Against the Tide - A New Elysium Story [Complete]

New Shores

Cyril woke up to a deafening drumming and screeching noise.

It took him a moment to figure out that it was, in fact, only the sound of his own heartbeat and the blood rushing through his body. There was a sickening taste of bile on his tongue, which felt as if he had been licking sand paper. A colossal headache had taken up residence inside his skull, one of the kind he hadn't experienced in years – he had a hangover.

He opened his eyes tentatively, half-expecting to be greeted by the harsh lights in his practice, but he was at home. He was grateful that the room was bathed in nothing more than the bluish twilight of early morning. It was just as much as he could tolerate.

He recalled that he had been in the clinic last night drowning in work, but when he tried to recall how he had gotten back here, his mind was blank. His head felt empty, except for the leaden feeling and heavy pounding of his headache.

With a groan of pain he tried to sit up, but he couldn't move his left arm. As he turned his head to look to the side, he spotted the reason why, and froze up completely.

Somebody's head was resting on his arm. A head with distinct black-and-white hair.

Feeling a sense of utter terror creep up inside of him, Cyril let his gaze wander down along her body. Amy was lying with her back to him, huddled into the blanket that she had pulled up all the way to her face. But to his relief, he could spot the straps of a top and bra over her shoulders from this angle. So at least she wasn't naked. Neither was he, he noted next. At least not completely. He had no idea what had happened last night, but at least he was fairly certain now about what had not happened.

He was raking his brain in an attempt to remember, as Amy suddenly heaved a soft sigh and moved. He tried to extract his arm out from under her, but stopped as he could feel an ice cold hand grab hold of it, keeping it in place.

"Harper, I swear to god, If you get up and leave now you will have exactly thirty seconds of a head start until I am fully awake and will come after you to end you," she growled in a low voice.

He winced, and both her words and her icy touch caused him to tremble. She sighed again, and let go of his arm, but he didn't dare to move now. She turned around slowly, and met his gaze.

"Just kidding," she said with a smirk. "I've been fully awake for an hour. I'd just give you a head start because I'm a good-hearted person."

He stared at her, dumbfounded and horrified, while she seemed to revel in the terrified look on his face.

"What... what happened last night?" he croaked weakly.

"Hm. You don't remember?" she asked. She turned on her back and looked up at the ceiling. His arm was still under her and was beginning to feel numb, but he still didn't dare to move it.

"From what I recall, my doctor told me not to drink because of my liver," she said, "And then he proceeded to get totally smashed himself."

He remembered some of that now. It had been a rather spontaneous get together. A small group of people from the hospital and the docks. Somebody had brought the heaviest liquor he had ever tasted, some crazy moonshine the guys from the docks had produced right here on New Elysium. Most other people in the group had been augments, one way or another, and had a much higher tolerance for alcohol than him, thanks to their systems. That hadn't kept Cyril from trying to keep up with them.

But it still didn't explain her presence in his bed.

"My ship's in the hangar for repairs overnight, so I'd just have taken one of the spare rooms in the barracks for tonight, but you offered me to come over to your place," she explained as if she had read his thoughts. "...said something about ensuring that I get a good night's rest being part of your responsibility as my doctor."