"I... I heard someone yelling."
Gabriella jerked her head up to look where the voice came from. There standing in the doorway was Harness Light. He was carrying a tray, soup was dripping down the side of a bowl, he had obviously spilled it in his rush to investigate. Gabriella looked at him for a moment feeling as if she had woken from a dream. She realized her whole body was shaking from the exertion of holding herself up. Gabriella allowed herself to fall back onto the bed. Her eyes closed, and she could fell herself slipping into unconsciousness.
"Wild Child?" Harness Light called. Gabriella slowly opened her eyes. "What did you call me?" she murmured tiredly.
Harness Light had moved to the side of her bed. He was balancing the tray on his left arm while his right was setting up a foldout table hanging off the side of the bed. He placed the tray on the table once it was set up.
"Wild Child," he said, "It was... the name I came up for you while you were unconscious. Souls call unassimilated humans wild humans. So Wild Child seemed fitting. I hope it doesn't offend you. I didn't mean it to be." He sat down on the edge of his bed.
"No, I like it," Gabriella assured him. She studied his face carefully, he didn't look the least bit angry at her even after what she said. Guilt flooded her again.
"I know you are very tired. But I really believe you should eat something before you go back to sleep."
It seemed to take an extraordinary long time for Gabriella to comprehend what he was saying. She tried to blink back her weariness. She reached out to pick up the spoon and her hand shook, spilling tomato soup everywhere. A tear fell down Gabriella's check. What was wrong with her?
Harness Light reached out and toke the spoon from her. "Here let me help you,"
"No, I'll do it. You have other patients to attend to," the Seeker said.
Harness Light hesitated watching Gabriella closely to see how she felt about this.
"That's fine," Gabriella agreed.
Harness Light nodded. He gently brushed the tear away from Gabriella's face before smiling kindly. "Don't worry soon you will be feeling like normal."
The building guilt burst through. "I'm sorry, for what I said earlier!"
"Already forgiven," Harness Light assured her. He hesitated in the doorway. "What is your name?"
"Gabriella, Gabie for short," she slurred.
Harness Light nodded. "Eat, and then go to sleep."
Gabriella and the Seeker did not speak to each other, though there was a noticeable change in the atmosphere as if the natural hostility between seeker and human lowered... even if just a little.
Gabriella found herself losing the battle to stay awake. It toke her longer and longer to open her eyes each time she blinked. Finally the Seeker placed the bowl down. "Sleep," he said gently.
Gabriella already was.