Nightspell || Michael Clifford

Chapter 26

The next morning I jolted awake when Michael ran out of the cabin.
Seconds later, I heard him throw up again.
I sighed, sat up and leant back against the wall.
When Michael showed up again, his face was paler than I remembered it to be yesterday and he was clutching his stomach as if it was about to be ripped off of his body.
He didn't look at me as he went back to the hammock and carefully laid down.
Afraid that moving to fast would make him feel even worse.
'Hey,' I said, grabbing a full waterbottle and using my arms to carry myself over to his bed.
I wasn't wearing my leg brace so I couldn't walk to him. 'Drink this.' I continued.
Michael opened one eye to see where the waterbottle was and grabbed it.
'I might throw up again.' He mumbled tiredly.
'I don't think there's anything left in your stomach to throw out at this point. Besides, if you get dehydrated you'll only feel worse.'
Michael sighed and slowly took a few sips.
'No more than that.' He mumbled, holding the bottle out to me again.
Taking the bottle out of his hands, I moved back to where I had my makeshift bed and grabbed my legbrace that was laying on the floor there.
'What are you doing.' Michael wondered, he looked at me as if he was worried I'd go do something stupid.
'I'm strapping my leg in my legbrace,' I replied as I finished strapping it in. Now all I had to do was get up without reminding Michael that it was malfunctioning again.
'Why?' He asked as he rubbed his eyes.
'Because I'm hungry,' I replied. 'I'm going to grab some fruit. Do you want something?'
Michael shook his head. 'I'm not hungry. Don't go anywhere else. Please? If something happens I can't help you and it makes me nervous.'
'Okay, as long as you get some more rest. You look like you haven't slept in 6 years.'
Michael smiled carefully and closed his eyes.'Deal.'
Smiling, I pulled myself up using the wall as support and stumbled out of the cabin as quietly as I could.
Grabbing a banana and the last of the raspberrys, I walked onto the beach.
I could eat breakfast while "bathing", right? I could use a clean up.
Looking back at the cabin, I decided Michael was probably fast asleep already.
He wouldn't notice that I'd left for a little bit longer than it took to grab some fruit.
I put the jar of raspberrys and the banana down in the sand, found the stick I had used last time to get out of the water and walked back to where I had placed the fruit.
Sitting down in the sand, I took my legbrace off and put it down beside me.
Then, I took of my clothes and quickly washed them in the water before laying them out to dry.
Using the stick, I pulled myself upright, and hopped into the sea, dragging my paralyzed leg after me.
When I was far enough in the water, I sat down and took a deep breath.
I turned around to grab my breakfast and realized I had left it at the shore. I grinned and shook my head. That was definitely something I would do.
Finally relaxing after a rough day yesterday, I decided I could have breakfast after I was done bathing.
I enjoyed feeling as independent as I had yesterday but it took a tol on my body. My muscles were aching in places I didn't even know they could.
I never wanted to admit it but I had a privelegd life before this.
I never had to move this much, never had to make sure there was enough food. I only had to get up for classes.
Everything else was taken care of.
I leaned back until only my face was still out of the water, hoping my hair would feel a little cleaner after this.
When my good leg was starting to struggle with keeping my balance, I sat back up and looked at the water in front of me.
It's funny how, when you're on land the water always seems to be empty, but when you go into the water even just a little bit, you'll see so much life.
Looking at the waterplants and seaweeds, I was reminded of the stories Steven, our chef, always told me.
I scooched further into the water, to the seaweeds that were growing on my right.
A small smile spread across my face. Maybe this could help Michael feel better?
Ripping a few pieces off the seaweed, I quickly washed them to make sure they were clean and I made my way back to the shore. Excited that I might be able to help Michael out after all.
Quickly dressing myself, I tried to ignore the fact that my clothes were still wet, and strapped my leg back into my legbrace.
I stood up and stumbled to the fire behind the cabin, tightly holding on to the seaweed.
Trying to remember the steps Steven had once taught me, I put the seaweed in a coconutshell bowl, grabbed another empty bowl and walked back to the sea.
Seaweed tastes best if you either dry it out, or cook it and seeing as drying it out takes a couple of days, he'd have to do with cooked seaweed.
I stumbled up and down the shore, filling the pot on the fire with water. Just enough for the seaweed to cook in.
By the time I had enough water, I was out of breath and thirsty, but my legs were aching so much I couldn't get myself to stand up and go inside the cabin to grab a bottle of water.
When the water was boiling, I grabbed the seaweed and threw it in the pot.
I kind of felt like a witch, cooking up some kind of potion.
Stirring continuously, I let the seaweed soak in the boiling water for a few minutes before taking it out of the pan.
I allowed the water to drip off of the seaweed before I decided to cut it into smaller pieces.
When it was done, I got up and stumbled back into the cabin only to find Michael hurriedly trying to put his pants and shoes back on.
'Hey,' I said, instantly getting Michael's attention. 'What are you doing? Get back into bed.'
Putting the bowl with seaweed on te desk and stumbled further into the cabin, no longer caring whether Michael saw me struggling with my lebrace or not.
'Where were you?' Michael asked, completely ignoring my request. He looked down at my legs, watching me struggle but he didn't say anything. 'You said you'd just go and get some breakfast. Grabbing breakfast doesn't take that long.' He continued as he pulled me in a hug.
'I'm sorry. But I'm fine.' I said 'Can you take your shoes off and get back in the hammock. Please?'
Michael grabbed one of my shoulders and looked at me worriedly. 'Where did you go?' he asked, clutching his stomach with the hand he had left.
'I just went into the sea to clean myself up. Now can you please get back into the hammock?' I replied.
Michael looked at the hammock longingly and nodded. He sat down and took his shoes off.
'I had an idea when I was in the sea.' I said, as Michael took his pants of and laid down in the hammock.
He didn't reply but I knew he was listening.
I stumbled back to the desk and grabbed the seaweed before walking back to Michael.
'Eat this.' I said, holding out the bowl to him.
'What is this?' he frowned, looking at what was inside the bowl.
'Seaweed,' I grinned 'Whenever I'd get sick, Steven would always add seaweed to my meals.
I know it sounds strange but seaweed is really healthy. It helps with purifying your blood, it draws out waste products and it helps to keep your antibodies intact. It doesn't have the best taste but I'm pretty sure it's the healthiest thing we can get on this island.'
Michael looked at me and nodded before taking a piece of the seaweed and eating it.
He scrunched his nose and shook his head. 'Nope, definitely not eating this because it tastes so good.'