyed over the fact that her sickness was taking up his precious time.
"I can't help it…", she said, but he did not look any less offended.
He sighed; suddenly tired. He ran a quick hand through his hair.
"Yeah, I know."
They sat in silence for a moment.
"I'm sorry if I'm a bother...", she said suddenly; and sounded very earnest for an eleven year old.
"Oh, believe me, you are!", Warner agreed with sudden vigor.
Her previous scowl retraced itself on her face. But she did not have the time to retort anything back before the door was opened and Delalieu stepped in with a nurse behind him.
"Oh, sir! H-have I kept you waiting…?! I'm so sorry-"
"It's alright Lieutenant." Warner said as Delalieu stood at attention.
"I've kept myself…", he clicked his tongue in search for a suiting word. Busy would sound too much like he had done something of actual use.
"Occupied", he settled on, tilting his head towards Alice in meaning.
"Alright, sir", Delalieu said in relief as he lowered his hand.
Then he looked to the nurse that had accompanied him there, as if just remembering that she was present.
She took it as her queue to speak.
"It is time for Alice's exercises now, so you can leave if you want to", she informed the party. Obviously in invitation for them to excuse themselves from the room.
Warner snatched it immediately.
"Excellent. I'll brief you on the way to the L-room, Lieutenant", Warner said and stood up, ready to leave.
"Of course, sir", Delalieu said with a nod. Then, as Warner made his way to the door, he turned his attention towards Alice. He walked up to the bed as Alice and Warner called a goodbye to one another, but did not sit down this time.
"They said they would raise the temperature some", he told her, in a slightly hushed voice to exclude the others in the room.
"Though I'll come by tonight before your bedtime and see that everything is comfortable, is that alright?", he asked her.
"Okay." She nodded, obviously much more happy to have him there rather than the grumpy blond Chief commander.
Then she took of his jacket and handed it back to him, saying:"Thank you for letting me borrow it."
"It was nothing dear", he said and pulled it on. Then because he was keeping his Chief commander waiting, patted Alice quickly on the head and then left her to do her breathing exercises with the nurse.