Eliona's War 2: Veiled Healer

Chapter 2

Seth Veregin's eyes flew open, a gasp catching in his throat. Darkness greeted him, heavy and encompassing, and he nearly panicked until he realized it was just the VR headset over his face. Without hesitation he reached up and tore it off, letting it slip from trembling fingers to fall onto his bed.

Light drifted in through his partially-closed bedroom door, albeit dimly. As it was the only source of light in the room, he turned his face towards it, instinctively searching for something familiar, something safe.

His heart beat rapidly in his chest, hard enough that he could hear the pounding rhythm in his ears. Sweat soaked his hair, plastering it to his head, and a drop of it began to slide down his temple.

Seth went to wipe it away but froze when the movement sent a twinge of pain through his left shoulder.

"That's...?"

He bolted upright and immediately regretted it. The motion made the world spin around him, giving him no warning before bile rocketed up his throat. He barely managed to lean over the edge of his bed before he vomited.

A bundle of dark blue clothes on the floor caught the brunt of it. Some distant part of his mind registered pale green penguins upon the dark blue, which prompted a miserable moan to break free. Those were his favorite shorts!

Then he was heaving again, his stomach contracting so violently that it hurt. Tears came to his eyes, and it was all he could do just to grip the edge of his bed and ride it out.

When it ended, he was a shaking mess. His head throbbed, a sure sign that a terrible headache was on its way. Bewildered, he gazed blankly at what had once been his favorite pair of sleep shorts.

Where had this even come from? He hadn't been this violently ill in a long time. Before he'd gone into the game, he'd been perfectly fine.

The game!

His blood turned to ice and his mind skittered to a single point. Maun had touched him. A game person, an NPC, had touched him, had done something, and whatever it was had forcibly booted him from the game.

Seth carefully pushed himself up, grimacing as the room seemed to sway around him. Trying to sit up again might have been a mistake, but he didn't care. He had to see.

Twisting, he yanked up the sleeve of his T-shirt and angled his left side towards the dim light coming from his doorway. It was hard to see much in the small amount of light, but the skin on his left arm and shoulder looked normal.

Cautiously, he ran his fingertips over the area. A dull pain made him jerk his hand away. It was like touching a bruise, but he couldn't see anything there.

What did he do?

How was this even possible? It was just a virtual reality game. No part of it was supposed to be real!

It's not, he told himself. Maybe it was the residual effect of the game kicking him out. It could have been a bad glitch. He wasn't supposed to feel pain in the game, so maybe when it somehow happened, his brain thought it was real, and whatever failsafe the game had logged him out.

Yeah, that's probably it. I bet I'll feel better after some sleep.

Feeling assured, Seth decided he'd do exactly that. But first, he needed to clean up. The smell of his own sour vomit was stinking up his room.

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, scooted his butt forward, and stood. He took a step. Rather, he tried to take a step.

Something went wrong, horribly wrong, and he crashed onto the floor, his left elbow and knee the first to hit. The impact drove the breath from his lungs and sent pain spiking up his arm from his elbow.