Man Eater

3 • Gentle-Heart

I had woken up to the warm light peaked through the lace curtains of the medical bay. I used my elbows to slowly prop myself up a bit, I had been sleeping in a rolling infirmary cot. My wrists and ankles were bandaged, my stomach ached and twisted, and my head pounded. I was thirsty, my tongue and throat felt dry as gravel. I heard soft movement coming from the door that led to a little bedroom and bathroom, hushed voices and soft shuffling. Snake-heart emerged, not sparing me a look. Tiny followed quickly after, her hair a mess and white nightgown seemed ruffled. "Will you be back tonight? For dinner?" she whispered, figuring I was still asleep. "I'll make whatever you like, darling, just let me know." Her eyes glimmered with tears; her body seemed to shiver. She was so soft, so delicate. She was a dove in a crowd of buzzards.

"Willow needs me." he responded in a gruff, flat tone. He never looked back at her, fixing his shirt and putting on his coat. "I'm going home."

"I understand..." her head lowered a bit as she played with her nails. "I... I'm glad you spent some time with me. I... I know you have another family to take care of and-"

"Don't do this now, don't start." he snapped, swinging his head around to look at her. His eyes seemed to burn into her, and she flinched. "It's early, don't ruin my fucking day already."

Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she gave him a little bow. "I'm sorry..." she whispered. It seemed to be good enough for him, as he swiftly turned to leave. "I love you-!" she called as he shut the door, and silence settled heavily into the bay once more.

I coughed; I didn't want Tiny to know I had been watching the whole interaction. I squinted and groaned, pretending I had just woken up. "Tiny...?"

"Oh- Oh you're awake and I'm in my nightgown! Excuse me." she gave me a gentle smile and wiped her tears, trying to straighten herself up as she walked over and sat on the stool beside the bed. "How are you, my darling? You had a rough night- Moon thought you had died." she let out a heavy sigh as if she could finally breathe. "So did I."

It was a lot to take in, and the room seemed to shift each time I moved my head. Slowly I leaned back again against the soft pillows. Her gentle hand rested on my cheek just below my missing eye, then swept away the hair from my face and rested on my forehead. I couldn't tell if I was so attracted to her for herself, or the motherly care I craved for so long. I subconsciously leaned into her touch, as her soft hand gently rested on my head. "I wish you'd just leave that jackass, let me take care of you..." whatever she gave me for the pain was kicking in, and it seemed to be doing the talking for me. I would have never said that otherwise. "What a dick... Making you cry."

She seemed shocked, furrowing her brows. "He's a good man deep down, he just needs help." she looked towards the windows, the silence falling once more. "He's the father of my children, I can't help but love him for the gift he's given me."

I thought about it for a while. "I thought you only had one? Little Robin?" I swallowed. I knew the topic of Robin was hard for her, Robin had disappeared about seventeen years ago- when he was only a toddler. It had been assumed he walked off, wandered towards the river.

"Yes... Robin is his." she whispered. "And so was my daughter, but she had been born sleeping." she whispered. The word stillborn was forbidden in her infirmary. "Willow is supposedly pregnant, but I think he's saying that to try and make me feel bad. It's working, too."

I closed my eyelids. "I thought his only child was Redback."

"He is. He is our only son." she murmured. "Redback is the son of Snake-heart, and I am his mother."

It all began to make sense. The ages and time matched so perfect, the way Redback had her charming smile, his kind heart, his gentleness. The way she treated and loved him, the way he seemed to gravitate towards her and tell her proudly of all his accomplishments. They walked the same, and their heads would tilt the same way. He had pretty hair like her's, his eyes were shaped like hers, he would tap his foot like she did. "He calls Willow his mother." I murmured as if she didn't already know- and I regretted saying it. I knew she grieved that fact daily.

"He doesn't remember me." she whispered. "He thinks he only met me when Snake-heart brought him here. He doesn't remember his own mother. How could he? He doesn't remember his birth. How I birthed him beside the river in the reeds, how I could've died doing it myself. How I taught him to walk, potty trained him before his first year, taught him sign language so he wouldn't just cry for everything, breastfed him, taught him herbs and plants, let him sit in my lap while I journaled. He doesn't remember..." she croaked, the tears returning to her eyes. "He doesn't remember how I used to sing to him, how I would hold him on my hip as his father and I danced, he doesn't know he was my baby- my only love. He doesn't know I love him- and I'm not allowed to tell him." her hands began to shake, and I felt a wet teardrop hit my shoulder. She slowly leaned down, hiding her face in her hands. "Snake-heart took him from me to punish me- and brought him back seventeen years later to taunt me... He'll take him away for good if I tell Redback."

I began to understand, and she quickly moved away back to her bedroom- presumably to wash up alone. I stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours. I had noticed earlier how pale my skin was- and I felt dizzy. I felt so light, and each time I swallowed it stung. What had happened to me? Where was Moon? Or Redback? As if my thoughts had been answered, the door pushed open. I blinked a few times, then tried to prop myself onto my elbows. "How is she?" Moon called, pushing her way in and shutting the door behind herself. Tiny rushed out of her little bedroom at the sound of hearing the underboss, still drying her hair with a towel. She stood there now in her usual clothing, a bit baffled at the sight of the other. Her eyes were wild with fear of the taller, but her body stood its ground.

"She's stable but she's weak- Don't startle her." she warned. Moon seemed to ignore her, walking towards the infirmary bed. My body felt weak. I wanted to get up, get dressed, tell her I was ready for work. I wanted to impress her; I wanted her to see how much I could take. I wanted Moon to be proud, to choose me one day to be her right-hand if she were ever to lead. I could barely hold my head up, her hand rested on the bed near my head.

"Look at her. What a goddamn mess- can't you fix her?" Moon shot a glare behind her shoulder, Tiny's head lowered as she cowered away. "She can't even hold her head up." Moon's cold, scarred and veiny hands held my head up a bit for her to examine my face. Her white-eye made my stomach churn, and her useful eye of gunmetal blue chilled my spine. "Stay awake, breathe." she told me firmly. "You're a hero, One-eye. You accidentally drank Sun's drink- someone tried to poison her."

My mind started spinning again, pounding with ache. My heart sank and squeezed, and my blood ran cold. "Poison...?" my eye drifted to meet Tiny's brown ones as she nodded.

"You lost a lot of fluids throughout the night- I had to get it out of your system one way or another." she explained, walking forward. "You seized this morning; you'll be down here for a while." She continued to eye Moon warily, and my heart raced. I began to wonder what had happened between the two, did Moon threaten her? Did Moon know her secret about Redback? Did Moon do this to me? "I tried to get you to expel the toxin through vomiting, urination, and even bloodletting. Now I have to just let it run its course."

Moon had been watching me the whole time, and curiosity seemed to spark in her eye. "What has she been given?" Her cold hands still held up my head, I could hear the ticking of her watch. I could see every detail of her tattooed sleeves, every pulse in her wrist before my vision blurred. "She's getting hot- Tiny look at her." Moon glanced back at the smaller woman, before looking back at me. "One-eye- What day is it today? What time?"

Sweat dripped down my forehead, my heartbeat began to quicken. My head felt as though it was splitting open, pounding in my skull. I opened my mouth to speak, but my jaw seemed to jerk awkwardly. Fear took over my body, and my chest tightened- I couldn't breathe. "One-eye!" Tiny called to me, grabbing my wrist and pressing her thumb down to count my pulse. My eye rolled back, and I lost control of my body. I began to jerk violently, my head crashing back into the pillow. "She's seizing!" Tiny called, quickly unbuttoning my shirt and rolling me onto my side. My battle was not yet over.