I was beginning to wonder if Diane had died in her sleep. I really hoped not. Even the thought of it made my heart hurt. Everyone else in Sanctuary was awake, other than a couple of night sentries. Even Trish had been up long enough that she looked awake.
I whirled the sling before letting the one strap go. The rock pinged off the edge of the target. That actually wasn't bad considering how little I had practiced with this. Movement caught my eye. I started running towards Diane as she was gracefully descending the ladder to the ground.
She turned around in time to catch me and spin me around. Her eyes were back to their normal bright selves. She seemed to be in good spirits and didn't seem tired at all. Although considering she had slept around 12 hours, we would have had problems if she was still tired.
Diane put me down and grinned as Ace came over, "Good morning."
Ace chuckled, "Good morning. Feeling better this morning?"
Diane seemed aware of how late she slept and found humor in it, "Yes. Although I do plan on digging up some breakfast before doing anything else."
Ace grinned, "Talk to the cooks, they left a quiche in the oven to stay warm for you."
Diane grinned, "I will have to thank them for their generosity."
I was not about to tell her that it was a form of repayment. Sometimes silence was golden. Ducttape happened to be silver, and I was sure that there was some of it around here somewhere. The cook could probably manage to find some to silence me on short notice too.
Ace went back to those he was training while I went with Diane as she went in search of food. We entered the mess hall and there must have been someone watching for us. We hadn't even reached a table when a lady put a pie-sized pan of quiche on the table. Diane blinked at the large quiche and thanked the lady.
Diane's stomach growled and she wasted no time cutting a piece out and putting it in a plate. She must have been really hungry because she was eating much faster than normal. The first piece was gone in record time and she took another slice. A quiche this size could easily feed Diane, Ace and me.
I watched in growing amazement as the quiche slowly disappeared. Diane finally sighed and put down her fork when almost three quarters of the quiche resided in her stomach. Or I assumed it was in her stomach and that she hadn't managed to pull a few magic tricks out to make it disappear.
I giggled and gently poked her stomach, "Where did you put all of that?"
Diane also found it humorous, "I have no idea."
Diane picked up her dishes and went to wash them. I took the washed dishes and started to dry them. Diane washed her fork while making sure that she got between the tines, "So how many people noticed that I was sleeping last night?"
Ah, so she was wondering how many had seen her and commented about it. She didn't like being the center of attention. Just wait until she found out about the bets...
I grinned at her, "Anyone with Heartfire who had homes nearby noticed, of course. You were pretty well hidden in that lounger though. A cold wind came up for a while and Ace put a blanket over you. You didn't even wake up. That surprised anyone who was sitting nearby. Some of the Messengers sat nearby to keep an eye on you while Ace took me out for a run. They thought about trying to move the entire lounger into the house, but you still had your belt knife and dagger on your belt. They weren't sure how well you would react if they startled you awake, so they didn't try it. I went to bed and Ace said he would keep an eye on you."
Diane nodded slowly and seemed relieved that most hadn't seen her. I dried the plate and added, "Everyone was taking bets on when you would wake up this morning. Kerry wants to see you soon as well."
Diane glanced at me in surprise, "Why does Kerry want to see me?"
I looked up at her, "To make sure that you are okay. She said she didn't realize you were in such bad shape until you had already left."
Diane pursed her lips, "I was pretty tired. Did others think I was in bad shape?" She didn't like admitting it, but she was skirting around the subject while acknowledging the truth.
I grinned at Diane, "As Kerry pointed out, it is not a good thing when anyone with established Heartfire can barely travel 400 feet in an half an hour and doesn't wake up when someone drops a heavy blanket on them."
Diane winced and changed the subject, "So who won the bet?"
I giggled loudly at the best part, "No one! Everyone thought that you would be up by 7:30 at the latest."
Diane shook her head and dried her hands, "Well, let's go find Kerry before she comes looking for us."
I followed Diane as she headed down the meadow. Ace glanced at us, but kept training. He knew where were we going and probably didn't feel like antagonizing Kerry again.
Kerry was predictably in her office and looked up as we entered, "Please take a seat."
I took a seat beside Diane to act as moral support. Kerry was in no better of a mood now than she had been in earlier. She was still a bit grumpy. Kerry reached into a drawer placed an altered epipen on the desk. Diane blinked in surprise before taking it and stowing it in her beltpouch that she carried instead of her backpack when inside the meadow.
Kerry cleared her throat, her voice was calm and serious, "Why didn't you tell me how bad you were last night?"
Diane sighed, "I didn't think it was quite that bad until I started moving."
She was not mollified, "And when you realized that you were mistaken? When you had started joking around, I figured that the worst was over. I did not anticipate that it would take you over half an hour to make a journey that took you five minutes the night before."
Diane grinned slightly, "I wasn't ready to admit defeat. Besides, even if I had said something, what would you have done? It isn't exactly possible to carry me up a ladder. Roland really needs to install an elevator you know. Someone is bound to break an arm or collarbone one day and be unable to manage that ladder."
Kerry made a face, "I am oddly grateful to those people who set up those loungers and put that one on such an angle. You were nearly impossible to see. Most originally thought that you were inside resting. I had more than a handful come to see me to find out if you were injured somehow after they spotted you. Unfortunately, rumors are spreading fast about Ace putting that heavy quilt on you and you not waking up. Luckily most immediately dismissed them, but the fact that you slept so late is making some reconsider."
Diane shrugged, there wasn't much she could really say. She fell asleep on a deck and a few people saw her. It wasn't as if she had laid down for a nap outside of the protected meadow.
Kerry continued, "The other symptoms you had worry me though. I have never seen a fired person's eyes unable to brighten in the dark once their eyes gained the ability to glow. I have also never seen anyone who was fired shiver before, this is more concerning considering the fact that most were not even wearing jackets with the warm spring weather. I can barely sleep for six hours and I simply cannot wrap my head around how you managed to sleep for at least twelve."
Diane shrugged once more as she attempted to mollify Kerry, "I did go out for a run early in the morning."
Kerry raised an eyebrow, "I saw you on your return trip. You were barely jogging and your eyes were still dim. I don't even think that you saw me standing in the dark shadows. I know Ace saw me since he looked right at me."
Huh. That must have been before Diane came inside. Kerry was right though, Diane's surprised expression said that she hadn't seen her. Diane sighed heavily, "I did not realize how much the aftereffects stacked up. I felt just fine yesterday morning and thought I was fully recovered. I had no clue what I was getting into and I am glad that I did it in a controlled fashion instead of in an emergency situation. I am not sure what more you want me to say."
Kerry smirked as Diane finally touched on the real subject, "I want you to say that you do not plan on doing that again." Kerry had finished her lecture and was back to normal.
Diane chuckled and pulled out the epipen, "That is what this is for."
Kerry shook her head in amusement, "Oh, by the way, Amber stopped in earlier. She does not want you doing any sort of hard work today. She says if she thought she had half a chance of you actually listening, she would forbid you from working at all today, but instead she asked for you to only do occasional light or easy work. If you try too much, she or Todd will send someone to intervene."
I blinked in surprise, that was not what I had heard. It was Kerry who didn't want Diane to do anything all day. She was putting words in Amber's mouth, perhaps seeing if Diane might listen better since Diane greatly respected the easy-going Amber who had always welcomed her so readily when we had first encountered Roland's group.
Diane shook her head in exasperation, "A bit of hard work won't hurt me. I feel fine and I should be right as rain as long as I don't donate blood today or tomorrow."
Kerry shook her head, "Take it easy for a day. We are firing people later tonight and we already have volunteers lined up to assist them all night and tomorrow. You should go for a swim on the lake tonight. I know you love swimming and there are all sorts of water toys in the shed on the edge of the lake. Laura will enjoy it as well."
That woman was devious. She used Amber's idea and was dragging me into this conversation as well. I guess a nurse will use anything that helps her get her way with a patient that stubbornly refused to be a patient.
Her words made Diane look a bit excited though, and I remembered that we hadn't gone swimming yet this year. We had been working hard this last month and the water had been much too cold before that. Diane nodded, clearly finding the lake idea enticing.
Satisfied that Diane wasn't going to go out and chop wood or conduct fighting practice, Kerry let us make our escape. Once we were outside, Ace had the fighters start their cool down and came over to us.
"The head cook is wondering who helped you eat that quiche. He knew Laura was full and he didn't see anyone else enter the mess hall."
I giggled as I spilt the beans on Diane, "I didn't eat any. Diane ate it all."
Ace raised an eyebrow at me in disbelief, "She ate three quarters of a full sized quiche?"
His reaction was valid since Diane rarely managed to eat a third of a quiche that size. I giggled and nodded. Diane rolled her eyes, but accepted the teasing with grace.
Ace shook his head with a chuckle and glanced at Diane, "Well, I assume you heard that you aren't to do much work today. Todd already found me and told me in case you decided to pull a fast one."
Diane grinned, "Yeah I heard about. Pulling a fast one... You would have thought that they spoke with Trish or something."
That was right, she had no idea that Trish had even stopped by last night. We started walking towards the chicken coop. It was a good enough destination, no one could object to us helping to collect eggs.
Ace spoke reflectively, "Trish certainly told enough stories while you were asleep, but even she felt sorry for you last night. Did you really put a lamb in her bed once?"
Diane chuckled, "It was a bottle-fed baby. A squeal of delight was not quite the reaction I was looking for when she woke up..."
At least Diane's story matched up with Trish's tale. Unlike a certain nurse... One day I would have to tease Kerry about that where Amber would overhear it.
Ace shook his head in amusement, he had somehow thought that Trish's stories were tall tales. I hated to break it to him, but they were very likely the complete truth. Diane clearly had too much time on her hands in Wainwright Fort considering she didn't need much sleep.
We did a few small chores here and there, but when we spotted Amber and Todd watching us too closely, we decided to grab our swimsuits and head to the lake.