Jiwa

Chapter Eight

Fa ha ha! You were ejected from your own body! You really suck!

Shut up! I said to it. I tried to look around but realized I had no body. I could only interact with this voice. Was I dreaming?

Hey, Priss. I have a question for you. Think you can pull off answering it?

My name is Fiona! I said furiously.

Haha, I'm sure it is, loser. Oh sorry, miss Prissy-I-Have-A-Name. What was your name again?

It's...it's...it's Fee...no, wait, I think it starts with F...

HA! Prissy is losing her mi-ind! Prissy is losing her mi-ind! Prissy is losing her mi-ind!

"I AM NOT LOSING MY MIND!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. But the voice was gone. I was back in the hospital ward.

Kelly immediately dropped her book and rushed towards me. Devi snorted awake and looked at me with confusion.

"Fiona!" said Kelly. I saw the nurse stepping out of her office. "Fiona, look at me. Hey, hey, look at me. It's fine, you're OK. Your rasp is gone!" Devi walked over, concerned.

"Fiona, it's ok. No one thinks you're crazy," she said.

"What? No, I was just yelling at the voice! This time it was insisting I was going crazy!" I said, getting angrier by the minute.

"No, no, no, don't worry about that Fee! It's all normal, you're fine," assured Kelly.

"It's fine!? I'm NORMAL!? It's FINE and NORMAL to have a little voice telling you you're going crazy!?" I shouted.

"What Kelly is trying to say, Fiona, is that you are exhibiting a symptom of the sickness." said the nurse, gently pushing Kelly and Devi away from my bedside.

"There was some new output from the Medical Department, and I think you should hear it." She produced a crisp white paper and began to read.

"'All who have symptoms related to the illness may also experience extreme paranoia, hear voices, or experience delusions similar to those of schizophrenia.' So, you're not crazy, it's just the disease." 

Kelly nodded, then turned and mouthed something to the nurse, passing her an envelope. The nurse sighed and went into the other room, taking the mysterious mail with her. Devi turned to me, with a frantic expression in her eyes.

"We think we can stop the visions, though. But we need to get you out of here; Fee, there are rumors that after a week of being in here, with the sickness, they give you the Death Draught! We can't let that happen to you, so we are going to break you out. Of the hospital. Kelly's gonna talk up the guard tonight, and we are going to spell you out of here. OK? So don't worry, just hang in there. We've got your back."

"Wait wait wait-" I started. "Whaddya mean...Death Draught? Jailbreak? Devi, you're going way too fast! I can't keep up!" Devi rubbed her forehead and dragged her hand down her face.

"Fee, we want you out of here, we really do, but we don't want any damage to your jiwa. If this disease is really so bad, what if something were to happen? Anything were to happen? There goes not only your magic but also your consciousness, your connection to the sisi lain! How could we fix that? So let us help. We won't let you die," she vowed.

Tiredly, I nodded. I lay my head back against the pillow and surveyed the beeping machines around me. I craned my neck and spied a tube that relieved me, and another that fed me. Hanging above the bed was a mask, ready to be thrust upon my face and supply me with oxygen. Was I really this sick? Had it not been for the voice, I could have passed it off as an extreme strain of the cold. I certainly would never have imagined it was a deadly, silent killer that left me an invalid for days on end.

I sighed again and did not protest as the silver liquid drained into my bloodstream, pulling me again into unconsciousness.