The Academy [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 11

   I groaned. My entire body felt sore. I tried prying my eyes open but failed miserably. Then, I remembered what had happened before I blacked out. The vision, the screaming, the pain. I moaned again, this time managing to force one eyelid up. I was in a room with white walls and several other beds lined up next to mine. The infirmary, I realized with a jolt. I looked out a window to see what time of day it was, but I couldn't see the sun. I opened the other eye and looked around the infirmary again. Someone shifted on my right and I moved my gaze to look at them.

   It was Winter.

   He was asleep and looking more peaceful than I had ever seen him. His chest moved silently and evenly and was in too light of a sleep for dreams so it was soundless. I sat up a little, wincing at the pain and trying to be quiet. Winter heard me move and woke up instantly.

   "Are you okay?" he asked. I took a labored breath.

   "I dunno," I answered simply. I wrung my hands and looked away from him. "How long was I out?"

   "Almost the whole day. It's ten at night now." I looked at him, shocked. "Qibli and Kinkajou visited you a few times. You didn't move when they spoke to you." Winter stared straight into my eyes. "Are you okay?" he tried again. Before I could answer, Kinkajou burst into the room.

   "OH MY GOSH, MOON! THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE AWAKE!" she exclaimed. Her head was bouncing all over the place, making me wince. She ran over and dove into a hug. "You scared me SO MUCH! Don't you EVER do that again!" I hugged her back. Inside her head, Kinkajou asked, Was it the vision? I nodded slightly.

   "Okay, I'll try." Satisfied, she pulled back and looked at me.

   "Isn't she supposed to be tranquilized?" Kinkajou asked Winter. He nodded.

   "She woke up before I could." I looked at them, confused.

   "I was tranquilized?" I asked. Winter opened his mouth to answer but Kinkajou interrupted him.

   "Yeah. You wouldn't stop moving. It was like you were trying to get out of your own skin." I bit my lip and let my head fall back.

   "Oh, three moons," I muttered. There was a quiet pause before Kinkajou said,

   "I'll be right back. I need to grab something." I nodded, not looking away from the ceiling. I heard her slide off the edge of the bed and then the door close. I suddenly had a question. I looked at Winter.

   "Who brought me here?" He shifted a little bit.

   "Qibli did. I passed him in the hall when he was carrying you." Winter drew circles on the arm of the chair he was sitting on. "We've been taking shifts to make sure you stayed asleep. Clay gave you the first one so we knew how to do it." I nodded.

   "Why didn't you give me one as soon as you were up?"

   Because I wanted to talk to you. Because I wanted to make sure you were okay even though I shouldn't care, Winter thought. He shifted uncomfortably.

   "Never mind," I said. He picked up a dart and held it over my arm. I looked at him as he pushed it into my skin. The world became fuzzy and blurred. I started to fall back when Winter caught me. He laid me down gently and pulled the covers back up over me. 

   Then he said something that I didn't know if I imagined it or if he actually said it: 

   "I love you."

   When I woke up this time, Qibli was standing in the corner, talking with Clay. I looked at a clock that was most likely recently placed near my bed. Nine-thirty in the morning. I let out a quiet sigh and moved to an upright position. Clay looked over Qibli's shoulder and saw that I was up. He said one more thing to Qibli then walked over to me.