Minds in Mines

Chapter 26: Elephants

Before her fever broke yesterday night, Ray felt chills. It seemed that AB did not feel chills, though. His skin just burned up. So, Ray went to her overnight bag and took out a towel. She damped the towel with water and wiped AB's face and neck with it. The cool towel seemed to calm him down a little.

"Thank you," AB said weakly. "I'm sorry abo–"

"Sshh... it's okay. Save your energy."

"I was trying to ta–"

"You were trying to take your mind off the pain then."

"Yes..."

"You should have told us about how you felt."

AB suddenly groaned and pressed his stomach. His body convulsed, and without warning, he vomited. Having only biscuits and yams for the past few days, there was not much that he threw up. Most of it was spit and probably bile from the greenish look of it.

Ray wiped AB's face with the towel and asked Moony to clean the ground and spread ash there to remove the smell of the vomit.

"Don't press your stomach. You're only making the pain worse."

Ray moved AB's hand aside, but his other hand went to do it.

"Moony, please hold that hand so he won't press his stomach."

Moony went to sit on AB's other side and held his hand after clearing the ground from the vomit as best as he could. An hour passed as the two of them try their best to hold AB's hands from going to his stomach and calm him down. Out of pain and fatigue, AB went into a restless sleep.

"It seems that man didn't inform Maximus about AB," Moony said pessimistically.

"Let's wait for sunrise to come and try calling him again."

"Will AB survive until morning comes? He truly looks like he's about to die."

"Stay positive, Moony. Your negative thoughts might reach him. Let's just pray he'll make it to sunrise."

AB woke up in agony twenty minutes later and they repeated the cycle of holding his hands down, comforting and calming him down with the damp towel, and watching helplessly as he fell into another unrestful nap.

"I'm sorry about what AB and I did earlier," Moony said to Ray while AB was napping. "We have no right to discuss your personal life like that."

"Apology's accepted."

"I'm really glad you're not with Farz, though. It means there is a chance."

"Moony, you're married. Think about your wife and children. I'm not worth it to have an affair with."

"Oh, no! Not a chance with me. With AB. Do you remember what I told you several days ago about him growing a soft spot for you very quickly? I think you must be aware that he's attracted to you."

Ray did not react to what Moony said.

"You were not aware of that? Seriously? Look, I've known AB for years. I can tell for sure that he's attracted to you. I thought it was weird. I thought it was only my imagination. But no wonder now because apparently, he had known the truth about you and Farz early on."

When Ray still did not acknowledge what he said, Moony continued.

"He tried to stay close to you all the time. Shouldn't that have told you something? And the way he got into a fight with Shotty after he pushed you, that should have also told you something. I reckoned it was unusual when you told me he went into a bossy mode since AB was never bossy. It turned out, this man was just overly worried about you. He wanted you to stay safe and protected. That should have told you something.