Hey! Happy Holidays! Have an update! So now Rhine gets sicker, Rowan gets worried, and next chapter there will be a very familiar face from the past. Wonder who? Stay in tuned! Disclaimer: I do not own the Chemical Garden Trilogy. Someone even stole my copy of the first book. I hate lending books out! *frowns*
Fall flew by, winter came, and with that my sister's narration grew even more interest from admirers and critics everywhere. As the story went on, many initial skeptics began to question their earlier claims of the narrative just being naturalist propaganda since it didn't actually adhere to that viewpoint at all. It condemned Gathers and the current bride sale system, but it was not overly harsh on the sister wives or even the husband. In fact, Joseph had complained to Rhine about that, saying that people weren't going to buy it, and she simply said, "That's how it happened. I was there."
I kept reading the story, enthralled by the strange world my sister had been sucked into. I admired my sister slightly more after reading about the luxury she had left behind without a complaint. Many girls would've satisfied to die there in style, such as her sister wife Jenna, but Rhine had been determined to get home, almost obsessed even.
When I brought the subject up to Rhine, she simply said, "Don't judge Jenna too harshly, Rowan. She lost her sisters. If I had thought you were dead, I would've given up too."
"How did you know I wasn't?" I couldn't help but ask. After all, she had no good reason to believe I hadn't been killed by the thieves who constantly tried to break into our house or any other source of danger in the city. Logically, she should've assumed I was dead.
Rhine shook her head. "If you were dead, I would've known," she insisted, refusing to say anything beyond that. I wanted to say to her, 'I didn't know you were alive', to say 'I didn't know you were okay', but I didn't. I had always been my parents' son, a future scientist, logical to a fault. Rhine took things on faith, had hope. I believed her when she said she would've known.
I read on, watching my sister get attached to her sister wives like I watched her get attached to our neighbor girl when we were little. This couldn't end well, I told myself, just like with that other girl. Still, I too fell for Jenna's charms and Cecily's naivety. I knew it must've been hard for my sister to leave these girls behind. So far, the narrative had very much avoided discussing Linden, my sister's husband, but I didn't know whether or not that was due to Rhine's own feelings or her reaction to Gabriel reading it. His father made fleeting appearances, ones that for some reason gave me anxiety.
Still, everything was fine, or so it seemed until Rhine collapsed one day while cleaning the kitchen. A new member Lynn, who was helping, screamed so loud it was surprising no glass shattered. Gabriel and I, the only two other people in the house at the moment, rushed in. Gabriel immediately scooped Rhine up into his arms and carried her upstairs into their shared room. I followed closely behind. Initially, Gabriel and Rhine sharing a room had bothered me, but now I didn't mind so much.
He laid her down on the bed, and I pressed the back of my hand to her forehead. "She's burning up," I said. In truth, my sister had not improved much since coming here. Gabriel and Maddie had gained weight and color to their faces, but Rhine looked every bit as sickly and thin as she had when she arrived. She deftly avoided the subject every time Gabriel or I brought it up. Even Maddie's concerned eyes did not rile my sister.
Gabriel stared at Rhine, his eyes filled with worry. Truthfully, he looked like a man sick with love. "She needs a doctor," he stated, kissing her forehead in an attempt to soothe her.
Rhine, who had some level of consciousness, started twisting in the bed at the word doctor. "No doctor," she mumbled, trying to open her eyes. "No doctor."
"The doctor wouldn't be like Vaughn, Rhine," Gabriel reassured her. "He'd be a good guy."
Rhine began to protest even more frantically. "Jenna in pieces," she muttered. "Rose's baby…"
"Okay, no doctor," I said to my sister, hoping to relax her enough that she'd fall into a feverish sleep. Once I was sure she was out, I turned to Gabriel. "What was she talking about?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. Rhine went downstairs to Vaughn's experiment room once and saw Rose's body. I think she assumed that's what happened to Jenna. Rose told Rhine that Vaughn had her baby killed because she disobeyed him." His eyes were screaming with concerned. "She needs a doctor."
I sighed. "I know, but in my line of work doctors tend to not like you." It took Gabriel a moment to realize why. The naturalists and the doctors were on different ends of the spectrum. It would be hard to convince any doctor to help people who thought the world should burn.
Until a doctor could be found, we took turns sitting with Rhine, pressing a cool towel to her forehead to try to break the fever. My hands were so jittery I thought I would hurt her with my shaking. I had just got my sister back. I didn't want to lose her again so soon. Rhine came in and out of lucidness, murmuring nonsensical words and phrases I didn't understand.
I was sitting downstairs when Joseph and Sara came home with the two kids. Maddie looked at me, her eyes wide, before dashing upstairs, presumably to go see my sister, Chris hot on her heels. Rhine was right about those two. They understood a lot more than we gave them credit for. Then again, Sara only needed one good look at me before asking, "What's wrong with Rhine?" My worry must've showed.
"She collapsed cleaning the kitchen. She has a fever, and we're trying to cool her down, but…" I had my head in my hands. My sister and I had come into this world one right after the other, had grown up side-by-side. We had blown bubbles together and listened to our father's stories together and survived without our parents together. My gender meant that I would outlive my sister; I had always known that. I had thought that I'd get time to prepare myself for that loss or find a way to go too, preferably a gun or knife. Now, however, I was worried I would lose her three years early, right after I'd gotten her back. I wasn't ready to let her go.
Joseph put a comforting hand on my shoulder while Sara paced the room, racking her brain for a solution. Finally, she said, "I think I know someone who can help us."
The woman Sara brought to our house ran a small orphanage in the city. She had no political leanings, but one look at Rhine and she was willing to help. "Nobody should suffer like that if it can be helped," she stated, rolling up her sleeves and getting to work. First, she had us cover a shivering Rhine in layers of blankets and continued pressing cold clothes to her head.
"Breaking the fever is our main goal," the woman, Claire, stated. Then we had to keep her drinking water or at least try to. Rhine wouldn't take any soup, but we were instructed to give her some the moment she would. There was very little that could be done for Rhine with medicine.
"That poor girl's body is so run-down it just needs some rest. That's the best medicine." Claire offered to come by and check on Rhine daily, something we appreciated infinitely. Sara and Joseph left Rhine's room to conduct the meeting that night, but Gabriel and I stayed. Maddie sat right at the foot of the bed, abstractly humming and reading a book I'd seen her read at least twelve times before. Gabriel and I just sat there, watching over my sister.
Eventually, it got late. Maddie and Christ shared his bed, and I offered up my bed to Gabriel, desperately wanting to stay with my sister. Thankfully, he was too tired to protest, only kissing Rhine's forehead before heading to bed. I just resoaked the cloth and placed it on her forehead. She stirred, her eyes lidded with confusion
"Hey," I said croakily. "How are you feeling?"
"Like something warmed over," she replied, her voice weak. "What happened?"
"You collapsed," I answered, trying to keep my voice steady like she hadn't scared months off my life. "How long?"
Rhine closed her eyes. "How long what?"
"How long have you been sick?"
She didn't answer, but she didn't have to. She hadn't looked good coming to us. She must've been sick on the road and just not told Gabriel. My sister was stubborn (and stupid) like that. It was silent for a couple of minute as I held a cup of water to her lips, coaxing her to take a sip.
Once she had swallowed, Rhine asked, "Do you ever think about death?" I shook my head, not wanting to reveal that I did think about it, especially right now, and that I was afraid to be left alone in this world. "I do," she whispered. "I wonder what's after here and what it's like. I wonder if Mom and Dad are there."
My chest tightened. "Do you think there is something after this?" If so, I didn't know if I had earned the right to go.
Rhine gave me a look. "Of course there is," she responded. "It will be wonderful. People will have time there. They'll run and sing and read to their heart's content. I think Mom and Dad will be dancing."
I grabbed my sister's hand and squeezed it. "Don't be too quick to join, them okay?" There was a quiver to my voice that I was ashamed of.
Rhine squeezed back. "I'm not going anywhere," she promised. And we spent the whole night like that, hand in hand. She fell asleep, but I stayed up all night, fervently praying and hoping and wishing she would be okay. I pleaded with every god and deity and ancient royal I could think of. If only I had known the visitor we would get in only a week…