The Pause [Adopted Book]

Remedies

All around me, the world was hazy. I tried to open my eyes, tried to remember what happened, but it was difficult. I shifted slightly, realizing that my body was sore, as though it had been locked into the same position for a very long time.

A soft gasp sounded above me, and pressure touched on my shoulders. Someone was trying to shake me awake.

"Hello? Sir?" a voice asked. I tried to ask 'where am I?', but the question came out in a tired mumble. "Oh Origin. He's awake. Freya! He's awake! Go get Wish!"

With that name, the image of an orange and blue steve popped into my mind. My memories came rushing back, and I shot up.

Big mistake.

Every part of my body still had the weight of exhaustion on it, making me gasp in pain. Just beside me, hands rested on my torso, trying to push me back down.

"Woah! You're gonna hurt yourself!" he said, too late.

I slowly laid down again, but rubbed at my eyes nonetheless, trying to make the blurry ceiling above come into focus. I turned to find a reddish steve beside me. Something felt familiar about him, even though I'd never seen him before in my life. He smiled as our eyes met.

"You're the kid." I mumbled, realizing it was the only explanation. His head dipped down in a nod, looking almost bashful. I tried to sit up straighter, to get a better look at him. The sound of pistons distracted me as Wish entered the room, followed by his allay.

"Finally." the older steve sighed, walking over to the bedside. "You've been out for five days. When you warned me about creating this one-" he ruffled the child's hair affectionately "-I didn't think you'd actually drain yourself so much."

"Origin didn't intend for me to create steves." I explained. "But I've never cared about what Origin intended. I create anyway." I smiled back at the kid. It's one of the few traits I'm proud of. My rebellious streak.

"Well, thank you." Wish says. "All this has given me a little time to think about what you said. I don't think we'll ever be friends, not really. But I don't hate you." There's silence for a moment as I think over those words. A soft glow builds in my chest. "Of course, you probably shouldn't stay here for long. Your friends will be worried. One was a doctor, right? He can probably cure your symptoms better than I can."

"Wait, he's not staying?" the kid asked, looking up at his caretaker with sad eyes. Wish hesitated.

"He can come and visit later, okay?" he compromised. "But he probably has a lot of explanations to give before then, and I get the feeling that he has other things to do." I realized that he was right. I had barely gotten a home in the village, and then I mysteriously vanished? Probably not a good sign. Especially since Sabre and Hypno still had a hard time trusting me. Purple was probably worried sick.

I attempted to stand, already prepared to teleport out of there, but immediately sat down again. My legs felt tingly, and I couldn't feel them properly. The sensation would take some time to wear off.

"You don't have to go right away." The Ginger Steve said, faking offense. I nodded, my sore limbs agreeing with him. "You should probably get some food and water first." He darted off into a little kitchenette, grabbing a bottle of water and a plate of food before returning.

"And I actually have a few questions." Wish admitted. I looked up, fearing that he would ask about Ginger's death. I really didn't want to talk about that. Instead, he had some different questions. "There haven't been any visions yet." he blurted out. It took me a moment to realize what he was talking about. I winced.