Through the Haze - Part Eleven

Everyone is the same in some way, but in that way, they are different. Gizma Gaylor, Book of Endings
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Karaya rode quickly down the dirt trail that led to the small town. She was fearful for her brother's well-being. Cassius hadn't awoken in a long time, and he always had a fever. The fever seemed to keep getting worse as time went on, and it worried her greatly.

She slowed her horse to a trot as they moved through the small town. She looked around frantically for someone that could help Cassius; she wanted nothing more than to find a doctor and get back to her brother ASAP. She didn't dare leave Cassius alone more than need be.

Why had Cassius suddenly gotten so ill? She was confused and worried all in one, which put her in a very foul mood.

She just wanted to find a doctor, and fast.
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Gabriel faded in and out of consciousness. He looked like crap, but felt so much worse. His head felt as if it were about to explode. It kept throbbing, sending white hot pain soaring through his body everytime it did. He felt cold and strangely detatched from his mind.

Something damp was moving across his forehead in a soothing manner, and someone was whispering words to calm him and ease him out of the pain. For him, being out of the pain was becing unconscious; it was the only release he got.

He was too weak to focus his energy and get rid of the headache; he was in no condition to anything but lie there, and lie there he did, for hours on end, with that cloth running across his forehead.

He felt weaker than he had ever felt before, as weak as a newborn kitten, it seemed. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him, but he knew it wasn't good.

"...Lou...?" he whispered, his voice barely audible.

"Yeah, Gabe?" Lou answered quickly, immediately at his side.

'I don't deserve a friend like you,' he thought to himself. He was going to say something, but now he couldn't remember what it was he was going to say. "What's...wrong....with me....?"

There was a long pause. "I--I don't know," Lou answered truthfully. "I'm...I'm sorry, Gabe. I don't know what's wrong with you. I was--I was kind of hoping you could tell me."

Gabriel took a deep breath, or at least he tried to. It caused a sharp pain to go shooting through his body, forcing him to wince and gasp in pain.

"What is it?" Lou immediately asked. "What's wrong?"

"...Just....hurts..." he mumbled.

"Your fever hasn't gotten any worse," Lou said softly, his voice sounding kind of strange again. "Granted, it hasn't gotten any better, but at least it's not rising. If all goes well, it should break here soon. How's your head feeling?"

For a moment, Gabriel was tempted to ask how he knew he had a headache, but then thought better of it. Of course Lou knew; he always knew. He could read him like an open book. "S'okay..." he whispered with a small wince as white hot fire shot through his body.

"You're lying," Loukoi pointed out. Gabriel sighed softly, trying not to make the pain worse.

He just wanted to know what was going on, why he was in so much pain all of a sudden, why he wasn't feeling good. It had to do with that episode last night, he was sure. After that episode, things had changed. He'd felt weak since then, detatched from his body. "Yeah...."

Lou sighed heavily. "You're getting better, I think," he said. "The last few times you woke up, you couldn't remember where you were or anything."

Gabriel blinked dizzily up at the ceiling. "Really?"

Lou nodded. "Yeah. You weren't very coherent most times, but you seem better now."

"That's...good..."

"Yeah. Get some more rest, okay? We'll leave when you've rested enough."

Gabriel tried to shake his head, but it sent so much pain shooting through his body that he forgot how to breathe.

"Gabe?" asked Lou, his voice worried. "What's wrong? What is it?"

"Hurts..." he sighed. "We...have...to go...now...."

"Now?" asked Lou. "No, that's not possible. You're not in any condition to travel, Gabriel. No way."

"Have to..." he winced.

"Why?"

"...Die if I don't..." he wasn't sure why he said that, but it made sense. Whatever was wrong with him, only the gifted could cure. The chill was killing him. If not the chill, the gift. His gift was killing him, turning against him somehow.

And he had no way to stop it.

"What--What do you mean?" Lou stammered, flinching as if he'd been hit.

"Exactly...that...."

"You won't die," he said.

"I...will..."

"You won't," he insisted.

Gabriel focused on Lou. "I will...I will die...if I...don't....get to....the others..." he closed his eyes, feeling out of it. "And...soon...too...."

"You'll be okay," Lou said, as if trying to convince himself of that as well. "You'll be okay."

"...Maybe...maybe not...." he breathed.

Lou said nothing, bringing the cloth back up to drag across Gabriel's burning forehead. It felt nice, Gabriel realized. The cloth forced some of the flames back and out, and he liked that feeling.

Before long, he was out again. Unconscious on the couch.
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Isaac wandered down to the stables, needing someone to talk to, or at least some silent company. Just someone to have near him who wasn't dying. That was all he wanted.

Ember's condition hadn't changed. Maybe that was a good thing, for he hadn't gotten any worse these past few days. But then, he hadn't gotten any better, either. He wasn't sure what to think anymore.

Roo spotted him as he entered the barn. Isaac tried to smile, but was sure that it came out more like a grimace than anything else. Roo sighed and ushered him over. Isaac complied and joined him near one of the stalls.

"How's Ember doing?" Roo asked, searching Isaac's face.

Isaac averted his gaze to the ground. "The same," he mumbled, kicking at the ground with his foot.

Roo sighed heavily. "Don't worry, Isaac. It'll all be over soon."

Isaac looked at him and frowned greatly. He wasn't sure what Roo meant by that. It could mean that it would be over when Ember got better, but it was more likely that he meant that it would be over when Ember died, which would be soon.

Isaac's eyes stung with tears and he was forced to look away again. Roo gripped his chin with his fingers and forced him to look into his eyes.

"It's not your fault," he said. "Don't ever think that for one minute, okay, Isaac?"

Isaac frowned. "But...but it IS my fault..."

"No," said Roo, shaking his head. "It's not. It's just lousy luck. Ember knew the risks when he learned about you being a gifted. We all knew the risks, Isaac. We were willing to risk it, though. So was Ember. He cared for you, kid. He thought of you like a little brother, he wasn't going to leave just because you were a gifted. It's not your fault."

Isaac blinked back tears. Knowing that Ember felt that way just made things seem all the worse. "There--there has to be a way to help him, Roo..." he looked at him hopefully, unshed tears glistening in his eyes.

Roo looked away. "I'm sorry, Isaac. But there's nothing we can do."

Isaac glared at the ground. Everything suddenly felt so hopeless, and he hated that feeling. Ember had always told him to keep hoping, to never give up, but he just couldn't see a way for this ending to turn out good. Ember was dying, and there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop his friend from leaving this world.

He was useless in the aid of his friend. There was nothing he could do.

And he hated that fact, hated it more than anything.
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Gabriel remembered nothing of leaving that night, of being wrapped in covers and put into a carriage that two horses were pulling. When he woke out of his unconscious state, he looked around and saw that he was wrapped in thick covers, a soft pillow under his head, a damp rag on his forehead.

Lou was sitting a little ways away, looking out the side window of the carriage. Looking toward the front, he saw through the small window and saw someone driving the carriage. He sighed heavily, ignoring the pain.

His sigh caught Lou's attention.

His friend was immediately at his side. "Nice to see that you've decided to join the land of the living," he commented. "How are you feeling?" he removed the cloth and felt Gabriel's forehead.

"M'kay, I guess...." he slurred, his vision blurred, his mind hazed.

Lou frowned. "You don't sound very good," he said. "Your fever is still the same, but at least it hasn't gotten worse."

Gabriel blinked his eyes a few times to let his friend know that he agreed. He felt too weak to nod his head, and the pain was just too much.

He went out again, leaving Lou to sit and worry about him.