Something Wicked This Way Comes

Chapter 48

Carter woke with a sudden jerk. The kind that snapped you awake when you had those dreams of sudden falling...

Archie woke too with his abrupt jolt, shaking himself out of grogginess to look at him. "Are you okay?"

Carter felt like his brain was being dragged through thick sludge. His thoughts were sluggish and muddy. He just stared at the far wall for a long, long moment, breaths slow and shallow. He felt... cold. His body ached, right down to his bones. This was not a fun feeling.

He tried to move, but found that sluggishness extended to his limbs as well. His hand was shaking badly, and a sudden chill spread over him. "Arch..." was all he could get out, voice rough and weak.

Archie stood in a moment, sniffing at his face as if to determine what was wrong with him by smell alone. His brows furrowed in deep concern, gold eyes flashing with fear. "Can you move?"

Carter took in a deep, sharp breath, attempting to move his right arm again. His fingers twitched, but that was all. He grimaced, shakily turning his gaze to the currently-a-cat dragon. He just managed to shake his head, voice refusing to work.

Archie took in a steadying breath, nudging his face in an attempt at comfort. "It's alright. Don't panic, it'll only make it worse." He looked around, like he was trying to find something in the room to help. His gaze caught on the door. "Douxie... I can—"

"No," Carter suddenly managed with a gasp, heart rate spiking. He locked his gaze onto the dragon, tears brimming unbidden in his eyes. "Don't— don't leave." He couldn't breathe now, sucking in shallow lungfuls of air. "Please don't leave me alone."

Archie looked torn. Terrified for him. But he nodded, curling back up against Carter's chest, purring to help calm him. "You're alright, Carter. Just breathe, it's okay."

Carter wanted to scream that it wasn't okay, but now that he was awake and could speak, he found his body was slowly beginning to warm up. That ache began fading. His fingers twitched again, knuckles popping—like the sound of a limb being forcibly moved after rigor mortis... Carter didn't like that that was the comparison he'd drawn. He also didn't like that he knew what that sounded like. His life was just... extremely fucked up.

Archie purred a bit louder, the sound warming him even faster. It was a healing thing, love and compassion. Carter was glad Archie was here. That he didn't have to wake up from this alone. A smaller part of him was glad Douxie wasn't here. He didn't want Douxie to see him like this.

Slowly, his body stopped shaking. The bone deep ache began ebbing away, fading into a dull throb at the base of his spine. Carter took in a deep breath, trying to move his arm again. His hand flexed, feeling rushing back into the limb. With a sigh of relief, he rolled onto his back—gasping for air like he'd been under water too long.

"Not too fast," Archie warned. "Carter."

Carter closed his eyes, taking a moment again to focus on breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. He didn't love that small wheeze in the depths of his lungs, but it wasn't bothering him yet so he wasn't going to worry about it yet.

"Do you want me to get Douxie now?"

Carter managed to shake his head, pushing himself up with some difficulty. "No," he rasped, voice still hoarse. "I'm okay."

Archie didn't look convinced. "You know how I feel about you brushing off infirmities, Carter. I hate it when you both do it, but you have been more guilty of it than Douxie lately."

Carter sighed, trying to will away that sudden sharp ache in his left leg. "The quest..."

"Carter," Archie said again. "It's not worth sacrificing your well-being."