Peculiar ♡ Alma Peregrine

Chapter Twelve - Warm

I was first aware of the fact that I was alive and not dying in a pile of melting snow, in fact, I was laying motionless on a soft, warm bed. I remembered falling and fainting out in a storm, so how on earth did I get here. I couldn't open my eyes, my body was so exhausted that it didn't allow me to, but I was able to twitch my fingers. I was so warm, it was a very nice change from the harsh cold of the storm. I wasn't even too concerned about how I even got here.

Then all my senses attacked me all at once. I was all of a sudden able to smell cinnamon, apples and vanilla. I could taste the disgusting, lingering flavor of some kind of medicine and something similar to bread, and I could hear two people whispering beside me. It wasn't too hard to identify the familiar voices even though they were very quiet, so I forced my eyes open to look at them. Alma sat at the end of the bed, her pipe hanging out of her mouth and one leg crossed over the other as she listened to Miss Avocet. 

I tried to sit up, but couldn't for two reasons. One, there was an IV poked into my arm, practically holding me down. And two, I didn't want to sit up, everything hurt more than I could explain. Miss Avocet turned around to a table and Alma's head snapped towards me. She immediately shifted closer to me, taking my face in her hands and gently kissing it. Her hands were so soft and she was so careful that I didn't feel any of the pain that I should have when someone touched me. She leaned back, holding my hands carefully.

Miss Avocet turned back to me and handed me a glass of water and two small pills. I tried to ask what they were, but it felt like my throat had been rubbed with sandpaper until it was completely raw. Like I'd just inhaled twelve dozen liters of water from the Don Juan pond. Alma hushed me and told me they were painkillers that they hadn't been able to give me while I was asleep. I looked up at the IV, that was explained to be something to just keep my body temperature stable since it was so low outside before.

"Miss Avocet found you when she came to visit. She had to pause her travels because of the storm and she found you almost completely covered in a pile of snow," Alma said, rubbing my hands with her thumb. I laughed at the incredibly unfunny situation, regretting it straight away when I felt an awful ache in my chest. I didn't even want to know what my injuries were, I just wanted to know when I could go home. I sat up, holding my arm out to Miss Avocet, silently asking her to take it off me. She removed it carefully.

When I was fully sat up, I lifted the shirt I was wearing, my clothes had been changed sometime while I was here. There were scratches, purple bruises and red splotches all over my torso. I cringed and let the loose fabric fall down. I held my face in my hands, ignoring the painful heat in my face, and sat there like that for a while. The accident happened hours ago, but my heart still wasn't slowing down from that fear that I felt while in that basement. It was still in a state that made me feel I was dying.

"I suggest you stay here until you're fit to walk properly, but you're free to leave whenever you'd like," Miss Avocet said before leaving Alma and I in the room. I threw the thick blanket off me and twisted so I could to hop off the bed. It hurt, but I pushed through it, grabbed the small bag off the small table - that I recognized as the plastic bag the store used - and looked at Alma. I knew she saw right through my carefully concocted face to hide the physical pain I was in, but took my arm anyway.

It hurt to walk, but we had to get home. I'd rather be at home than in this place that I didn't know. My throat still felt sandpapered, but I forced some words out so I had information.
"How long was I there for?" I asked, my voice scratchy and barely audible. She still heard me.
"Three days. I came back every day after reset and making sure the children were okay," she said. I looked straight in front of me at the path. We walked for hours before Alma had to turn into a bird and return to the loop for reset.

It took a lot of energy and it was very painful, but I eventually managed to turn into another version of her and fly after her. I flew slower, but we still managed to get there just in time for reset. I wondered for a second about how the children had supper, but then it occurred to me that Alma would have definitely put the older kids in charge and they probably prepared supper for everyone. Alma landed gracefully and turned back, while I faceplanted into the ground and turned back, curling into a clump of pained matter on the ground.

The pain medication had done a little work, but I was still in a lot of pain. Alma picked me up, being careful to not hurt me more than was necessary. She brought me inside, ignoring the children that ran over to see if I was okay and sending them off into the sitting room. She carried me upstairs, my torso aching slightly with every rock going up the stairs. I kept quiet, but she could definitely tell that it hurt, so she tried to make her steps more leveled. It helped quite a bit, so I relaxed into her arms.

She didn't bring me to my room, but instead her room. She laid me down on the bed and pulled a blanket over me. I, however, wasn't as tired as I was when I woke up. I wasn't sure why that was, I just felt less drowsy than earlier. I pushed the blanket off and stood up, swaying slightly as I walked over to Alma and linked my arm with hers. She didn't question me and left the room with me. It hurt like hell, but I didn't want to stay in a room all day sleeping when I wasn't tired.

Back downstairs, even though the pain was less, I still felt like I needed to sit down for a little while - just until my legs were recharged. I sat down on the sofa, smooshed in between Millard and Fiona. Everyone started asking me questions right away, but I didn't answer any of them. All of the talking was giving me a headache, maybe I should get some more pain killers... After a few minutes and they didn't stop asking questions, I finally decided to answer a few of their questions that I really wished I could just ignore forever.

Yes, I got lost. I wasn't kidnapped that's insane." My voice stuttered as I lied, but none of them caught onto it. "Yes, I'm completely fine. I'm just a little bit sore at the moment. No, I didn't lose any of my stuff." I held up the plastic bad that I had retied around my wrist and hadn't bothered to untie. "And yes. Not that anybody asked, but my head is throbbing and I'd really appreciate if you could ask questions when I'm not as sore." They nodded and went back to whatever they were doing before I got to the room.

I was almost instantly bored, but at least the headache was going away.