Even In The Grave, All Is Not Lost

You Can Feel Less Alone in the Dark

'Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.'

- the Bible

. . .

With the aid of Abby's shots, most of their symptoms had faded by the end of the third day - Raven's own had pretty much made a dash for the exit, leaving nothing but a lingering nausea and exhaustion in their wake. Luna's were taking a little longer to drag themselves out the door, though, and Raven still caught her sniffling every now and again.

(privately, she thought it was adorable and had to take care not to smile whenever she caught sight of that little crinkle in Luna's nose)

By the fourth night, they were finally granted freedom.

In a rare stroke of mercy, Abby reluctantly gave them the all clear, at last permitting them to escape the tiny room.

(okay, technically Raven had been given the all clear yesterday morning but she hadn't much liked the thought of leaving Luna all on her own with only a bunch of white walls for company)

Her cellmate hadn't wasted any time once freedom had been granted.

She'd taken hold of Raven's sleeve before she could blink and promptly yanked her out the door, as though they had some engagement more pressing than the end of the world to get to.

Raven suspected she'd been chafing under Abby's restrictions almost as much as her. Apparently at one stage, the doctor had even floated the idea of complete bed rest past Luna for the remainder of the week - which seemed a bit of an overreaction given how much she'd improved. At the time, Luna had accepted this with far more grace than Raven would have but she'd still sensed her getting increasingly antsy as the hours wore on. Well, antsy for Luna.

She didn't like being a prisoner, Raven knew that, and she'd been tempted to try persuading Abby to take her overprotective act down a notch and give Luna the all clear to leave. The only thing that had held Raven back was concern for her wellbeing. She did not want to be responsible if Luna left the room only to end up worse off than when she'd entered it.

Still, the days of captivity had taken their toll and Raven had watched as her patience had grown increasingly more frayed.

"If I spend another second trapped inside this room, I'm going to smash every light in sight," Luna had groaned at one point.

She'd been unable to keep back a snort at the words.

"I'm not joking, Raven. I am this close to committing lamp homicide."

Yeah. A no-go on the bedrest.

She suspected it wasn't just the lights Luna wanted to get away from but Abby's watchful eye and constant check-ins. Her fever finally breaking had done nothing to fend off the doctor's hourly invasions. Or her desire to poke and prod her patients - though mostly just one of them. Something which had done nothing to ease Raven's growing nerves - or Luna's, it seemed.

"And would this lamp happen to have the last name Griffin?"

Luna's mouth had twitched at the query and, though she'd offered no confirmation, she also hadn't denied it.

For all her infuriating patience, it seemed even Luna had a breaking point.

And that breaking point was one Abigail Griffin.

Raven would be pleased about the doctor suddenly deciding to prioritize Luna's wellbeing - if she didn't suspect that her concern for Luna wasn't actually about Luna at all. It left a sour taste in Raven's mouth. She wondered whether Luna had drawn similar conclusions - and whether those conclusions had only fed her desire to escape the lab. Escape the reminder of exactly what her value was to the people she inhabited this island with.