Heart Glass

Part 3

Raid grimaced at the idea of carrying anymore water.
"I'll carry it for you," Tani offered.
"I've got it," He took it from her and strapped it to his back. It was a little less two gallons, now, after being divided among his friends. Much lighter than it was before. But so late into the night, after hours of mining, the blessing seemed infinitesimal.
Raid checked out of the mine after presenting his hefty Dia quota, then he and Tani followed a tunnel about a mile out, flew up through a pipe, and found himself at the edge of the small...town, if that word could be used for it. Beta was a community of caravans and tents, where people ate and slept and recovered until they had to go back to the mine. A bonfire burned in the center of it, where people sometimes danced and sang to pick up their spirits.
"Raid, you're pushing yourself too hard," Tani folded her arms. Her deep brown eyes were warm, her eyebrows pushed up in a chastising manner. She was out of her disguise, with her long, black hair released and flowing down her back. She'd been off work for hours and was only with him now to make sure he got his water rations. And, perhaps, to make sure the Knights didn't give him any trouble.
"I'm fine. Go home," he said, shoving his bladers onto his feet, using the tall, black chunk of glass jutting out of the sand to signify a mine entrance as support. He was too tired to deal with people.
She pressed her lips together and an eyebrow arched even higher. Excuse me, young man?
Raid sighed. "I'm sorry. Thank you for being here for me. I can carry the water to my tent just fine."
She nodded. "Alright. You be good, Raid."
"Good? Me?" Raid chuckled, then walked on through Beta, looking around for the small, red, canvas tent he lived in. Hundreds of people were awake, mulling around in their tents or shacks, laughing and dancing around the bonfire, taking some of the few moments they could to socialize. Some were waking up and putting on their mining boots, a mixture of dread and determination in their eyes as they walked to the mine entrance.
He took off his shoes, unfolded the flap of a door, and looked at the two small sleeping mats.
"Dad." He tried not to grimace at the sight of his flushed, decrepit father. "I brought you water."
Sweat shined on his splotchy face with red spots and he looked so weak he couldn't lift a pick for his life. "Adrian. What...what time is it?" He looked around, searching for a clock that they didn't own. His voice was painfully wheezy, like his lungs were filled with Dia.
"I...I don't know. Almost 4:30." He lifted the sack of sloshing water to his father's lips.
"Adrian. No. You look terrible. Drink first. When was the last time you..." He broke into a coughing hack.
Raid knew what his father had--all of the symptoms were just like the cases he had seen in the Beta before. Wreck fever. The disease was a death sentence around there.
None of the "doctors" around Beta had a clue how to heal. What did they know, really? They'd only ever mined. They had certainly never attended any kind of school.
Raid pressed the sack to his father's mouth before he could protest again. He drank quickly, then drooped back on the mat when he was done. Raid poured some more into a cloth, then pressed it to his father's forehead, hoping the water would cool him down a bit. Then, he sighed and sat down on his mat, feeling the day's toil pull him into darkness before he could even lay down. He drank some water, then curled up into a ball and fell asleep.