Hunter Sky

B2: Chapter 13 - The Truth Hurts

Two weeks passed by, and in that time. Nia made it her duty to look after Zack and help him around. She fed him, she helped him to move to different locations, and she massaged his injured right arm each day with special healing ointments. The only thing she couldn't help him with was the bathroom, as he was shy of anyone seeing him naked.

She walked down the dark dorm hallway alone, not one student in sight. It was early in the morning on the cusp of the sunrise, where the sun shone its weakest light upon the earth. While everyone was assumably still asleep, Nia made her way from the left manor through an overhead bridge that linked to the middle manor.

She strode across the overhead bridge with a wanting smile on her face, clasping her hands at her heart as she felt the cool of the morning breeze touch her skin. Her body quivered at the wind massaging her skin, and her cheeks turned red at the thought of a certain someone's embrace. The way the wind caressed her skin reminded her of a vision that invited itself into her slumber the night before.

She covered one side of her face with her palm. "It was just a dream. It is not real," she reinforced herself to control her feelings.

She looked up at the overcast greyish-blue skies, particularly at a cloud that seemed to resemble a cupid's heart. She beamed with a smile as she clasped her hands at the center of her chest. For so long she wanted to release this secret she had kept bottled up inside her for so long, but the time and place just felt all wrong.

She held her head down with her shoulders slouched and her hands now interlocked under her neck. She folded her lips in a sad frown. Maybe it would all backfire in her face if tried to confess her feelings. She held her head back up to the sky to see the fluffy heart-shaped cloud.

Her view of the skies was then obstructed as she entered the middle manor through an open passage. Without the clouds to guide her, she looked ahead down the sparsely lit dorm hall, recounting the past two weeks she spent looking after Zack.

Each morning, she left her dorm early in the morning to go check on him before class. Then after class she came back and would spend the rest of the day with him, until nightfall when she would head back to her dorm. Sometimes when he wanted to leave the room she would ask Jirell to carry him around, and when he and the others weren't available she would carry his weight herself.

Others might have seen this as a daunting and demanding task, but it never occurred to her as such. Juggling her training, studies, hobbies, and looking after Zack became a regular part of her schedule. She even found a bit of joy in helping him as she felt their time together brought them somewhat closer.

Despite her relationship with the group was much better than two years ago, she still felt like an outsider. Like she was sitting on the fence, watching the others bond over memories she was not present in.

Helping Zack made her feel as if she was finally getting to know him on a deeper level. As if she was finally becoming a solid member of their group. Each day for the past two weeks she would look forward to spending time with him in his dorm. Just talking, making jokes, and reading books aloud for him to help calm his unsettled nerves that got worse with each passing day.

As for Zack, he became frustrated with his impediment and the fact that his body showed no signs of improvement. He began to question everything. The doctor said he would recover in a few days, week tops maybe. But it was now two weeks and he still could not move on his own.

As he laid on his lower bunk, covered in his blanket. He began to think about the graduation that was coming up in one month, and was eager to attend.

"Zack, are you awake?" a soft voice called from the door.