Boundaries

Conor: problematic breakfast

{Conor}

I was awakened suddenly by Tish pouncing on me.
"You're a hard sleeper, dude," she said. "If we get up now, we can get to the cafeteria before the hunters. Come on, come on. Up we go."
She threw my new shoes at me, and I caught them to sleepily pulled them on, tying the laces before I was dragged out of Grant's bedroom. It was like all the exhaustion I should have been feeling was weighing me down all at once. I stumbled once, and Tish finally paused, frowning at me in worry.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"I think I'm just tired?" I guessed. "I don't know."
"Okay, sure, but this is ridiculous. You're more tired now that you were yesterday."
She put a hand to my forehead and frowned. "You're warmer than usual. I think we should go see Victor."
"He's probably not here yet," I pointed out. "Let's eat and then I'll...then we'll go find a doctor."
I blinked twice, and Tish wrapped an arm around my waist so I could walk without falling. She took my wrist, and I could feel my heart pounding beneath her fingers. Tish plopped me down in a seat, promising me food. There were a few hunters about, none that were awake enough to give me even a second glance.
"We have tea, do you want some tea?" Tish appeared to my right, putting a plate piled high with sausage and bacon and pancakes.
"No caffeine," I replied.
She nodded and set her own plate down before being back with two steaming mugs. She had a coffee for herself but didn't touch anything, instead frowning at I picked at the pancakes.
"Last time you acted like this, you had been shot with silver," she told me.
"We did leave our food just on the table at one point," I reasoned and closed my eyes.
"Conor, I hope not, because if so, I'm going to be killing some hunters before the day is out," she warned. "And I don't want to go on the run, do you?"
"I'm not running anywhere, anytime soon," I replied.
"How much silver would they have had to give you to make you sick this long?" she questioned.
"I felt fine yesterday," I countered. "Mostly fine at least."
"We have time release capsules, that I'm not surprised by," Tish shrugged. "But you have a higher tolerance than most werewolves, right? I'll bet you should be dead."
"I feel like I still might be," I laughed.
"No no, you're not allowed to die," she scoffed. "Not even a little bit. Ralph will kill me, and then Grant will bring me back to kill me again. And then Mel will do unspeakable things to my corpse."
She ate quickly, being done with her food far quicker than I was. I sipped my tea, the only thing that didn't make me more nauseous.
"Let's wrap this plate and get you out of here," Tish suggested. "Because waiting around for more hunters isn't going to help us. Give me a sec, hon."
She popped up and rushed about for a moment before pouring my tea into a cup with a lid. She helped me up, and then we shuffled out of the cafeteria and down the hall. We took the elevator instead of the stairs, and I leaned on Tish, feeling dizzy.
"Feeling any better?"
"No, sorry."
"Don't be sorry, doofus," she scolded as the elevator opened. "Hey, Grant!"
We shuffled out of the elevator. Grant met us another moment, coming on the other side of me.
"Ralph," I managed.
"Stop it," Grant said. "If you could hear your heart beat like I can, you would have come running too. What happened to him?"
"I think someone poisoned him yesterday when we were in the cafeteria," Tish explained.
"Silver? Conor, can you shift?"
I took a deep breath to attempt it and my knees buckled. I was only dimly aware of Tish and Grant after that. Someone lifted me up, and I landed on a table or a bed. The voices above me were muffled and far away. I could hear my own trying to ask what was happening, but it came out slurred and disjointed.
Ralph's voice cut in, and I tried to turn toward the sound. A sharp pain focused on my arm, and I vaguely felt some straps against my torso as I blacked out.
___
Short lil chapter, so I am going to do have 2 chapters this week. But until I get back this book series, we'll do one chapter a week! thanks for reading!