Linka lifted her head. She'd been deep in study again, just starting a new chapter and completely engrossed in her reading. Something was wrong though, something felt wrong, and this interrupted her. She slid her chair back and looked at her clock. 5:51. Almost dinner time, that must be what was on her mind. She sighed and started putting her books away and arranged them neatly next to her lamp for the next time she sat down to continue where she left off. She stood up from her chair, gently pushing it back into place and made her way to the bathroom. She switched the light on and moved towards the mirror.
She flicked the down-lights above the mirror on and saw her freckles light up as she did. She frowned to herself and quickly reached into her make-up bag, applying enough foundation to cover her blemishes before making her way to the main lodge for dinner, switching off all the lights on the way as she did. She looked over at Wheeler's hut and thought about going over to get him but saw that the lights were all off and surmised that he must already be at dinner or out somewhere else at the moment. Her heart fluttered as she thought of him again and couldn't wait to be alone with him again. He smiled to herself and brushed the back of her fingers against her cheek before kissing her fist gently, both practicing and reminiscing.
The sun was low in the sky at this point and she hoped that she and Wheeler would watch the sunset together after dinner. It seemed the perfect night for it, relatively warm with a cool summer breeze in the air. All of a sudden, she got a sick feeling in her stomach and felt like vomiting. She stopped walking and leant against the wall, light-headed. The feeling passed and she started walking again, unsure as to what was happening. She took a few more paces and the feeling returned but this time it was more powerful and she fell to her knees, clutching her stomach as the sick feeling intensified. Something was not right and for some reason she felt afraid. She quickly stood and hurried toward the lodge, pushing the door open and making her way to the sink. She poured herself a glass of water and drank it thirstily before pouring another and walking to the table.
She pulled the chair back and sat down with both hands around her glass. She looked around and the feeling of loneliness gripped her again. She always been a bit of a loner through school but it had never worried her as she kept to herself mostly anyway. Since being a Planeteer, she'd grown a sense of camaraderie with her friends and while unoccupied she missed them and wished they were around her. She looked back at her water and took another sip. She really didn't feel like getting up from her seat to make dinner. She was saved from getting up when she heard the door open. She looked up to see Gi walk in the room.
Gi closed the door behind herself and turned back around to see Linka sitting down, smiling at her. She looked upset but she always looked upset when she was alone so Gi didn't think much of it. Gi walked over to her and sat down beside her. "What's up missy?" she asked as she crossed her arms, put them on the table and leaned against them.
"Nothing really, I guess I should get to work on dinner though." Linka pushed her chair back and began to stand to get started on dinner. Gi quickly stood up as well.
"I'll help you!" Gi enthused, and was in the kitchen long before Linka was, "what are you hungry for?"
Linka thought for a moment, "how about some chop suey?" she offered. Gi smiled while looking at her, putting her clenched fists on her hips.
"That is Wheeler's favourite food, you're not trying to impress him are you?" Gi smiled as Linka's embarrassment showed. Gi saved her by drawing her into an embrace. "I understand Linka. It's tough being in love for the first time."
"It's so childish!" Linka stammered in response, "I feel like a teenager again."
"And there's nothing wrong with that, sounds like you're letting your heart have the say there Linka." Gi was right of course. Linka's feelings for Wheeler were too powerful and she was falling madly in love with him. It was great to see them finally giving in to each other, and it is about time too. Every time that Gi thought they might get together, she felt the bitterness of them fighting with each other and had to smooth things over between them, almost like a ritual. She was glad that she wouldn't have to worry about that anymore.
They both turned suddenly when they heard the phone ring. Gi walked over to the receiver while Linka started preparing dinner.
"Hello?" Gi said, before continuing shortly after and causing Linka to hear a one-sided conversation, "Oh, hi! He's not around at the moment, did you want me to go and find him for you? Oh, ok, can I take a message then? To Linka, yep sure I'll just get her." Gi looked over and motioned for Linka to come over, covering the speaker. "it's Wheeler's mom! She said she wanted to speak to him about something but she wanted to speak to you instead." Linka looked puzzled. What could she want to talk to her about?
Gi handed her the portable handset and raised it to her ear. "Hello?"
"Hi, Linka!" Wheeler's mom sounded enthusiastic on the other end.
"What can I do for you?" Linka tried to match her enthusiasm but failed and just sounded short of breath.
"Wheeler mentioned that you are all having some time off earlier today and I was hoping that you were planning to come and visit. Wheeler speaks about you whenever we talk and I think it'd be a great idea if you could come and join us here for a few days."
"Um, I haven't really spoken to Wheeler about anything but that does sound like a good idea and I'll be sure to pass that along. Wheeler misses you both and this'd be a great chance for him to come and spend some time with you."
"Well, I was hoping that we'd get to see you as well, Linka," she felt a bit guilty, but she wanted to hear how Linka would react to the response.
Linka was taken a little by surprise and paused temporarily. "I guess that I might be able to do so but I'm not sure what Wheeler might think about that." She didn't want to commit to anything, in case Wheeler didn't want to go or others plans came up.
She nodded her head. They were new to the relationship. "Well, either way it'll be wonderful to see my boy again. Keep him out of trouble! I'm counting on you Linka." Linka couldn't help but blush. Wheeler must have said something to her. It felt like she was about to hang up so she spoke up quickly before she could.
"Did.. Wheeler mention anything about us?" Linka put a hand over her cheek and could feel the heat.
"No, dear, but if truth be told I kind of figured that you'd finally gotten together with him. Judging from your reaction and from his earlier, you're probably not quite ready to take that sort of step and I understand that but you needn't be afraid of us. I just figured that you'd like to see his baby pictures. I've been waiting to show the one where he's naked in the bath to his girlfriend for ages."
Linka couldn't help but laugh, "what better reason would I need than that?"
She heard a great laugh on the other end. His mom seemed like a nice person. "Discuss it with him, but just know you're entirely welcome here."
"Ok, I will, and thanks!" Linka responded.
"Bye for now," she farewelled.
"Do svidaniya, oops sorry, good bye." She heard giggling at the other end before the signal disconnected. She hung the phone up, looked at it temporarily and put it back on the cradle. She made her way back to the kitchen where Gi had already begun cooking. It seemed that she had done all the work when she was only supposed to be helping. "Sorry.." Linka started, "that was weird."
"What was weird?" Gi probably couldn't have heard the conversation from so far away.
"She asked if I was going to visit her with Wheeler."
"How could she have known..?" Gi turned and Linka saw the moment she realised, "Wheeler just can't keep his mouth shut can he?"
"He probably didn't actually say anything, he's just not good at keeping secrets." Linka grinned. She kind of liked the fact that he was a terrible keeper of secrets. He would often get very embarrassed whenever he'd accidentally tell a secret and it was quite cute.
"Well, you'd better go and find him because dinner is just about ready and you know how much he hates reheated chop suey."
Linka nodded. Straight out of the pan! That's the ONLY way to eat chop suey!, he'd always say. She smiled at herself, thinking about his accent as she made her way to the door and opened it. Ma-Ti ran straight into her as she did and almost knocked her over, causing Gi to look over to see what the commotion was about. He was absolutely blanketed in mud and the look on his face told her that something was gravely wrong.
"Ma-Ti," she grabbed him by both shoulders, "what is wrong?" She stared deep into his eyes and the distress overwhelmed her. She knew what it must have been.
"No! No no, niet niet NIET!" she fell to her knees. Ma-Ti sank to his knees with her and they both cried. Gi was soon behind her.
"What happened?" she asked instinctively, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Ma-Ti slowly looked up at Gi, "Wheeler.. he, he's.." he couldn't finish the sentence but she heard Gi gasp behind her.
"Niet!" Linka pushed Ma-Ti away from her and stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes, "you're lying, he's not gone!"
"Linka.." Ma-Ti stood up and held his hands out on his sides, "Wheeler is dead."
Linka stepped back. She felt dizzy. The last thing she saw was the ceiling light blaring down on her face and the silhouettes of her friends' faces above her before passing out.