People left and entered the hospital, coming and going from the surgical theater and emergency response rooms. Some beds grew empty, others became full. But one, now closed off from others by a pair of curtains, remained unchanged. Still taken.
"Two days have passed, Narcisa. Two days… God, when we were back in the academy, I'd feel lucky if I managed to make him take an evening off, and look at Zemin now! Lying in bed like some lazy potato."
Narcisa pressed her lips together and didn't respond to Adia's words. She wasn't even sure what she was still doing here.
She had come to do her work as a medic and as a nurse. She had cleaned Zemin's body and had massaged his muscles so they wouldn't degrade from inactivity. But then Narcisa lingered.
It wasn't her turn to hold vigil, and it wasn't in her character to be so… sentimental.
Even the pleasant fog in her head from the relaxation pill eaten earlier could fully chase away the heaviness in her chest.
The woman standing next to her rubbed her eyes, as if chasing away tears. "Two days… This means his chances are much lower now, right?"
"Consider them fifty-fifty. Either he wakes up, or he doesn't."
Adia sniffed, and Narcisa decided she had spent more than enough time here. The woman turned to the exit, not in the mood to wipe off anyone's tears, and paused—she sensed Jagger's aura approaching, together with someone new. Not someone from the base—Narcisa would've remembered such a potent aura.
The door to the room opened soon after, but Adia didn't turn around until Jagger's telekinesis didn't lift the curtain around Zemin's bed.
Adia gasped. "Levana?"
A girl who appeared to be around 14 or 15 approached them in a wheelchair, which was pushed by Jagger. The man smiled mirthlessly and waved in greeting.
"Hello, everyone. This is Levana, Zemin's younger sister… Be nice to her."
Levana was dressed in the uniform of a Student, but without markings that would tell Narcisa what exactly she was a student of—it was white, so maybe something related to natural sciences? From the first glance, Narcisa saw a familial resemblance: the girl had the same green eyes as Zemin and similar features, although her hair was a more common shade of blond.
Unlike her more reserved brother, Levana's every emotion was written on her face: shock, worry, fear. She leaned forward, as if about to run up to Zemin, but froze mid-motion with her palms clenched on wheelchair's armrests.
A second later, she fell back with a wince.
"Surprise-surprise, Mistress Adia!" Levana said with a forced cheer. Her eyes were glued to Zemin's still body. "Master Makhos told me what happened to my brother and arranged for me to be here until he recovers. Things really must be dire if he decided that embarrassing sibling stories are the last thing that can save him!"
Narcisa smirked. She already liked that girl.
"I will write them all down, so Zemin will have no choice but to wake up and burn them," Narcisa said.
Jagger pushed the wheelchair closer to Zemin's bed. It was strange—judging by the strength of her aura, Levana could easily do that herself with Psionics.
The girl reached out for Zemin's palm and clutched it with trembling fingers.
"Y-yeah… H-hear that, Zemi? I will tell them all about that time when you slipped on mud and fell face-first right into a cow's 'cake'! Oops, I already said it. Now hurry before the scarred miss writes it down!"
Zemin's fingers twitched. Levana gasped and leaned forward, peering into his face.
Narcisa knew better, but she still did the same.
In the silence that fell on the group, quiet sounds from other patients and Healers just on the other side of the curtain became impossible to ignore.
No miracles happened.
Adia broke the silence first with a sob.
"This is all my fault. Levana… I'm the older of the two of us! Since I found that he actually became an Exemplar in the same division as me, I should've looked over him! Instead… Goddammit!"
"Don't shout!" Narcisa hissed. "Don't disturb other patients. Blame yourself quietly, Adia."
The relaxation pills weren't enough to make Narcisa feel not terrible anymore. The eternal weight of guilt fell on her shoulders, and the room grew smothering. She had to leave.
She made two steps towards the exit and was stopped by Jagger's raised arm.
He just stared at her disapprovingly for a moment, then sighed and turned to the others.
"I wish I could keep you company, but duty calls. Miss Levana, if you need anything, you can find me or someone from my team in 4th barracks. You have a roof over your head here, right?.."
"Thank you for worrying, but Master Makhos took care of everything. I was given a nice room in Servant's quarters—on the first floor! I will be fine." Levana waved to Jagger and turned to Adia. "How can this be your fault? If anything, it's… Well, certainly not ours, alright? It's another one of God's shitty 'trials', I bet."
Jagger wished the girls (who weren't really listening anymore) goodbye and walked away. Narcisa naturally fell into step with him, expecting to hear a reason he stopped her earlier.
The sergeant began speaking when they left the hospital.
"Exemplar Commander called me for a briefing today, Narcisa. In twelve days, we will be sent on our next mission, with or without Zemin—and from what I gather, it will be a bad one. Are his chances…?"
"They are the same as they always were. Hope and pray, Jagger."
"I will. I will… At least Danis and Citri are well on their way to full recovery."
Narcisa nodded, but her mind was elsewhere. 12 days.
Was that the timer ticking away days of her own life, too?
'But I bet that even if Zemin sleeps through this one, Commander will send him somewhere nasty as soon as he can.'