Wings

Chapter 3: Within the Ward

“Where the hell were you?!” an angry voice boomed. I rolled over, curling into a ball, covering my face with my wings, unable to handle anymore yelling. My head was pounding, my mouth was dry, and my body ached. Despite the warm, soft bed I was lying in, I still felt on edge and nervous.

Wait, what?! How did I end up in a bed?! It had been years since I had slept in a proper bed!

I sat bolt upright, making my body protest in pain and a groan escaping my lips. The world was spinning slightly as I tried to get my bearings. I seemed to be in some sort of ward, beds lined up down one wall and mismatching tables down the other, across from my sleeping place. The door at the end of the room stood ajar, the voices coming from out there.

“We just went out for a bit.” I recognized that accent; the blonde boy with the blue eyes was speaking. I tried to listen but the next words were muffled. Then the angry voice boomed again.

“Then how the hell did she get here?!”

“Shush, you’ll wake her up.” That sounded like the boy with the dark wings and broadsword. I tried to remember other details of his appearance but my brain was too boggled, the event unclear as I had been so overwhelmed during it. Maybe I remembered brown curls, but I wasn’t sure. What had the man with ax called him? Harry I think it had been. My brain hurt too much just from that bit of thinking and I gently lowered myself back to the pillows, trying not to jostle my still throbbing shoulder as little as possible, and went back to sleep, too tired to figure this out right now.

What seemed like moments later, something cold was dabbing at my forehead. I blinked my eyes open, meeting the gaze of a woman. Her eyes were a gray-blue and they looked down at me with concern. As I took in the rest of her appearance (long white hair with bangs hanging in her eyes and a thin body, white wings spread behind her) she asked, “How are you feeling dear?” She continued to dab my forehead with a damp cloth.

Ignoring her question, I asked, “Where am I?”

“You’re safe, that’s all that matters,” she told me as she dabbed at my forehead. It registered deep down that I should be annoyed that she wasn’t telling me but I couldn’t muster up the energy for that kind of emotion.

“You’re gonna be really groggy for a while, you lost a lot of blood,” she continued. I nodded my head in understanding, feeling my eyes getting heavy again. Already?! I thought but sleep also sounded so nice, so I closed my eyes again.

I hadn’t gone back to my unconscious world however when the door clicked open. Half asleep, I heard a voice at the door ask quietly, “How is she?”

“Tired,” the woman answered. “She’s going to sleep for a while which will help her recover. She’ll still be sore though, her body took quite a beating.”

“I just wish we had gotten there sooner.”

“Harry, you guys probably saved her life. She should be thankful her shoulder was just dislocated and she had a cut in her side. This is kind compared to the fate she could have had.”

I didn’t hear his answer as I slipped fully into sleep, the bed seeming like the most comfortable place I had ever laid in my life.

I woke the next time to my shoulder (the uninjured one) being shaken. The same woman stood over my bed. “Wake up sweetie, you should eat something,” she said with a smile.

I sat up, accepting the bowl she held out to me. It appeared to be some sort of stew and upon a taste I discovered it was beef. “Thank you,” I told her as I began to gobble it down. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was.