Python

11; the journey

Okay, so what now? We have water and we have extra food. We are quite near the sea. The weather is great. Also, the citizens who brought the water have disappeared after a big 'thank you' from king Michael. But Graham is still in the world of the unnoticing, and we don't know what to do. We gave him some water fifteen minutes ago. Because no one is doing anything useful I decide to go and talk to them about what we're going to do next.

"Have you thought about what to do next?" I ask, parking my hips on the ground next to where Eric, Michael and Terry J are sitting in silence. Terry G is still drawing funny things in the sand, and his artworks seem to become bigger and stranger every time. Anyway, the three people I just asked my question to look up a bit amazed, not having noticed me coming to sit with them. "Uh.. yes, I've been thinking 'bout that for a while." Terry J starts. I raise  my eyebrows, as a sort of sign for him to continue.

"I think we should just continue our expedition and take Graham with us, no matter what state he is in." Terry J says. That  idea was quite appealing, since no one of us really wants to go back. Eric raises his hand. "I think that maybe we should go back and let Graham be examined by a real doctor. And continue our quest later, when he's his old self again." He suggests. I nod. "No!" Michael exclaims. "If we do that, the shrubberies will be taken by someone else and then this all was for nothing! I know that it's a risk to take Graham with us in this state, but I think we should take that risk." 

"Are you okay with that, Eric?" I ask. I quite agree with Michael and Terry J on this point. Eric hesitates but then nods. He turns around to look at Graham, and so do I. What we see is absolutely shocking and almost gives me a trauma. But a happy one, luckily.

Graham is sitting on the ground in a cross-legged position. He is staring into space and doesn't seem to notice anything. Just as I stand up to walk towards him, he starts to cry hysterically. "No! You can't do that! Go away!" He wraps his arms around him and brings his knees to his head. I stand still, not sure what to do. "Take them away!" Graham screams. I carefully walk towards him, with wide eyes. He seems to be really scared of something, while I don't see a reason for that. Then I remember what he'd told me while still in Camelot. "It makes you hallucinate and see insects everywhere. You develop certain phobias."

Graham is hallucinating! "Eric? Terry, Mike, Terry?" I call the others. They quickly walk towards me, all wide-eyed and in shock. "What should we do?" Michael asks. I shrug. "Maybe we should give him alcohol. I mean, this was caused by not drinking alcohol for more than 48 hours, wasn't it? So maybe, for now, it'll help." Terry G suggests. "Agreed?" We all nod and he goes to take our only bottle of wine.

When he comes back, Graham's situation is still the same. It's really awful watching him suffer so much. We slowly walk closer to Graham, and kneel down around him. "It's okay, we're going to help you." Terry J says. Terry G opens the bottle and pours a little of the alcoholic substance into a wooden cup. He then carefully extends his arm to Graham, who looks at it like it's a ghost. "Drink this, it'll make you feel better."

"Take those insects away!" I gasp at the power of his voice, but I also feel very concerned. "Nothing is going to do you any harm, Gray. Please just drink this." Eric tries. Graham, still suspicious, takes the cup with a shaking hand. He closes his eyes for a moment and then swallows the liquid, till the cup is empty. Then he is silent.

None of us dares to do anything, in case it might lead to a psychotic reaction. Three minutes pass, and then another three. All six of us have stayed silent and haven't even moved. Then Michael clears his throat, making us startle. "Are you okay, Graham?" He asks. Graham looks up, but doesn't say anything. "We just want to know if you're alright, we're concerned about you. We care about your health. Please say something."

Graham nods and looks at us. "What happened?" He asks. "You got ill and you were unconscious for a while. When you woke up you got hallucinations." I explain. Graham nods again. "I should have told you." He says. We don't have a response to this, probably because it's true. "Do you think you can travel again?" Terry G asks. Graham smiles. "I guess." He stands up, with a little help from me and Eric. When he's on his feet, he immediately walks to his horse and gestures us to come with him.

He takes a little box out of his luggage. "In here are medicines. They are sorted by name. If anything like this happens to me again, you should give me this one." He points to a green substance.

"We'll think of it, Graham. But promise you won't drink so much in the future."