NOVEL NEXT 34: Very Little Choice
"Three-Fourths Bushel"
Ten planks of wood,
Bailing wire.
A crate or a person?
Boxes conceal.
Boxes constrict.
A crate or a person?
Just a fragile shell.
Peek under the lid.
File name: Untold Stories
Passcode: 8675309
RYST
There is no ground, there is no ground, there is no ground, there is no ground, there is no gr—. I jerked awake.
"Sorry," a nurse whispered. Peydran's hospital room was dark, and a nurse was there for rounds. Apparently I had fallen asleep cradling him to my chest. Oh stars, my life was weird.
Moving as quietly and gently as I could so I wouldn't wake him, I slid out from under Peydran and gave him a real pillow. The cot built into the wall of his room had a folded blanket and a pillow on it, so I laid down and knew no more.
The next time I woke, there was faint light of just before dawn outside the window. My mouth tasted like garbage, and I needed a shower. I didn't want to leave in case Peydran woke up, so I opted for a hospital-issue toothbrush and a sponge bath in the bathroom. At least I'd gotten a good night's sleep.
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I headed across the room towards the cooler Peydran's parents had brought in. We had a plan, and I'd need to slowly work up to it. Give him time. I remembered what it was like first coming out of the coma. All the disorientation. Loosing days. People not knowing what had happened to me while I was out.
I planned to take it gently with Peydran — the Tindin way. Let him be as self-directed as he could when he had very little choice about what he was going to be dealing with the next few months. Sighing, I took some juice and a smoothie out of the fridge. It was stocked with broth too, so I heated some in a small warmer that rested on top of the cooler. Not long after, Peydran stirred.
"If you'd like some warm broth for your sore throat, I have a cup for you."
He nodded and took it from me. His eyebrows raised, "Good. What're the floaty bits?" His voice was scratchy and weak.
"It's seaweed. Sore throat?"
He nodded, "Soup is nice. Feels like I ate mirka bones for breakfast."
"Peydran," I said horrified, "mirkas are sweet and soft and furry. That's abominable."
"You been petting mirkas, Ryst?" he croaked.
"Well, just the one—Paulo."
He leaned his head back against the pillow and closed his eyes. "Tell me about Paulo, Ryst. Keep talking."
So I did as he asked. But first I took his right hand in mine and sat down beside him on the bed. "Peydran, it wasn't long ago that I woke up in a hospital bed not knowing how I'd gotten there. I had been in a coma for three days. I haven't been exactly where you are, but I do know what it felt like for me and what I went through. So, I'm just going to sit here and tell you about Paulo. And anything else you want, you just tell me. Because I am here and not going anywhere until you tell me to leave. Once I tell you the very, very long story of how I met Paulo, you'll understand why I love Chaludra so much."
At that he opened his eyes and smiled. "Tell me. I'm listening."
"When I was in a coma on Starlend, I had a dream. . ." I told him all about the ancient columns and the ankh symbol. The voices in my head and the dreams. The panic attack on the starliner on my way to Shurwinn. About crying so hard I thought I would die, about Paulo and the night I'd seen all the colorful lights and been as vast as the desert.
About Paulo taking me to a lady who called me "Siblin Lone Warrior Nun," and how that had led me to the monastery, and Denten, and the library, and the erotica books. I left out the reason I'd been in the coma and my dream lover, but everything else I told him. And I had thought that he would fall back asleep, but Peydran seemed to come more alive.
We took breaks so I could eat, and he could drink broth. There were medicas and his parents and nurse examinations, but he just kept telling people he needed to talk to his friend. He sent his parents out to shop for clothes since he was going to hospitalized for at least 3 weeks. And we just kept talking.
Peydran kept asking questions. Questions and questions about everything that had happened to me. All the dreams and the temples and the Ancient Earth quotes and Chaludra. As the day waned, Peydran faded with it, and I said to him, "So, you see how this is a big story, and I still don't understand what is going on? It's such a major, major change, and I… "
I was too tired. I laid my head down on the bed. "Just a second," I thought to myself. Just a second. I need to close my eyes. Just—