Separated From One Another

Chapter Six: Tentative Hope

Now that you had time to fully heal inside of the tank, you never wanted to go back inside ever again. Trapped inside of your dreams was a horrible place to stay when you were plagued with memories of your dead friends. Their screams haunted you as you tried every trick you knew to wake yourself up. Nothing worked. You were trapped for a full week, every second you were conscious inside of your mind and tormented by the dead bodies of Bay and Chavs.

Once you were finally allowed out of the chamber, you were more exhausted than when you entered; the ache had left your limbs but your mind had not healed. The doctors allowed you to have a room to yourself afterward to reorient yourself, which felt odd. You had not even known the room was there during your previous stays and now you were in it; the upscale equipment and walls were a stark contrast to the medical ward.

The part of the room that drew you in was the mirror; standing before a mirror, for the first time in a long time you got a good look at yourself. The grey mark on your skin blared up at you, contrasting against the rest of your body. Soulmate marks were apparently for the rest of the universe a rare event, your mark was a rather common one. A dark grey mark covering the entirety of the bottom side of your hand, your dad had one on his knuckles.

Tearing your eyes away from your body you moved to the patient bed in the middle of the room. There was a fresh set of clothes folded neatly on the bed, gingerly you tore off the damp garments from your body. The new clothes were the same as the ones that had been torn up before, though this replacement had something different. Holding the clothes up to your nose you breathed in the subtle fragrance, you could not quite place what it was, it did not smell bad though.

Once you were fully dressed you left the medical ward, heading back to your cell at the doctor's orders. The weight of your nightmare while inside the tank tormented you, you had barely enough time to get to your cell before breaking down. Hot tears streamed down your face, desperately you tried forcing your unresponsive ki to find Finë. You fell back against the side of your bed, curling your head against your knees.

You did not want to be alone in your cell, you wanted someone else to be here with you, anyone. Finë. Your mother. You would not even mind if your strange savior decided to show up. No one did, you were alone in your cell, your eyes puffy and red; there was no one to comfort you. The walls seemed to close in, amplifying the silence that echoed your isolation.

No one came into your cell until later on that day, the guard passing out dinner slid you your meal, and left. You grabbed at the plate expecting the same old slop, you were surprised when this slop at least was solid. Your curiosity broke through the layer of gloom hanging over your room. Carefully you took a bite of the food, but it still did not taste the best, better than the other slop. Polishing off your plate you got up off the ground, laid down on your bed, and decided to wait until work the next day.