Tadc Caine x oc :33

First Signs of Being Wrong

Acacius had put it on. The headset. With a scared little flinch as it began covering his eyes - his pale little hands were shaking. He'd never tried Virtual Reality (or, VR, as the arcade guy had called it), so this was pretty scary for him. He felt a bit sick and his stomach grumbled a little as he held up the headset over his forehead on eye level. He could see tons of colors, and winced internally - and, as it seemed, on the outside as well. Then, a bright light flashed in his eyes, he gasped suddenly, shut his eyes almost comically, tossed the set back to the man on the stand, who just sighed in exasperation and kept on the line. Meanwhile, Acacius was practically running for his life, his eyes now wide and panicked as he struggled to breathe, millions of different and unnatural colors flashing in his sight, mashing with the normal world he was way too used to seeing.

His phone kept on beeping in his back pocket, but he couldn't hear or feel anything anymore, hyperventilating as he ran, and kept on running, without ever even thinking about the supposed direction, clutching his stomach. He felt he might throw up any minute now, and looked around frantically. Some teen girl that walked past made a face that was the absolute mix of baffled shock and disgust. His lips parted for a second and he shot straight in the direction of the pop culture store I Swear I Have Style. In the extra reflective windows, he saw his face - his skin yellow, and his scleras darkening, his lips dried. What the-- what could this be?!

But, before he could get even more anxious... the world decided to play some Hide and Seek. And Acacius wasn't a very good seeker.

Quite some time later (unbeknownst to Acacius, it had been almost 13 hours since his fall), but now, he woke up in a.. hospital? He looked up, confused, his vision blurring badly before zooming in on the friendly face of a nurse. He frowned instantly.

"No."

"B- But sir, you need your rest--" The poor girl tried futilely to push the young man back down into bed as Acacius plucked out every small cable and IVs from his arms, throwing them on the ground, growling, and rushing instantly to a nearby mirror despite the poor nurse's pleas.

His breath caught in his throat and his lungs emptied instantly. His skin was a mixed shade between gray and yellow, and it looked terrible. His scleras weren't even white! "W- what the--" He stumbled back, eyes wide, clutching his changed face till he anxiously wrapped his arms tightly around himself - just to feel a much scrawnier, gaunty frame that looked like it'd been through Hell - literally.

His eyes slowly shifted back up to the worried, petite nurse who'd broken a sweat a little while trying to get him back to the medical bed. He suddenly pressed back against the wall, hugging himself, shaking, let out a broken little laugh and slid down the wall miserably till he was in a tragic sitting position, clearly cracking under the pressure of seeing himself in the mirror like that and feeling his ribs under his thin fingers. The nurse knelt carefully in front of him, trying to smile slightly as she cupped his face and sighed softly. "The doctor should be back with your results soon, kiddo. I'm sorry, this must be incredibly difficult for you."

"I... Has anyone called or been here?" He finally dared to ask, wide-eyed as he stared up at the nice girl, sniffling and wiping his tears in a futile attempt to seem as if he was doing okay.

The nurse froze suddenly and her eyes shifted away nervously as she gently led him back up to the bed. "N- no, sorry, kiddo. We- uh- we called your mother. Once she heard who it was about, she, uh, hung up. I'm really sorry..."

"No, no, it's fine. She declared me dead a few years ago." He sighed. "I'm- uh- genderfluid. She doesn't want me anymore after I admitted I don't feel like a boy all the time. I should apologize, really. Sorry. Sorry for... for bothering, I suppose. I shouldn't be here." He'd finally seemed to calm down, or at least the nurse hoped so. He lied back down in the bed under her gentle hands pressing his shoulders back, now staring up at the ceiling.

"What... happened to me?" He looked over to the nurse, now seeming a bit more curious instead of angry.

"Well... to let you in on a bit of a secret.. Even the head doctor isn't fully sure. Someone called in here to inform us of a passed out young man at the mall and we had to send an ambulance. Nothing seems to be wrong with you visually, though..." She breathed out softly, trying to calm her breaths slowly. "But your heart rate has been a bit too high for the past... few... uhm.. six hours?"

His breath caught in his throat a bit too late when the words finally registered in his colorful brain.

"Wait."

"For how long have I been in here?"

She winced a bit. "13."

"13 WHAT." He was hyperventilating by now, his eyes blown wide.

She pushed him back down onto the bed, wordless. As if words had been running and she'd been walking much far behind. She was unsure what to say. Maybe she feared if she admitted the truth it would come back to haunt her. So she picked nothing. She picked the neutral side, which was just as dangerous as any.

Just when he was to jump right out of the bed again, panicking, the head doctor stepped in. Stoic. Sterile. Unflappable.

"S- sir!!" The nurse jumped up instantly, straightening herself the moment the door opened. Acacius froze as well, but still refused to lie back down.

The doctor stepped closer to the bed, frowned just a slight bit at the disarray of things, and in the middle of it, a panicking young man with pale, yellow-tinted skin, quite the strange eyes, who, despite everything - seemed to be in well condition. He sighed under his breath.

"The results came in a while ago, Mr Vale."

"You're perfectly fine."

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Hii! I'm the author, coming back after a long time of not using Wattpad! I used to write things that are now considered very cringe, but - I will not be taking those down, so you can check them out anytime! I keep them for fun, and because people seemed to like the Ein one, I suppose. :))
Anyway, I'm gonna try to be active on here again, writing my lil yumeship fanfic over here :))

Enjoy!