Tales of the Broken: Roses in the Wind

Chapter Three: Headaches

     Rose shot up from her makeshift bed, breathing heavily. She put her palm against her head, checking for any injury. While she found no bullet wound, her forehead felt extremely hot, and she had a killer headache. Rose swung her feet over the bed, standing up whilst using the wall to balance herself. Rose slowly stumbled out the door, tripping over the small ledge at the door frame. Rose tried to grab the table to save herself, but she only succeeded in grabbing the cloth and she dragging it and the cups and plates on the table down with her. Rose cursed under her breath, pressing off the ground to get back up.  Natalie walked into the room, with her typical reserved and shy stance about her. Natalie stared at Rose, eventually walking over and extending a hand, offering to help her up. Rose took the offer, still gripping her head.

"Thanks, Nat." Rose said softly. Natalie only nodded at her, then shrunk back to her book. Natalie loved reading, sometimes Rose thought those books were more of a family to Nat than Rose was, which honestly worried her. Rose walked outside to the sound of two swords clashing. Looking to the side, she saw her father and Reyka sparring with wooden swords. Rose's father hated violence, but he still trained his children on the off chance that some of the local raiders dared to step foot on their property and attack them. Rose, however, had to take training in the Cove. Though she still lived with her family, most of Rose's friends lived in the big city. Rose's headache suddenly intensified, causing her to grunt in pain. This was an occurrence that happened every week, though every time the headaches worsened. At first there were unnoticeable, then they were a minor annoyance. But now, they made it feel like Rose's head was a furnace burning away gleefully. And every time she had a headache, she had a terrible nightmare. The worse the aching, the worse the nightmare. Her parents had tried consulting doctors about her strange ailment, but not a one could explain it. They suggested that it was stress causing he headaches, but Rose could always tell that they were just saying that to give her parents some false hope. Only one doctor had been truthful to them, that was the traveling doctor that frequently came by their house to see if he could help Rose at all. He'd tried putting a cold, wet cloth over her head. He'd tried grinding up horrifically tasting leaves into a broth for Rose to drink, and even though the medicine had almost made Rose throw up, the aching never let up. Now, all he came by for was to comfort Rose and assure her that this ailment was not deadly in any way.

"Are you alright, Rose?" The voice came from Rose's mother, Alexis. She walked over to Rose, steadying her. Alexis had stopped dyeing her hair a few years back, when Rose was only five, so now she had jet black hair that drooped down over half her face, only covering one of her eyes, with the rest of the hair hanging loosely behind her back. She wore the same coat she had been wearing since Rose's birth, a jacket that was jet black, just as her hair, with golden rimming and designs. She kept the jacket unbuttoned, revealing a short, white
v-neck with blue jeans that were ripped at the knees and one side was ripped near her shins. How she kept warm, Rose never knew.

"Hello? Anyone in there?" Alexis said,

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine... just fine." Rose said weakly

Alexis smiled warmly at Rose, her eyes glinting with sadness, "Of course you're not fine. I know when you're in pain, sweetie."

Rose eyed her mother, "The headache is back." She said with a certain edge in her voice.

"Come now, no need to be angry at me." Alexis said, with an air almost of pain.

"I'm sorry, didn't mean to say it like that." Rose said apologetically. Alexis helped Rose over to Rose's little shed that she lived in. Reyka, Natalie, and her parents all lived in the cabin, but Rose had constructed the shed as a private area. This was one of the few days Rose had slept in the cabin with the rest of her family. When Alexis opened the door, she saw a small bed in the corner that was merely a wooden pallet with hay stacked on top, and then on top of the hay was a layer of leather, then a cotton blanket and a pillow were situated on the leather. Rose found the bed surprisingly comfortable, if not lonely. Rose lived in the shed because she partially felt like she didn't belong in her family, and partially because she needed the loneliness. Alexis lowered Rose onto the bed, brushing her bright red hair out of her eyes.

"Just be quiet and get some more rest. I know you just woke up, but doctor Farmako isn't here this time. He sent a letter saying he'd be held up near one of the warp gates, working on curing some sort of illness."

Rose only nodded, rolling over in her bed. Alexis took the covers on Rose's bed and pulled them over her daughter. "Get well." She whispered, Rose tossed in her bed, as if she was refusing to sleep. Alexis hummed a bit, something she learned from Aria awhile back. She didn't hum for long before Rose had been lulled to sleep. Only after Rose had settled down did Alexis get up and quietly walk out the door. Alexis looked back at Rose before she shut the door, she worried for her whenever she got one of her fevers. Alexis shut the door, making almost no noise.