Mastim's Curse

Chapter 43

I must have dozed off again, because the next thing I know, she's dabbing at my face with a wet towel and making cooing sounds like a little girl that's found a hurt puppy in the yard.

It feels good to be pampered over, especially by Aleale, so I let her play nurse even though she's too squeamish to be particularly good at it. It takes the rest of the morning to clean and bandage all of my gashes, and when we're done, I feel almost human again, a feat that seemed far from possible a few hours ago. The pile of soiled bandages lying next to me made from the clothing of the dead brings up raw images of the silent donors that float in my mind adding more ghosts to haunt my already crowded dreams.

Aleale holds her hand to her head and closes her eyes. She's obviously still not feeling well. I expect it's part hangover and part nauseous from doctoring me up.

"I need a shower and a Hermosa. Do you want one?" she asks.

The last thing I need right now is more alcohol. "No thanks, but I do need some water. My mouth feels like a desert." I start to get to my feet and the room spins around causing me to lose my balance. Aleale grabs me and helps me back down onto the sofa.

"Whoa... girlfriend. You stay right here. I'll get you something to drink." She hurries to the kitchen and is back quickly with a class of water that I gulp greedily. She shakes her head and gets me another glassful.

"Let me take a shower, then I'll get us some waffles. Do you like waffles?" She asks.

"Sure, I like waffles," I say. If I can keep it down. I feel sick.

It's not until she's in the bathroom that I remember today's a challenge day. Fuck... My relatively good mood evaporates like a drop of rain on a bonfire. What if I've been challenged again? The large monitor beckons for me to look into its depths to find my fate. I don't see the controller. It could be anywhere considering the condition Aleale was in last night, and the idea of searching the entire room in my current condition doesn't appeal to me. I'll wait for Aleale to get done with her shower and see if she has any idea where she put it.

The sound of a loud bang startles me out of a troubled dream. I jerk upright looking for the source. "Aleale?"

"Sorry, dropped my glass," she calls from the kitchen.

"Do you need help with that?" I ask.

"No. I got it. Sorry I woke you." She walks over to me with two plates of food. One of which has a class of what looks like orange juice carefully balanced on it, must be her Hermosa. I'm expecting her to spill something, but she manages to get them to the coffee table intact.

"You know, you could have made two trips."

She smiles. "That's what my mama use to say." Her smile flickers and then fades. "She turns her head to one of the mirrors that has a camera behind it and says, "I love you Mama and you too Rorrey and Rajad." A tear drops from her cheek when she turns back to me. "Those are my brothers. I'm sure they're worried sick." A few more tears drop.

I want to hug her and tell her that I'm going to keep her safe, that I'll project her. But it would only sound hollow coming from a girl too banged up to even get a glass of water. So I say nothing and it's all I can do to hold back my tears as she buries her face into a pillow. I pull myself close to her and put my arm around her and wait.

She comes up for air after a while and wipes her face on one of the cleaner towels lying about.

This may not be the best time to make things worse, but I need to know if there are any challenges for me. I ask, "Do you know where the controller is for the monitor?"