Chapter Nine
Michael
She is worse now. Lips grey with fever, eyes wild with hopelessness. Her eyes always reminded me of the ocean. A beautiful, deep sea-green. With only the slightest hint of true blue, just a dot, in the corner of her right pupil. Her hair is long and blonde, it trails down her back like an everlasting waterfall. Her fingers are bony. It has only been a week. She can’t keep anything down. If we were back before this all happened, she would be fine. But we don’t have feeding tubes and bathtubs full of cold water. No, we’re left with cool spring water, wads of fur, and healing soup. Han is attempting to do a push-up. She ends up collapsing, and I help her up. She barely weighs anything, as I carry her back to her secluded corner of sickness. I feel her tiny stomach heaving next to my own. I am carrying her like a baby, head over one arm, legs over the other. She nestles into my shirt, which isn’t truly my shirt, and closes her eyes. I don’t want to move her from one of the few moments of true sleep she gets, so I slowly sink to the floor with her in my lap. Her fingers curl into my shirt, I feel them touch my skin. It does not hurt. Her other hand curls around the fabric on my shoulder. She pulls herself up. Her eyes are open. We are even now. Just an inch apart. She closes the gap, and presses her mouth to my mouth. I fall against the wall as her hands run down my chest.
“No… Rest…” I say, but she continues to kiss me. Her breath smells like the healing soup. She curls up again in my lap, the moment over. I put my arms around her thin stomach and fall asleep. When I wake up, she is still asleep. I feel her stomach move up and down beneath my arms. It is my fault she is this way. A tribal woman brings me a bowl of broth and Han a bowl of healing soup. Han wakes and takes a sip of the healing soup. She keeps it down. Improvement. Like a miracle, she is able to keep all of the stew down.
“How do you feel?” I ask.
“Better,” she replies with a weak smile.
“You better get better.” I lean in, touching my lips to her soft ear. “We’re escaping as soon as you feel better.” Han looks up at me with her big, blue-green eyes.
“Go,” she says after a few moments of silence. I’m shaking my head, grabbing her wrist. Pulling her to her feet. Hugging her. She can barely stand on her own, but she can stand. I kiss her again, softly.
“I cannot leave you,” I say. I shake my head once more. “We leave as two, come back as two.”
“I’ll just slow you down,” she says.
“Look, as soon as you feel strong enough, tell me,” I say, and guide her to her bed.
Realistic Fiction
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