"The heaters gone out," Alya comments. No shit. We're shivering in the freezing cold of the living room, with only each other's bodies and a few layers of thin blanket to keep us warm. "Mummy, I'm cold," whined Octavius. "Shh," Mum says, pulling her blanket over until it's covering him. "I know a cluster of trees a few kilometres from here," exclaims Leo, "Near where our family used to live. I could go and get some firewood from there." "Leo-" I try to stop him. "Nova, it's OK,"
"Be careful, Leo," I wrap him in a scarf. He kisses me atop the head. "How long will you be gone?" "Hopefully only a few hours. I'll be back before dawn, don't worry. Get some rest," I hug him.
»»----- -----««
Leo stumbles in the door. I strip him of his wet clothes and dress him in track pants, a hoodie and a scarf. He shivers, his breathing shallow. I place the wet clothes over the balcony railings to dry. "I knew it wasn't a good idea for you to go out there..." I shake my head. "It's so cold," he says. "I know, honey," I tuck him into bed carefully. "Do you want some tea?" I ask. "Hot chocolate?" he says, his voice slightly slurred. I nod, caressing his cheek with my thumb. It is stone cold.
»»----- -----««
"How is he?" Alya asks, concerned. I sigh. "Still no better." His fingers fumble around for the cup, his brows furrowed in perturbation. I pick it up for him and place it in his hand. He sends me a small smile. The corners of his mouth are stained with hot chocolate as he struggles to sip it.
»»----- -----««
Octavius and I sit by the fire. I've given my blankets to him, and he's curled up, wrapped up like a cocoon, teeth chattering, eyes glued to the television. I heard a thud and rush to where the noise came from. "Oh, Leo..." He's holding his head. "You need to get back into bed..."
"Nova, I can take over," exclaims Alya, "No, no it's fine," I say, covering up a yawn. "No, you need to get some sleep. I used to be a doctor, I know how to treat hypothermia. Don't worry, honey." I think for a second and nod. "Thank you," She gives a quick smile and sits on the corner of the bed, feeling for his pulse. "Steadier than before," she declares, "If he had been out there any longer..." I sigh in relief and fall onto my bed. I'm out in seconds.
»»----- -----««
"Nova," Mum whispers, "Leo's awake." I groggily look at the Hologram broadcasted in front of me. It's past noon. "Hey honey, how are you?" Leo smiles as he sees my face. He looks much better and he sits up in bed. "Nova," he whispers as I kiss him on the forehead. He feels much less cold then he was only a few hours ago. My heart race steadies and I take deep breaths. I fluff the pillow and prop it up behind him. "He's 35.5 degrees Celsius," exclaims Alya quietly, adjusting her glasses which lean awkwardly on the bridge of her nose. "So not back to normal yet, but already much better. It's amazing how fast he's recovered,"
"What was his temperature yesterday?" I question, "31. So classified as severe hypothermia." I nod.
»»----- -----««
I shiver as I help Octavius bake cookies. The heavenly aroma makes my stomach growl. I haven't eaten much lately, in fear of our food stock decreasing more rapidly than it already is. I look over and watch the boy scrape the inside of his bowl with his finger, licking the dough until it's covering his mouth and he's practically turned into a cookie himself. "Tavi!" he giggles, "Please, go wash your hands and leave some cookie dough for the cookies or you'll get sick." I feel a breath prickle my neck and arms wrap around my body. "Hey," I feel a whisper and my stomach gets butterflies. "Hey," I smile, "Aren't you meant to be resting?" "Nurse Alya excused me," "Mhm," I nod, totally believing him. "LEO!" I hear a yell. "Hey, buddy!" My boyfriend exclaims, a grin lighting up his face as the boy runs up to him and hugs him. Little did he know I was watching him out of the corner of my eye, smiling.
»»----- -----««
Muffled voices prick my ears. I stop sketching and look out the crack in the door. "Yes, yes," Mum says, her face pale. "You can stay in the spare room for now." "Thank you for your hospitality, Ophelia," "It's quite alright." She catches my eye and I step out of my room into the hall.
"Nova," Leo informs, "This is my Uncle Micaiah." He gestures to a man. He looked about thirty, with messy brown hair and pale skin. If he hadn't mentioned that he was his uncle I wouldn't have guessed, as those were the only physical traits they had in common. His eyebrows were raised and bushy and a small beard grew on his chin, really no more than a bit of stubble. A woman about my age stood beside him - his wife, I presume - who looks about seventeen. Her jet black hair fell down her shoulders like a waterfall and I presumed her to be Asian.
"And, Emilia, you can stay in Nova's room," Mum gestures to the girl. I give a small smile and a wave. "I hope that'd be ok?" "More than OK. Thank you so much, Ophelia." Mum smiles kindly. A shine appears in her eyes that I've never seen before. "Hi, I'm Emilia," the girl says afterwards as Mum's going to get Alya to set the rooms up for use. "So you're Nova?" I nod. "I'm sorry for my Dad and I intruding like this, but we really had nowhere else to go." "Dad?" I question, frowning. They looked nothing alike. She laughs. "I'm fourteen, by the way. In case you were wondering." She looked at least sixteen, though I brushed it off. "Nova! Emilia! Dinner!" As I sat down at the table, I felt a peculiar feeling arise - as if something wasn't quite right, as if they weren't telling the full truth...
»»----- -----««
A/N: What do you think so far? What do you think of Emilia and Micaiah's sudden appearance?
Also sorry guys, I'm not sure if I've portrayed hypothermia right because I've never written a character with it before ;-; so apologies!
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