The ceiling was the first to greet Arcturus from his slumber. He blinked a few times before processing that his fever was getting better; his headaches have reduced tremendously. The ringing in his ears still lingered, but he could hear sounds more audibly now.
"You're awake?" An unfamiliar voice asked him.
He glanced over and saw an old Ilacian woman with bright blue eyes and dressed in a doctor's gown. She was holding thin needles between her index finger and thumb. He slowly felt the feeling of them slightly pricking on his ears and temples.
Is this acupuncture?
"Are you alright, sir?" She asked. He could hear her voice; he could finally hear someone's voice.
"Who are you?" He never knew how nice it felt to be able to hear his own voice clearly until now.
"I'm Belinda Mathis. I'm one of the two doctors here in the Outskirts. Murphy called me about an emergency patient who could not come to the clinic. What about you? What's your name?"
"Arcturus Mercury." He carefully pronounced every syllable in his name so that there wouldn't be any mistakes.
"Well, Arcturus, since you are awake, let me check up on you real quickly." She got out a flashlight and checked the condition of his eyes and then took out a wooden stick to check the inside of his mouth. This reminded him of a checkup during his childhood.
"You seem fine. Constance told me that she found you in the dump. Were you thrown into the dump alongside your friend?"
"I…guess?" She wasn't entirely wrong, but he wasn't sure how to explain that he fell out of an airship and rode on a dragon before it transformed back to Nova.
"Did you hit your head anywhere?"
"I hope not?"
"Can you tell me what year it is?"
"620."
"Do you know where you are?"
"I'm in an apartment?" He hoped he was in the same apartment; the bedding and blanket felt the same as he remembered before falling asleep.
"Do you know who it belongs to?"
"Sophia, Murphy and Constance?"
Arcturus found his current position rather uncomfortable, so he tried sitting up but she pushed him back down. "Don't move. The acupuncture treatment is still ongoing. I'm doing this to ease the ringing."
He complied with her words as he laid back down. The needles made it hard for Arcturus to turn his head to check up on Nova. "Doctor, how is Nova?"
"If you're talking about your friend, he's sleeping right next to you. He had a lot of wounds, but they seem to heal slowly. He has an unusual body."
"He had a bullet wound on his forehead."
"Really? I'm seeing nothing but a clear forehead underneath his bangs."
"What about his neck? Is it okay?"
"I checked and there seems to be nothing amiss. His cervical spine seemed fine when I examined him."
"I see…" He was just relieved Nova was fine; it made sense for him to be okay because he was an immortal, but he still couldn't help but to worry.
Belinda then got out a stethoscope. "If you don't mind, can I check your heartbeat?"
"Go ahead."
"Then, please lift your shirt up for a bit."
He slightly lifted his shirt so that it wasn't completely exposing his upper half. Belinda did her best to put the stethoscope into the gap until she found his heartbeat. She listened to it briefly before removing it; Arcturus put his shirt back into its normal position. She then checked his pulse first before proceeding with his heartbeat. He just hoped nothing was wrong with him.
"Your pulse and heartbeat are fine, but checking the conditions of your muscles, you don't seem like you're eating well enough."
He was surprised she could deduce all that from just touching his arm. Some doctors in Lamina could not come to such conclusions regarding their patients. Though, it did make him wonder if she was legit or a quack. "I…had a few things to eat in the past four months. My main food consumption happened to be iridescent ice."
Belinda looked rather baffled. "Iridescent ice? That's not healthy at all!"
"It was the only way I could survive, ma'am. The airship I was on before exploded and all that was left was a crate floating towards my lifeboat with little rations and a jar of ice."
She was exasperated. "My goodness. You've been through a lot."
"At least, I'm still here alive."
"Yes. It's great that you're here…"
Belinda was a complete stranger, yet hearing those words from her moved his heart. She didn't have to say those words to someone like him, yet she did. Perhaps, the fever was making him vulnerable and emotional. Instead of crying, he was smiling.