Maturinus: School Days

Open Problem

The rest of the night was a blur to her. She'd woken up the next morning with a chill in her bones and tear trails on her cheeks. Her hands were sore and there was a dent in her door. She'd taken a shower to warm up and to pass the time until curfew lifted at seven, and the door had barely opened before she was forcing her way out, marching to the Medical Centre. The receptionist there looked like she couldn't believe her eyes when she walked in and asked for Sabrina. Clearly the idea of a student visiting at quarter past seven in the morning escaped her. And while she looked skeptical, she let her through to the communal room where Sabrina was resting; sleeping easily in spite of the injuries she'd suffered.

"Normally we don't allow visitors when patients are sleeping, but considering we'll be letting her go at eight, you can sit in until then. It'll be good for her to see a friend when she wakes up. Fighting Reaper tends to be an experience that leaves a mark."

Katie thanked her as she left, taking up the solitary chair by the side of the bed. The hour ticked by slowly, and she used the time to practice small transformations, using her hands as a base. Ever since her first breakthrough she'd found it easier to channel her power with each day. Now it was more a matter of figuring out how to use it and the limitations on what she could do. Hopefully she'd be able to master it completely in due time, as there was still the odd hiccup, a point proved when the spinnerets on her wrist failed to vanish for ten minutes after she was done experimenting with them. But by the time eight rolled around she had a pretty good idea of what she'd be working on for afternoon training. The nurse appeared again, tutting as she looked at the snoring Sabrina. Before Katie could say anything, she'd pulled out a small pronged device and driven it into the base of her neck, Sabrina snapping awake as it sounded. She seemed unhappy to be awake, groaning into her hands as she sat up.

"Fuuuuuuck. What the hell happened to me?"

"Your fight with Reaper went poorly. It seemed he was feeling merciful last night, considering that he missed your vital organs."

"All of them?"

"Yes, so you've got no excuses not to go to class. Get a move on; you've only got an hour. Come on, both of you out."

And so they were unceremoniously ushered out, the nurse ignoring Sabrina's protests for five more minutes of sleep. Once outside, Sabrina picked at the holes in her compression gear and frowned.

"Damn it, these aren't bad enough for me to just get a new shirt. Hey, you think Cherri knows how to sew? She seems like the girly-girl type."

Her grievances faltered in the face of Katie's soft frown.

"All right, let me have it."

She tried. She really did. The anger was there, a hot spot in her chest that demanded she question what the hell Sabrina was thinking at all when it came to the Arena. But the heat was smothered by the fact that she was still alive, and the internal embarrassment that she might have overreacted. No-one ever really got hurt in Arena contests after all, not when students could be patched up with a nurse's healing touch or nanomachines.

"So... o-one g-g-good p-punch, huh?"

Her eyes were on the ground, but she still felt Sabrina's arm over her shoulder as she leaned in.

"Yeah, I kinda fucked up. I was too slow, and he got me."

"I'll say. That was disgraceful."

Katie shot out of her reserve to find Bradley standing behind them in the doorway, covered in bandages and looking extraordinarily pale even for him. Sabrina pushed Katie behind her, her palms lighting up.

"Calm down you muscle-bound fool, I don't want another fight. Not yet anyway."

A couple of nurses were milling around in the hospital windows as a pair of soldiers appeared, fixing assault rifles on his back. Clearly Bradley wasn't supposed to be out of bed. Not that that was going to stop him from committing to one of his rants.