The Great War

XVII

I gasp and jolt upright, a hand plants itself onto my leg in alert, "Daphne? Are you alright?" I look to my side and see Theo, who looked exhausted and concerned.

"What happened?"

He slides his hand from my leg to my hand, "We don't really know, you just passed out. Doctors are running some tests."

I nod and rub my eyes, getting my head back slowly. "Where's Lils?"

Theo used his free hand to grab his phone from his pocket. "She went to get clothes for when you woke up." With that said he sets his phone down by my leg and smiles at me. "I'm glad you're okay."

I nod and look down at the hospital blanket, "Theo, I think I know who she was talking about."

He looked at me confused for a minute before catching on. "Oh, Ophelia? Who?"

I look up at him as Lilium walks in, "Oh, she's awake. Are you doing okay?"

I smiled at her and nodded. "Yeah, I'm good for right now I think." She nodded and sat down on a chair by Theo and scooted closer to the bed.

"What even happened? Do you remember anything?"

I shake my head and lean back into the pillows. "No, I just remember waking up here. But I saw something, or well lived? I guess that's the better word."

They both look at me confused, "What?" I shrug and fidget with my hands.

"I think Ophelia somehow showed me what happened the night of the fire. I saw what she saw, felt what she felt."

They both slowly nodded. "Okay, so what's that mean?"

"I don't know, but I know who she was writing to, who she lost."

Lilium scooted closer to my side and smiled. "Really? Who?"

I smiled at her burst of excitement, "Someone named Mani," my eyes drifting to Theo, remembering how similar Dax looked to him. "She had married him before the fire started. She watched him die. It was terrible." I whisper, remembering the pain she felt. How penetrating her grief was.

"Once you're cleared, we can figure out how to stop this. Clearly its hurting you." Theo mumbled looking at me with worry. I give him a small smile and squeeze his hand.

"I'm okay, I was probably just dehydrated, this stuff happens." I try to rationalize what probably can't be rationalized. He sighs and leans back in his chair.

"Sure, it does." He mumbles going onto his phone, keeping one hand still on me, whether it be holding my hand or on my leg.

"So, what else did you see?" Lilium pipes back in, looking curious and serious at the same time.

I think for a moment, trying to remember anything else before it all disappears. "I remember seeing her walk through the fire, somehow. It was just before she opened the door to exit."

She nods and took out her phone typing something in. "So, while Theo stayed here, I did some more research to help us when you woke up... and I found this." She turns her phone around handing it to me. I look down at the screen reading it.

"Ophelia Phosphorus, sole survivor of the sudden school fire..." I read quietly out loud to myself. "She lost everyone that night."

Lilium nodded and swiped the screen going to the next photo, "She went for years known as the lucky one, the town ignoring what it did to cause her to gain that title. There's another entry by that one journalist who wrote that book. It went more in depth about it all, or at least from what she told him."

I look up at her and smile. "Really, do you have it?" She nodded and turned to the side grabbing her bag from beside Theo. Opening it she pulled out a paper. "Was this cut from a newspaper?" She nodded and sat quietly as I read.

"Ophelia Phosphorus, widowed at 19 from an accidental building fire. She hasn't shared much, but what she has shared is horrendous. This town is darker than what I anticipated. The torture, the murder. All of it painstaking to hear even years later." I mumble and turn the paper over to read more, "She still won't share much about that night in particular, it still seems to haunt the woman. The more I press, the quieter she gets about things. She mentioned her father once this whole trip. Told me how terrible he was, how he was responsible for it all."

I scrunch my brows together in confusion. "That doesn't make sense, didn't people from town do it?"

Lilium nodded and took the paper back from me and put it in her bag. "I think he may have tried to stop her from getting away. Maybe even caused the town to go after her in the first place."

I nod and lay back again sighing, "She looked so happy when she talked about them when we met her." She nods her head just as the doctor walks in.

"So, everything seems to be fine, she might've just gotten dizzy and collapsed. Though, there seems to be some internal damage to her ears, do we know what that's from?"

I looked over at Theo, not really knowing what to use as an excuse. "She had an accident as a kid, ya know, ended up hurting her ears." He effortlessly lied with an expressionless face.

The doctor nodded with a smile, accepting the flawless lie. "Alright well, I'll send a nurse in to get her out of the IV, and you should be out of her in a few."

I nodded and smiled at him, "Thanks!" With a wave of his hand, he leaves and shuts the door.

"Thank god, hospital beds suck ass. I can't wait to get home and lay in my own bed." I sigh blissfully at the thought and lay back again; Theo chuckles and pats my thigh before getting up and stretching.

"Where do ya think you're going, sir." I reach out and grab the loop on his jeans pulling him back.

"I need to pee, thank you very much."

I scrunch my face up and let go of his jeans, "Gross, go pee weirdo." He laughs and walks away from me. Not long after a male nurse comes in and smiles at me and Lilium.

"Busy night?"

I laugh awkwardly and nod holding my arm out to him. "Yep..." He grabs a cotton ball and carefully pulls the IV out of my arm pressing firmly with the cotton ball and tapes it down with clear medical tape. "Thanks."

He nods and tosses his gloves away. "Have a good night, ladies."

Lilium mumbles that back to him as he leaves, "We're totally not awkward, that went great."

She nods and grins at me, "It did." Theo yawns as he leaves the bathroom, "We ready to go already, I'm exhausted."

I nod and toss the blanket off my legs and slowly but surely stand up. Theo grabs ahold of my arms, keeping me steady as I balance myself. "Alright, all good." He nods at me but doesn't let go of my arm as we leave the room.