Sapienophobia

Chapter 13

I heard shuffling. People moving out or moving in. My head throbbed.

Throbbing?

I tried to open my eyes. They felt heavy, like two lead flaps urging me to return to slumber.

After practically prying them open with the force of my will, my vision failed me. It was bright, so bright that I resigned to closing my eyes again despite my previous dedication. The light remained, illuminating the blood flowing through my eyelids in a hazy pink tint. I squinted the next time. My pupils were already dilated from the portion of the light that shone before them.

I braced myself as I unveiled the rest of my sight. My brain warned me of the sensory overload with a splitting headache. I ignored it to focus on unblurring my vision. I could finally make out the room's light source.

Magic.

I need to leave.

Against all complaints from my body, I tried to sit up. My stomach warned that it would vomit. My legs warned that they wouldn't support my weight. My arms were numb and whatever warnings they conveyed couldn't reach me.

I tried to prop my elbow up, a crucial motion to raise my neck to a position where I'd be able to see anything besides the ceiling. The bandages wrapped around it made it even more difficult to coordinate. It slipped and returned to its place beside my thigh. Attempting to raise it again made it sore.

So I worked on my head. Funny, how I was light-headed but somehow lifting my head felt like trying to lift a two-ton weight. Gravity kept me pinned.

After I concluded that trying to raise this too was pointless, I settled for just trying to turn it.

Just a little to the right. Just enough to set me off balance.

I felt my ear, inch by inch, cover more of the pillow I was resting on. The slight elevation from my spine helped. My neck ached so I yielded.

I left the rest to my peripheral vision.

My location (an exit preferably), the time of day, any information really would be nice right about now.

What I could see was still partly blurry, but I could figure it out once I looked at it for a long while.

On my left, it was easy to deduce that there was only a window several feet away. The glow from it helped illuminate and color the room. It would've been difficult to escape out of it though without much noise with my wounds.

I turned to my right.

There's a grey structure. A bit of a glint so metal. A table. A crutch to help me get out of this place in case my legs ignore my commands.

I had also took note of the door that was closed and may or may not have had people on the other side.

I moved on to the closer object in the room.

It's uneven. A familiar purple.

It moved, the slight up and down motion living beings know so well.

Vera.

I tried to speak. A hoarse groan escaped. Only then did I notice how dry my mouth was. My chapped lips would have bled if I smiled. My tongue felt cracked and my breath no doubt was rancid. My ability to produce saliva was working overtime, making me drool onto the pillow.

My new goal became water.

The soreness in my arm had partially dissipated, or rather, the numbness overtook it. It felt like my funny bone had been struck several times over but throughout both of my arms.

I ignored that, the glass of water next to Vera was the clearest thing in my bleary line of sight. It had a wooden straw in it for ease of drinking.

I gulped, fooled by my dehydrated imagination.

It took everything in me to swing my arm towards the bedside table.

I missed, and my wrist hit the table as well as the arm of Vera's chair on its way down.

No!

She stirred.

Yes! Wake up, Vera! I need water!

They awoke.

Her eyes fluttered then widened at me. The look in their eyes was one of pity, but I knew to feel ashamed. She had put her trust in me, and this was what I had to show for it.

Don't look at me.

"Shin!" One of their meaty hands slapped my forehead.

Vera.

I darted my eyes between her and the glass as she rambled.

Her words sounded like warbles, but I managed to catch "being insane", "wolves", and something about me not having sigiled repellent gear.

Water.

Their lecture went on, but I'd be dead by the end of it if I didn't get something to drink.

I mouthed the word.

She didn't catch the hint.

I held their gaze for so long it made them uncomfortable then looked back at the glass. Her gaze followed.

I had finished the water in three gulps when they offered it to me, panting afterward.

Water must be the cure-all doctors claim it to be because my soreness and lightheadedness subsided immediately. Not fully, I might've fainted if I had to run away but enough to understand my situation.

I was in an infirmary. The pastel colors on the walls made it easy for physicians to see any bodily stains or fluids that could contaminate the room. I shivered. The identical cabinets in the back reminded me of Father's study.

I turned back to Vera, wincing at the memory and anticipating that they would provide me with more information than I could deduce.

I tuned back in on what she was saying, I had to focus to understand it.

"...were. A stranger said you were at the edge of the Murks. She rushed you into here. The nurses found your card and went to me. And here we are."

I didn't hear that first part, but the edge of the Murks isn't right. I had to have been brought there by someone. Wait. If they were going to save me anyway, why did they wait until after I nearly died? They could've lent a hand when I first got attacked. How cliché.
No, I shouldn't be ungrateful. Whoever it was, they were strong enough to stop two wolves from eating me.

I nodded and pressed my head up against Vera's hand as she took back the glass.

They had to watch out for me again.

"Shin..." she said, something in the back of her mind kept her from meeting my gaze, "I'm revoking our contract."