101 Ways to Skin a Hoodie

Chapter 9

No dreams this time.

All the nerves in my body are pounding painfully, and I groan as pours into my squinted eyes. A grey stone ceiling greets me. It looks natural, like a cave. I roll my head slightly to the left, and pain shoots down my spine. I see an IV running into my arm, a light blue translucent liquid flowing from a drip into it.

My mouth is so dry. I need water.

At least the air is cool now.

Ack, I can't think straight.

I twitch in bed, struggling to get up. My body hurts so much, a constant aching pain beating out from my brain to my body. Or is it the other way around? I can't tell. I roll my head to the right and see my saviour. A crudely made bucket rests in the corner of the room, filled to the brim with water. I struggle to get up again but give up quickly as my body screams out against the movement.

I want the water so bad. I want it I want it I want it I want it. Why couldn't it have been placed at my bedside? Wouldn't that have made more sense? If only it was a bit closer, if only it was within arm's reach.

The bucket rattles in the corner. Come on, rattle on over to me.

The bucket skitters a few centimeters out of the corner. Wait, was that me? Fully lucid now, I will the bucket towards me. The dryness in my throat is forgotten as I focus on making the bucket move.

Centimeter by centimeter I will the bucket across the floor with nothing but my mind. It's so close to me now. But it was not to be; all of a sudden I hear footsteps out in the hallway and my focus breaks, the bucket tipping over and clattering loudly across the floor, its contents spilling out onto the rocky ground. I curse to myself.

Hearing the noise, the footsteps outside quicken, and a tall blonde lady rushes through the doorway. She's wearing a lab coat over jeans and a t-shirt, and she has an air of importance about her. I think it's the glasses.
"Ah, I should have expected this." She says, and with a wave of her hand the bucket flies into it, the spilled water evaporating into the air. Her other hand is holding a tablet, and she sets it into a holder on my IV stand before conjuring fresh water from midair into the bucket, just as Ben does. Where is Ben?

I try to ask this question out loud, but my voice breaks in my throat and I start coughing profusely. Once it dies down the woman hands me the pail of water, which I gulp from greedily. I ask again.

"Where is Ben?"

"He's currently on a tour of our facility. Oh, Don't give me that look. Down here getting to know the layout of the place isn't as trivial as it may seem. You're going to have a lot to learn."

A somewhat snide response. Its okay though, I'm just glad to know that Ben is fine.

"Where am I?" is the second question I dole out.

"Ah, if you had phrased that just a little differently then I could have offered up the iconic line. Simply put, you're in hell."

"Why isn't it hot then?" The nurse cracks a smile at the snappiness of my response, which I hadn't even meant to be a joke.

"You'll have a debriefing soon where we can answer questions like that, but as of right now you need to heal. Most of your bones were broken when you crashed down here. It's pure coincidence that you landed in part of the ceiling with more give to it, otherwise you would have been dead on impact. I can heal you up more properly now that you're awake, as we've found that forcing the using recovery magic on an unconscious patient can have some dire side effects."

"I thought you guys were picky about not calling it magic?"

"Maybe in that boy's world. Now close your eyes." I don't want to, but as soon as the nurse utters the words my eyelids grow heavy and fall shut on their own accord. As my consciousness drifts away again I feel a warmth spread through my body, and the aching starts to fade.