The Pause [Adopted Book]

Coming Clean

Cycle 8459 Notes:

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"What do you mean he won't wake up?" I asked as Amber and I raced to the Judge's room.

"I mean he won't wake up!" Amber repeated. "I checked his pulse and everything, so he's alive, but I don't think he's asleep."

We reached the room in heartbeats. I rammed the door closed, realizing that my arms were still full of medical supplies for Savanna. I stashed the pile of gauze and antiseptic into my inventory for later, now fully focused on the unconscious non-steve.

He was in bed, lying perfectly still. Amber was already there at his side, grabbing him by the shoulders and trying to wake him up.

"Careful!" I warned my friend. "I get it, you know. Shaking him around isn't going to help." Amber quickly dropped the brunette, who slumped back onto his bed, unmoving. Although Amber had already told me he had a pulse, I carefully reached out to check. As I pressed two fingers to his neck, I could feel a slow heartbeat pulsing against them. He was certainly passed out, but the beat was rhythmic and strong. He wasn't in any danger of dying. At least, not yet.

I carefully adjusted the pillows behind the Judge, propping him up to examine him better. There were no external injuries from what I could see. But why would he pass out? Shock? Exhaustion, maybe?

"He was looking tired this morning." I remembered. "Amber, did you notice anything else when he talked to you? Something that might explain why he's sick?"

"I- I don't know!" he panicked, burying his head in his hands. "Maybe it's part of his non-steve sickness?" My heart dropped in my chest. I was pretty useless about medical knowledge anyway. It hadn't even occurred to me that the Judge's immune system might work differently from ours. How was I supposed to treat him if I didn't know what kind of medicine worked on him?

"Judge, please wake up." I prayed as I checked him over again. If only I could find a wound or something, I might know what to do... Sitting here, doing nothing, I felt incredibly useless. I shot to my feet. "Amber, stay here, I'm going back to the medical wing to check for supplies." I told him, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt.

But when I went through the medical wing again, there was almost nothing useful. I pulled out a few strangely-colored liquids, all in strangely-shaped bottles. They seemed to be potions of some kind, but I wasn't sure what any of them did. I wasn't sure what would happen if he drank any of them, or if it was possible to overdose. I choked back a sob of frustration. Surely this wasn't supposed to be so hard, right?

I started to search through the room again, keeping an eye out for any instructions, charts, or books I might use to help me. I found nothing. Stuffing the strange bottles into my inventory, I ran back to the Judge's room.

"What did you find?" Amber asked.

"I- um... I don't know." I admitted. "There was some medicine, but nothing on how to use it."

"Well, just give it to him!" Amber burst out, blinking tearfully at the Judge. "It has to do something!"

"Absolutely not!" I refused. Even if I was freaked out and desperate, I wasn't dumb. My instincts told me that medicine could be just as dangerous as poison if I didn't use it properly. I wished, however, that those same instincts could be a little more useful. Why couldn't I have been born with instant healing knowledge, instead of a vague urge to heal?

I brought out the potions again, studying them. I held them far away from my friend, worried that Amber might try and grab them from me. Maybe if I just thought hard enough, I would understand what they were supposed to be? I was part Green Steve after all, I should know something about healing!