El Fuego y La Flor - The Storm

Chapter 17 - I am NOT a goody-two shoes!

Cassia

The next two days passed slowly. We didn't do anything but stay in place, eat canned soup, sleep alternately, and talk. Of the later, we did the least. The time passed, but we never knew just how fast or how slow and we barely noticed anything except the high up window changing its colour. Our sleep schedule was completely screwed. For one, we had jet lag. Then, there was the fact that we simply couldn't tell the time, because for that, we'd have to go outside, and we were both to comfortable (or too scared) in our alcove to move. At some point we passed our time with games, such as 'I spy with my little eye', but that got boring quickly. We both had ADHD. We were both hyperactive, talkative, constantly fidgeting teenagers. Sitting in a cramped space for hours on end, not being able to do anything but sleep, wake up, eat, repeat, was awful.

Sometimes I inspected my knife for hours, especially while Leo slept. Sometimes I just listened to the only noise in the alcove: his steady breathing, his occasional tapping on the ground, and when we talked, his voice. It calmed me down. I still didn't understand the morse code he'd been using for the past few days, whenever his mind wandered, but I was still determined to learn. He had taught me five more letters in the morse alphabet. E, just one single, short tap. F, two short, one long, one short. G, two long, one short. H, four short. And I, two short. The fifth one he taught me, because I wanted to start making words, and that was hard with only four letters.
»Alright.«, he had declared with a smile. »If I teach you one more letter, you'll be able to say 'Hi' in morse code. Deal?«
I agreed. It made me happy to see him this excited about his works. He taught me a lot, and although I could barely memorise any of it, I felt a certain sense of accomplishment whenever I got something right.

Now, every time I noticed that he'd woken up, but hasn't said anything yet, I simply tapped the morse code for 'Hi' on the back of his hand. Four short, two short. A little break in between. Every time I did that, he started smiling. That wide, joyful smile where he seemed to radiate like fire. And then I smiled too, simply because it was contagious.
Another time, we had examined the wounds from the previous battle again. My hand, from the Cetus attack a few days ago, had already healed. A faint scar remained in my palm, cutting through the life lines. I wondered if that was a sign.
The wound on the inside of my elbow had also healed just fine. It was barely visible anymore, just a white, uneven stroke.
Then there was Leo's face. After taking off the three monster-child bandaids, I was relief to see that it had also healed. It wasn't completely closed yet, the neat, white scar, still filled with red on the inside. I tiled my head a bit and examined the cut. Leo's eyes were fixed on mine. His expression was strange, almost as if he was in pain.

»What?«, I asked stupidly, before widening my eyes. »Oh, I'm sorry, does this hurt?«
I quickly pulled my hand away from the scar, but he only shook his head.
»Nah, it's fine.«, his voice was distant, almost estranged. I still kept my hand away from his face after that. I had this feeling, that I had hurt him accidentally, maybe while taking off the bandaids or something like that.
»You don't need more bandaids. Just don't get any dirt in it.«, I then said, matter of factly, feeling like a nurse. Leo nodded and smiled at me crookedly. »Alright, thank you Doctor Flores.«
I couldn't help but grin. That was clearly meant as a joke, but I still liked that title.
I nudged his shoulder with a grin and leaned against the wall again.
»Shut up, Valdez.«

I didn't know if it was only I, who slept bad, and too little, but I couldn't come to rest in this alcove. Not because it was cramped and uncomfortable and cold, not even because of the cyclopses and the impending danger, no. It was because I couldn't stop thinking of the prophecy and the cryptic dreams. I hadn't told Leo, but every time I went to sleep, I saw the altar with the crown again. And every time, the snake bit me and then I was thrown into darkness. Just floating in endless, pitch black waters, until I woke up again. The prophecy didn't help either. I kept wondering what any of it could possibly mean. But what kept be the busiest, were the last four verses. At some point, I decided to ask Leo about it.