"Honey? Honey, are you alright?" asked a worried voice.
I opened my eyes to see Telma bent over me with a concerned look on her face.
My eyes flickered for a moment to try to get use to the light, and then I realized where I was.
"Y-yes… I'm alright," I told Telma with a reassuring smile.
"Well that's good news! Here's your water, dear," she said, handing me the liquid.
I took the cool glass from her and guzzled down the whole cup in only a few moments.
"My, you were thirsty. Do you have a fever?" she asked, putting a hand to my head.
Now that she said it, I did feel pretty cold, even with the large blanket covering me.
Drawing away her hand, she frowned and nodded.
"Sure enough. That's a mighty fever you have there. I could see how you have it, too. It's only 27 degrees outside tonight! Being drug along the ground probably didn't help the cause, either. I'll get you some medicine from the town doctor and we'll have you fixed up, alright? The bathroom is the door to your left and my friend Shad is downstairs if you need anything else," Telma said smiling and getting up from the bed.
Sighing as I flopped back down on the bed, I tried to ignore the pain the constantly pounded on my head.
The longer I laid in bed, the colder and colder I became.
Snuggling up in a tight ball under the blankets, I thought about Telma and how concerned she had been for my health. She had taken care of a total stranger that her friends had found in Hyrule field next to a bulbin camp. For all they knew, I could have been a poser that was sent to spy on them.
As I thought about all of this, I remembered someone else who had been caring and helpful to me, but I couldn't remember their name or picture their face.
I decided to drop the thought for now and try and get some rest.
. . . . . . .
I woke up with the same cold feeling and the familiar pounding in my head.
As freezing as I was, I sat up and swung my feet over the side of my bed to go get some more water.
Proving to be too big of a motion for my tired body, a wave of nausea hit me like a bomb.
I felt so awful, and I thought about trying to get to the bathroom, but I couldn't move.
Just then, Telma came in with dark hatred apparent on her face. She looked extremely irritated and I thought that she was about to scream out loud.
Pounding over to my bed, she sat down beside me and ranted to herself for a few more minutes.
Sighing after a while of silent irritation, she turned to me and gave me an almost sympathetic look.
"I'm sorry for comin' in all huffy, darlin', but that doctor just drives me crazy sometimes! He said that I'd have to pay him 500 rupees for medicine! Ridiculous! And when I tried to tell him that it was for a little girl, he said that I could pay the price or pray for a miracle! I swear, that man gets on my last nerves!" Telma growled.
I didn't know who she was talking about, but I decided to just let her vent. Sighing again, she turned to me and put a soft hand on my shoulder.
"I'm sorry, honey, but this is all I was able to get you. I think it will bring down your fever, and it might just make you feel better all the way around! It almost cost me an arm and a leg, but I deem it worth it to see a little girl get all better! Be sure to drink it with water, darlin' or it will taste mighty awful," Telma said as she handed me a little white tablet and left the room, mumbling about how to get her revenge on that horrible doctor.
Looking down at my recently-acquired medicine, I got up and went to the bathroom in search of water, being careful not to move too quickly.
I opened the cabinet behind the bathroom mirror and found little glass cups to put my water in. Taking one from the shelf, I looked around the bathroom for some source of water, but found nothing. Giving up my search, I slowly walked back into my room with my cup and pill.
Since there was no water anywhere in the bathroom, I decided to go try and find Telma. I hated to bother her, but I felt really awful and I was very thirsty.
Thinking about the long walk I would have to endure to get her, I sighed and walked out of my small room and down several flights of stairs.
Walking into what I assumed to be the main room, I saw Telma sitting at a table with another man. He had circular, wire-framed glasses and messy, red-brown hair. He looked up at me and smiled.
"Hello. I'm guessing that you must be Ilia..? Let me introduce myself. My name is Shad. You probably won't recall, but I am one of the three people that saved you. How are you feeling?" he asked.
When I didn't respond, he glanced at Telma with a what's-wrong-with-her look.
"She's come down with an awful fever, but I've gotten her some medicine. Have you taken it yet?" Telma asked, turning to me.
Remembering the medicine, I glanced down at my empty cup.
Following my eyes, she also saw my water-less glass.
"Oh, dear! I'm sorry, honey! I forgot that there wasn't any water in your bathroom! Here, let me get that for you," she said as she got up and took my cup.
She left the room, apparently to go get water, and left me and Shad in an awkward silence.
"So… um… where do you live?" he asked.
Shocked by his willingness to get to know me, I strained my throat to give a response.
"Ordon village," I chocked out.
"My! That's quite a distance from here! Who are your parents?" he pressed.
"My father is Mayor Bo. He is the head of our village," I said.
"Oh! I know him! He is good friends with one of our alliances. I hope that one day I get to meet the father of such a beautiful, young girl," he beamed.
His openness was starting to creep me out.
Getting me out of the uncomfortable conversation, Telma walked back in with a cup full of water.
"Here you go, hun," she said, handing me the glass.
"Thank you," I said taking the cup.
"No trouble. Now you should get on back to bed. You need your rest," she said.
I nodded in agreement with her suggestion since I was freezing cold and my headache was as strong as ever.
I went back up the staircases and drowsily slumped over to my small cot.
Crawling back into bed, I popped the tablet in my mouth and took a large swallow of water.
Telma was right; that medicine did taste awful.
Ignoring the horrible taste that now plagued my mouth, I laid back down and closed my eyes.
. . . . . . . . .
When I woke up, I felt better.
I actually think my fever had broken since I was very hot and sweaty.
Throwing the heavy blanket to the side, I was hit with a blast of cool air that felt great on my hot face.
Sitting up, I definitely felt better than I had when I had gone to sleep. Moving no longer caused nausea and I was able to think clearly again.
I hopped up and went into the bathroom.
Looking in the apparently old and under-used mirror in here, I was shocked by my appearance.
My hair was a wreck with dirt matting it in places.
My face was completely covered in scratches and bruises; obviously from the rocks and sticks that I was mercilessly drug over against my will.
Grabbing a nearby brush off the counter, I tried to comb through the shock of hair that sat on top of my head.
. . . . . . . . . .
Several hours later, my hair actually looked good.
I had asked Telma to get me some more water to take a bath in, and of course, she complied.
My hair was nice and clean, along with the rest of my body.
The scratches and bruises were still very apparent on my face, but even they had been toned down from their first stage with the help of the warm water.
Thanking Telma for the water, she smiled and told me that she was glad I was feeling better.
I walked back over to my bed and sat down on one of the corners.
Feeling one hundred times better than when I first woke up, I decided to go out for a walk.
I got up and started to head outside, but then it occurred to me that I didn't even know where I was.
I went to find Telma and found her at the same table with the same man as before.
"Um… excuse me, but… where am I, exactly?" I asked quietly.
Telma and Shad looked up at me and smiled.
"Why, you're in Castle Town!" Shad said happily.
Castle Town! Castle Town was miles from Ordon Village. How in the world did I make it all the way here?
Seeing the shock on my face, Telma smiled.
"Shad told me about your little chat. I can't believe that you're here, either. Ordon Village is quite a ways from here," Telma said.
"When can I get back home?" I asked.
"Well, that's really not up to me, honey. I would love to take you back, but first we need to go to Kakariko Village to get you some more medicine. We finally determined your illness. All you have is a simple case of the flu. If we get the medicine from Renado, you'll be fixed up and we can get you back home," Telma said happily.
The flu? I didn't feel like I had the flu; I was actually starting to feel better. But it was comforting to know that I would soon be over it, thanks to the medicine.
I smiled and nodded as Telma got up and walked over to me, placing a noticeably warm hand on my recently-clean forehead. After a few moments, she removed it and gave me one of her famous cheery smiles.
"Well, it seems like your fever has packed up and headed for the hills! For now, at least. Not to make you feel bad or anything, darlin', but this is the flu we're talking about. You never know when it might come back; full force," Telma warned, preparing me for what might come later.
I nodded once more as she turned around and went back to the table with Shad. There was a large, well-worn map spread across the table; Shad was examining it when Telma walked over. Talking in a tone that couldn't be heard from where I was standing, they discussed something that I assumed was about the map.
Shrugging it off, I returned to my room to go lie back down. If it was anything important, I would find out eventually.
. . . . . . . . .
I woke up not even realizing that I had drifted off into sleep. Suddenly, I felt the familiar pounding come back to my head. Strange; it seemed more intense than before.
Groaning in aggravation at realizing that my flu symptoms had returned, I turned over to see a white envelope lying on my bedside table. It was a bit yellowed; like it had been lying there for quite a while. How long had I been asleep?
Reaching over to grab the letter, I turned back over to go back into my warm sanctuary of covers. The front of the envelope was sealed with an ornate blue sticker; almost like that of royalty.
Wondering if this mysterious letter was truly for me, I hesitated as my slim fingers began to carefully pry the adhesive from the rest of the envelope. Brushing off the thought, curiosity took over as I pulled away the rest of the sticker and bent the flap to the back. Inside was a simple letter written with masterful penmanship. It read:
Telma,
With a heavy heart, I must tell you that I am not in high hopes of Ilia recovering. At first, I could have bet my life on this being a simple case of the flu, but further research shows that this is far from it. The virus she has acquired is a rare one that cannot be treated with our current medical care. I wouldn't tell her at the moment because she still has about one week left to live, and I wouldn't want her to be filled with stress. Let her live out her last few days in peace.
Regards,
Renado.
