I wake up.
The ceiling is unfamiliar for a few moments, swimming and blurry.
But.
A face peers down at me as my vision comes into focus. Mia.
"Oh, good." She breathes out. "How do you feel?"
"Um." I blink. "...I don't. Feel pain, at least?"
"That's good."
The blankets are still on my legs.
They're still covered in bruises, but they look a bit better than the night before. There are fewer of them and the bruises that are there are a lighter shade than they were yesterday.
Maybe I'll even be able to move today, though I don't know what the point of that is when we're still in the middle of nowhere with nowhere to go. Not to mention I don't want to get out of the blankets.
The room itself is cold and damp. There's no windows and only one door leading out. There are shelves along one wall with boxes stacked up neatly against each other and a couple chairs next to it. It feels cramped.
I glance around. There are four beds in here, one of which I'm lying on. Hestia is still asleep in her own bed. I wonder if she'll wake soon? She seems pretty deep asleep at this point.
"How's she doing...?"
"Oh. She's fine, but I don't want to disturb her. It took her a long time to fall asleep yesterday. She wanted to see you, but Eric told her that you needed rest, and then he managed to talk her into taking some of that advice herself."
"That's. Good." I swallow. I feel guilty. It's a lot, knowing that I worried her that badly. That Eric and Mia and her were all staying up to take care of us. But I guess it can't be helped. I didn't have much of a choice in getting mauled.
I'm. Just lucky that they decided to heal us instead of leaving us to die in the woods. If they had...
Well, I probably wouldn't be here.
And if I were, I definitely.
Wouldn't be in much of a shape to do anything. Especially nothing useful for the resistance.
"Sarah, are you okay? Do you need me to get you something?" Mia's hand touches my arm. "Water, maybe?"
I blink, then nod.
"...Yeah, I am. Kinda thirsty." I admit. I don't think I'm hungry, though.
That's weird, given I have been out for so long and so...
I should be starving, right?
But even though I'm thirsty, I just don't feel like eating.
Mia disappears, returning soon with a glass of water for me. "Here. Drink it slowly, yeah? You don't wanna choke."
I nod, and sip at the water until it's gone.
I do feel a little better now, even though it doesn't help me shake off the sleepiness. I lean back into the bed with a soft sigh.
Mia's eyes are still watching me.
"...I'm okay." I manage, and offer her a little smile. "Not gonna break now, I think."
"Good. I hope not."
Mia smiles back, though her smile is small.
I sigh, and try to sit up a bit.
My body is sore.
I'm tired, and everything feels stiff, but it's not painful anymore, at least not compared to last night. The worst thing is the itching. It's maddening.
My arms have red lines where there used to be claw marks, but they've mostly healed. My legs look the same, and they're also bruised, though they look less awful than my arms and face do.
Each mark itches at once.
I'm not even sure how I'm not dancing around the room screaming for aloe vera or. Something.
I bite down a whimper and resist the urge to scratch my legs, though it's difficult.
"Are you alright?" Mia asks again, concern written all over her face. I guess she can see the way I'm struggling not to claw my own skin off. Or maybe she's noticed how tense I am.
"I just...need a distraction."
Or a bath of soothing cream.
Whichever comes first, really.
"Okay." Mia nods. "Let me see what I can do." She turns and rummages around the room for something, but I'm too tired to follow what she does. After a minute, she comes back with a weathered looking book. "Here." She says, and holds it out to me. "...Do you like reading?"
I can't say it's ever been my favorite thing to do.
But..
The idea is a bit novel. I haven't been able to read anything at all since I got here. It sounds a bit refreshing. And it'll give my hands something to do, so they won't try and scratch the itch off the healing bruises and wounds.
"Yeah, that's. Fine."
She hands the book over and I take it from her. It's small. The title isn't anything I recognize. Some fantasy novel about knights or something. It looks like the kind of thing my younger sister would enjoy.
I don't have much hope for the book itself, but I'll try to keep myself occupied. Anything would be better than scratching myself raw. The cover is well worn and soft. The writing looks like it's handmade in pen.
...In English?
This is. The first thing I've seen written in English....
I think....
Since I can remember. Since I was walking home. I think I read something then, some street sign, but.
That's it.
"Where. Did you get this...?" I murmur, running my hand over the front cover.
"I found it here." She explains. Her gaze is focused elsewhere, though she keeps glancing back towards me. "...It seems to have belonged to someone else who stayed in these caves once upon a time. Might have been...someone injured enough to be in here even longer than you."
...If it is...
They must have been in here a long time.
I can't even guess how long someone could be here to make a whole book and their own cover for it.
I wonder why it was still here?
Wouldn't they want to take it with them?
...I don't like the answers I come up with when I think of reasons why it's still in this place.
I shiver.
Maybe.
That's just something better not thought of right now.