Paralyzed (Tboah!AlbeCale)

27) Koala!Cale clings onto a confused crown prince

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'I'm getting a sense of déjà vu.'

The bed he was in felt very different from his usual one. Not because it was extremely comfortable, but because it was the exact opposite.

'Ugh...'

His whole body felt sore, and the mattress was too firm. He didn't quite have the strength to open his eyes, but he could feel the cool temperature of the room, and he could hear the faint clicking of shoes on tile flooring.

One by one, his senses started to return to their original capacity. All except his eyes however, as he still could not open them for some reason.

The scent of healing potions and traditional medicines entered his nose, and his ears started picking up on muffled conversation.

"...yes... he seems to... poiso...tempora...emory loss... lots of res..."

"Are you sure? ...e's going to be... of cour..."

Click. Click. Click. Click.

Cale's eyelids twitched but still refused to open. He was disoriented, and was starting to panic at the realization that he was in an unfamiliar place without context.

He couldn't move any part of his body as he wished, and the strange smells and sounds around him were foreign. He felt like he was trapped inside a statue which had its eyes closed.

Click, click, click.

The only sound which he could identify was the footsteps, but it felt ominous since he could not tell who was walking. He could feel his heartbeat speeding up with each footstep.

This situation was exactly like when he was a child. Cale Henituse found himself actually paralyzed once again.

Creeeeak~

He tried to keep his breathing steady as he heard a door open. More footsteps could be heard walking towards him. More muffled conversation entered his ears.

"!!...eetings, your h... ye... he still has n... up..."

The footsteps resumed their path towards him; the sound of them growing clearer and louder with each step. Suddenly a vaguely familiar voice started talking, and Cale felt like the speaker was within his arms distance. By now he could tense different muscle groups.

"Is that so?...ell, notify m... en he does... I– !!"

He was right, the speaker was within grabbing distance.

Cale had ignited the muscles in his left arm as much as he could, making it shoot up and latch onto the nearest thing. It must have been a sight to see, as his facial muscles were still relaxed as if he was sleeping. He was putting all his focus and strength into that one arm.

"Ah...re you sure he's..."

"I'll call the ph... please wai...!"

Cale felt a hand on his wrist that was trying to gently pry it from where it had latched on, so Cale clenched his grip even harder. Although he had only grabbed a fistfull of stiff fabric, he could feel an arm through it. He must have grabbed onto this person's shirt sleeve.

Cale's breathing was now out of sync.

He needed to let someone know that he was awake. He needed to get up right now, or else he might go into a panic attack. It seemed the person he grabbed noticed how shaky his hand was, since the hand on his wrist stopped trying to pry it off, but didn't leave either.