"Alright. Would you like the good news or bad news first?" The nurse asks. You look down.
'Bad. So that the good news will clean it all up.' you thought to yourself.
You look at the nurse.
"Bad News. "
"Alright... The blood results have come up with a negative response. Your blood has uneven levels of red and white blood cells. Meaning. Not really enough white blood cells to... Fight off an infection."
You feel your face flush.
"And what does that mean?" you ask.
"It means... Well, there is very little to be done about it in this particular case. It seems you have a life threatening infection that is moving faster than your body can fight it off. Your life expectancy at this point in seven days. I'm sorry, but.. You're dy... ing..."
You feel your stomach drop. Your head drops too.
"What is good about This though, is that we work with patients in these situations all the time. We have the tools and knowledge to help you. This is a facility for strange beings after all so I wouldn't lose hope. And your case here is strange indeed." he says as his hands fold together. He smacks his lips...
"Now. . now that I think about it. This really could be good news or bad news depending on you. But with your urine samples... You're pregnant. So.. Congratulations?" he said.
You gave him a dirty look.
"I'll give you time alone. The doctor will come in with more information regarding your situation." He stands up and leaves the room. Before closing the door,
"Do you need anything?" he asks.
You just keep your head down and feel your body shake. You felt like everything in your body was breaking down. Not only physically but emotionally as well.
The peachy doctor from earlier came in with a clipboard. She smiled at you.
"Awe, darling. Everything is going to be okay."
She takes a seat where the nurse sat. She leans forward to give you the hint to look at her.
You lift your head and make eye contact.
"I need to ask you two yes or no questions," she says, looking at you.
"Do you want to live?"
"Yes," you whisper. What kind of a question was that? I don't know maybe people wanna die here. I don't know!
"Would you like to keep your fetus?"
You look around.
"Baby?"
"Yes. You are pregnant. Would you like to keep your baby?"
Your head began to spin.
'am I pregnant?' you thought.
"Yes. You are. " the doctor said.
You look up at her. She heard your thoughts
"Y-you..?"
"Yes. Yes." she says smiling at you.
You gulp air. She can read your thoughts.
What was this place?
You feel yourself go dizzy.
Your vision starts getting darker.
You blink a couple of times. But everything just goes black as you feel yourself fall onto the pillow.
You hear Toby's voice saying your name. It was echoing.
"Toby?" managed to say. Your voice echoed too. The light became visible again.
"Follow my voice!" Toby yelled.
Then everything was dark again. Out cold.
You come to, vision now blurry. You hear a knock from in front of you but can't gain the energy to speak towards it. Then you hear the door creak open.
"Hello?" It was Brian.
"Hey- come in," you say.
The door opened slowly as Brian peeked his head in. He looks around the room and says your name. You opened your eyes. You looked around the ceiling. You felt this soft plastic thing in your nose. Like two silicone straws. Air gently blew through them into your nostrils. You lift your head slightly, your body feels sore. You continue to look around the room. Your body is stiff. A nurse walks in.
"Where's Toby?" He asks.
" Uhm... don't know, I just woke up."
Brain sighs as he looks around more as if he's trying to find the words to say.
"Well..." He rubs the back of his neck. He seemed stressed.
"So, I don't know how to say this but-" Brian gets cut off by Tim.
"Hey, you. I'll be helping you out today." he says.
"Wait, why? Where's Toby?" You ask, now confused.
"I don't know," Tim shrugs.
"Do you know where he went?" He asks Brian. His jaw dropped as if he was going to say he didn't know either.
"I thought he would have at least told you. I don't know where he went, but before he left he asked me to take care of you until he gets back."
You're taken back by this.
"When will that be?"
"No idea."
"Wait-" Brian cuts in.
"Why didn't he ask me to? I'm like- way closer with her than you are!"
"Yeah that's probably why he didn't ask you." says Tim.
"Ugh!" Brian says sarcastically as he lifts his hand to his chest.
"Dude, honestly, if you want to stay here with her you can, I don't care. I have other work to do here anyway."
"Yee I'll do it then!" Brian says excitingly.
"Wait, so Toby just left and didn't say where he was going? He didn't tell anyone?"
"I mean..." Tim starts,
"This is Toby. This isn't uncommon of him, honestly."
"Really? So then you guys know where he is then?" You ask.
"No, but I know he will be back." Says Tim.
"Yeah, he always comes back." -Brian
"How long is he usually gone?"
"The longest he's been gone lasted three months. Sometimes he's back after three days. Two weeks. Hard to know exactly how long he will be out." Explains Brian.
You felt your heart sink. You start fidgeting with your hands.
"Why would he just leave?"
"I don't know, he just does sometimes."
"And... He just doesn't say anything? Doesn't tell anyone anything before he just left?"
"Nope. Honestly, I don't care where he is, when he comes back, or if he will," Says Tim.
Brian nudges Tim then nods his head towards you while keeping eye contact with Tim. Tim just looks at you then back at Brian before rolling his eyes and leaving down the hallway.
"So... Like, now what?" You ask. Brian sighs and gestures towards the door.
You both ate breakfast before getting ready to hear more news from the doctors. It was the most quiet morning since you got here.
After breakfast, you decided to sit alone for a while. Brian gave you space and left to run his own errands.
"Meet me in 20?" Brian asks as you. You give him a weak smile and nod.
"Yeah, that's fine."
Brian throws you a 'thumbs up' and closes the door behind him.
You watch him leave and then looked to the window that looked out towards the center of a courtyard garden. You watched as Brian jogged by and stopped by Tim who was just beginning to light a cigarette. You watched as they talked to each other. They just sort of talked a bit. You can't hear what they're saying and there would be no way to hear them unless you went over to them. Brian's face showed in a way like he was trying to be understanding. Tim was facing away so you couldn't tell what he might have been thinking. Finally Brian walks away. Tim turns around and looks towards the cabin almost making eye contact with you. You immediately looked away.
"So, Toby has left again?" you hear the creature say behind you in the near distance.
"Apparently," you say as you smooth over the wrinkles in your blanket.
"Figures. I wouldn't take it personally. He has many issues. I'm sure you've noticed,"
"Yeah, so?"
"So, he'll be back soon. He's got a new issue arising here he needs to attend to," The creature says.
"What would that be?" You ask almost offended. How come he gets to know everything, including your personal problems. You wait a few seconds for an answer but you hear nothing in return. You turn around to look at the creature, but he is gone. That's the first time he's done that.
"What the fuck?" You exclaim
"Fucking weirdo," You say under your breath and you pull the blanket over your shoulders and lay down.
-
Brian's company was much more soothing than Tim's was.
"Hello, sleeping beauty," A nurse says as he walks in. "Mind if I have a word with you?" he stops talking and looks at Brian.
"Alone? Patient safety stuff, you get it." He tells Brian. Brian nods and walks away. You hear a door close. The nurse looks back at you.
"You had sexual intercourse with someone who was. Uh. How do I put this... Not exactly your kind. Toby is not normal, that's obvious. He's not human. But he is not an animal, so don't worry. Uhm. You just have an infection. It's treatable. But it kills your organs. Creatures like us aren't supposed to have intercourse with humans.
This is why. And.. Now. You're pregnant. With that... This. This will work out just fine however, we have to just take some scans and ultrasounds to see how this is developing inside to make sure you are being properly taken care of."
You look straight up and feel yourself falling. You weren't falling. But it felt like the world around you was spinning.
That wasn't a dream. That happened. You are pregnant.
What was going to happen?
You take a deep breath.
"If you'd like, You could get out. It's a nice day out.." he suggests.
"Yes please.." You say.
He nods. You felt that You Could use the fresh air.
The nurse leaves the room and Brian comes in.
"Soo... What's going on?" he asks.
" I'm. I'm pregnant.." you say staring blankly into the ceiling.
"Oh... Yeah.." he rubs the back of his neck nervously.
"I know. The whole cabin knows..."
You shut your eyes tightly.
Great.
"Don't worry, girly. If You need the support, we're all here for You," he says as he places his hand on your forehead.
The nurse comes back in with a wheelchair.
Brian steps away.
"Alright, your legs are a bit weak.." he says.
' yeah, now you tell me...'
He nods his head at you to Brian.
Brian lifts your upper body as the nurse lifts your lower up, and they place you onto the chair.
"You okay?" Brian asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Ok.."
The nurse speaks again.
"Have a nice day. You can't leave the property yet," he says. He leaves the room.
You look down trying to comprehend the situation you're in.
Brian grabs the back of your wheelchair and rolls you out of the room.
"Come on, girl, let's get you outta here," he says. You both enter the hospital café.
You smell eggs and start to feel sick.
"Mmm. I'm not hungry.." you tell Brian.
"No? You've been tube fed the past two days, and you're not hungry for real food? I mean I know you just had breakfast but if it were me, I-" he says.
Your eyes widen as you turn to him.
"Huh? Two days?"
"Yeah. . . we thought we lost you. But. Idk. Whatever. You're alive. "
You look ahead.
You see a pretty pale girl eating what looked like chicken nuggets but smelled different. Not like chicken nuggets. But it smelled so good. Something deep fried.
"Brian, go over to that girl!" you demanded.
He pushes the chair over to her.
"Hey, what are you eating?" you ask curiously.
"They're deep-fried mushrooms... Wanna try one?" she asks, holding her plate out to you.
You nod, grabbing one and taking a bite from it.
Damn. You didn't care for mushrooms. (sorry if you're allergic)
But damn. You needed these right now.
"Are they given out here?" you ask.
She nods.
"Mhm. They pretty much have anything you want. "
Score? Hell, ye.
"Thank you!" you tell her. You look to Brian.
"Brian. "
"Ye ye I heard. I'll get them," he says walking away.
"Thanks! " you yell out.
He waves his hand out.
"Yeah yeah."
You giggle and look at the girl.
She had light blue eyes and long platinum-blonde hair.
She smiles at you. You smile back.
"So. Why you here? I haven't seen you before.." she asks.
"Hah. Made a mistake. I have an organ-eating infection or something like that.."
She nods.
"Let me guess. You're a human.. *gasp* " She leans forward and cups a hand over the side of her mouth trying to block out other people's ears from hearing.
Did you do it with Brian?" she whispers.
You blush,
"N-No. He's just a friend. . . "
"Oh. . " she leans back.
"How do you know Brian?" you ask.
"Small community. "
"Oh "
Brian comes back and places the plate of deep-fried mushrooms in front of you on the table with a bottle of water and a dipping sauce.
"I'm heading back to the cabin. I'll be back okay? " Brian says.
"Uh?? Hello? " you say looking at him with a ' wuttaboutme' look.
"You're safe, I'll be back. Promise. And if it's not me, it's Tim or maybe even Toby. Maybe the big man, but. Idk. Don't worry though. I'll defiantly come back for yuh." he ruffles your hair and walks away.
You look at the plate.
"Oh, so you're with the proxies?" she asks.
"Huh?"
"Oh. I guess they didn't explain it to you. I'll leave that to them.. " she looks down.
You grab a mushroom and pop it in your mouth.
Gosh. Why was this satisfying?
"So who did you do it with?" she asks.
"Hm?"
"Who did you have sex with? I know it was one of those boys," she says.
You swallow your food.
"Uh. Why do you need to know this?" you ask.
"Well. This doesn't happen often. It's kind of exciting. I honestly didn't think any of them would get into a girl's pants." she giggles.
You blush
"Oh gosh... Uh. . haha. M. Haaa... " you laugh awkwardly.
"Come on. You can tell me. I'm a therapist here. " she says.
Hmm. She didn't seem like one.
Oh well. Something in you told you that you could trust her.
"Toby," you whispered.
"Toby? Woah. He's the youngest... I remember when he used to volunteer here." she says. "Such a sweet boy."
"Really?"
"Mhm. He's so kind. He read books for the kids and helped them with crafts and such. You can tell he lost something he loved so much. " she says looking at her plate.
Wow. Toby. A family guy.
"So. Are you keeping the thing?" She asks.
"What thing?" You ask.
"The baby, fetus, whatever you want to call it."
"Uh. I don't know.. " you reply looking down at your lap.
"Well if you do, it's not bad. Babies sometimes give us motivation to be better... Being a mother prevents cancer and makes you physically healthier. But you're also so young... Maybe having a baby would stress you out. And I'm sure the big man of the house won't want to take care of the kid for you. A baby has a lot of responsibility. " she explains. Hm. She made good points.
Days gone by.
Brian visited you every night before you went to bed in the iron lung. It's been a week and no word from Toby. You and Brian were walking outside in the courtyard.
"He probably ditched me." You tell Brian.
"We both hardly knew each other but for a few months. What if this was a love phase, and we won't like each other later on?" You go on and on to Brian about these thoughts and he listened diligently.
"We don't know what he is thinking right now, kid. Truth be told he hasn't found out you're pregnant yet." He tells you.
"Well, not that I know of."
"Great! So now I really have no idea what could possibly be going on in his mind." You throw your head back and look up towards the sky.
But really, you didn't see yourself ever falling out of this feeling of Toby being the one you would spend the rest of your days with.
But You didn't know if Toby felt the same.
You sat in the wheelchair in the garden of the hospital.
That same girl from the cafeteria was with you. You found out her name was Cybil. She was a woman. She used to be a cop before she started working here.
While results weren't coming as quickly and efficient as you'd like them to be. That was because you had a lot on your mind. Looking around every so often hoping Toby would be coming back. Picturing him appearing between the trees in the distance.
"You okay?" asks Brian. You sigh, and look down.
"You seem kind of paranoid..." he says.
"I don't know, honestly,"
"What's up?"
You feel the urge to cry but also felt like there was no reason to. Being a drama queen wouldn't solve anything. Also, you didn't want to cry in front of Brian. The last thing you needed was to be seen as sensitive and emotional over little things... Was this a little thing? Or are your feelings valid? In a place like this, you couldn't tell if your feelings were valid.
"Nothing," you reply.
"Hey, I know something is bothering you. You can talk to me about it."
"Ugh!" You say as you feel the tears escape your eyes anyway. You quickly wipe them away as you look away from Brian.
"I don't know. I feel like I'm lost, honestly. I know I'm not, but I feel like a fool right now, like why would he just leave? I'd never do this to him! I... I'd never-" Your voice begins to crack as you try to explain yourself. Your head falls in defeat as your emotions took over. Brian sat down with you.
"It's okay. I get it." He says.
"I just. I know that I'm young and that I possibly won't be able to handle this alone if something were to happen." You threw your face into your hands and began to sob.
"Oh god."
You thought about your family at home. They could be looking for You. And if They found You...
You cried more.
Cybil patted your back as a way to comfort You. You lean over your own legs as you sob into your hands.
"I don't even know why I'm crying. I wish this didn't bother me," you manage to say.
"Hey... You still have a friend in me," Brian says as he tries to comfort you.
"Yeah I know, It's just that..." you sigh and keep your eyes on the ground.
"I don't know what to do. I don't know if I want to.. o...o...or if I do," your voice began to crack as you held back some tears. Genuinely feeling hurt and confused by how you were left without any warning. Without a reason to comfort you while he's gone. He just left.
"What? Want to what?" Brian asks as he leans forward trying to get some eye contact with you.
"I don't know if... I don't know if I want to stay here or keep this thing." you finally get out the deep thought that's been going on in your mind. Brian sits down next to you.
"Oh..." he whispers.
"I'm sorry, it's just that..." you sigh again. This was harder to say out loud. Especially to Brian.
"I guess I don't want to be here if Toby is going to just ditch me. Like, He's the only one I really know here. I don't know you and Tim enough to feel comfortable by myself. Don't get me wrong, I think you guys are cool. But. This whole thing was so sudden to begin with. I wanted him. I wanted to be here with him as long as he was here with me. And now with this thing in me- that's too much to just dump on someone and leave! I've just had enough of that behavior from plenty people in the past and it doesn't end up well."
"Yeah..." Brian manages to say.
You could say you were talking in the moment. Being introduced to a faceless being, you're stuck in the middle of the woods and if you want to go back home you have to get your memories completely erased. The people you've been staying with? Only the Lord knows what they be doing in the woods. What for, exactly you still don't know.
"I understand your frustration," Began Cybil. "You're going through so much alone right now and the only person here you felt the most safe and comfortable around is gone. It can be hard to comprehend under such a short amount of time."
"You know, we didn't want to be apart of this whole thing either," Brian tells you. You sniffle and look up at him while still facing the ground.
"Kind of..."
"Tim went first. He got sick, kind of like you did. Then I caught it. The whole thing is just a mess but it ended up with both of us here. We won't get the chance to live the way we used to. We're not getting our old lives back."
"You guys didn't get to choose?" you ask.
"Fuck no. I wish I could just sleep through it all sometimes. I wish a lot of things. So while I wish you would stay with us, because you're really cool, and I can see it makes Toby so much happier since you've become apart of his life, I also don't want this same life for you either. If you want to go back home, then do it. I won't stop you." he says.
"But, What if Toby does care, and He's not gone all day? What if I just leave him?"
"It's not your responsibility to make sure he's fine." Says Cybil.
You wipe your face again and nod.
"You're right. I guess I'd just feel so bad about it..."
"You should talk to Tim about this. He hate's it here more than anyone." Says Brian. You giggle,
"Yeah I can tell." You say. Brian stands up.
"I'll walk you back." He says.
Together you both head back to your room in silence while you tried to calm yourself down since crying.
As you both approached the room you were staying in you both saw Tim with the creature waiting by the door. You look at Brian for approval to talk to Tim, just wondering if now was a good time to do it. He nods and leaves you with them.
"Do you mind if I talk to Tim- alone before I get into it with you?" You tell the creature.
"As you wish," He replies before heading off with Brian. "I'll be back tomorrow."
Tim looks at you and nods. The silence was loud and long while you sat in silence and he leaned against the door frame. You finally decided to break the silence.
"Do you have something against me?" You ask. Tim looks over at you slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"It feels like... It just seems that you've been distant with me since I've got here."
Tim scoffs. You roll your eyes at him and continue talking.
"Look, I didn't know all this was going to happen. I didn't ask to be involved here in this way but,"
"But here you are, still. You had a choice, remember?" Tim cuts you off.
"So? I still do..."
"So, you don't have to stay."
"Well, you've made this easy," You say sarcastically as you start to wheel yourself into your room. Before you could get far Tim starts talking again.
"Look, if you are saying that you want to leave- I will be your biggest supporter. Go! Get out of here! I wish I had the opportunity you did. I don't like it here. I don't like what I do for a living... For survival. But I have no choice. You do. So if you're needing that push to go, I'm telling you to go now."
"But- I"
Tim cuts you off again.
"I'm telling you to go now while Toby is gone. If you wait until he comes back then he might convince you to stay."
You look down.
"Listen, this is not the place for you. Please leave. Really, I want you to consider it."
"K," You say as you stroll away from him. Tim really didn't have to think twice about it before telling you to "GTFO."
-
You couldn't sleep that night. You couldn't even bring yourself to get dressed out of your day clothes. You decided to sit by the open window and listen to the crickets chirp.
As you sat, the night was the most quiet you've ever experienced it to be. The wind wasn't even singing with the trees. As you sat outside you decided to walk around the woods. It's colder out here than it was in town or the city.
You imagined if you could walk away from all this. Just get up and leave. You were under strong surveillance, though. Not because you were a danger or anything, just because you were in a weird rehabilitation center for things you didn't think existed outside of faerie tales.
Imagine the leaves crunching below your feet as you made your way into the woods, now intending to go deeper than you had been before. The more you walked the darker it would get. There was no light except the stars. The moon not even being out to help you in the slightest. Even though you weren't really walking around enough for your legs to get tired you were starting to feel the sleep getting to you. The cool air brushing against your skin made you feel almost numb to the cold. You lay your head on the window sill.
You brought your knees up to your chest to try keeping your body warm. The cold night continued to nip at your skin.
You leaned back against the tree and closed your eyes. Your body was now becoming numb, but you didn't care.
You listened as the trees leaves ruffled against each other and the wind began to pick up, singing louder trough the trees. It was almost peaceful.
Hours went by, but it only felt like moments to you at this point.
You feel yourself doze off, and try to fight it.
Maybe I shouldn't fall asleep out here. You think to yourself.
Eventually, though, you did fall asleep.
Silence flooded your mind in the most peaceful way. Until the silence was then interrupted by what sounded like footsteps. You could barely open your eyes, but you tried anyway. You were then met face to face with familiar eyes.
It was Toby.
"You're back?" You whispered. Your voice was too weak to speak loudly. He stood outside your room window.
"Yes! I'm so happy to see you! I missed you so much!" He says as he starts to nuzzle your neck.
"I... I thought you were going to be gone...?" you say weakly.
"No, I'm here," He says as he nuzzles his face now on the other side of your neck. At this point he was just wanting to kiss you everywhere, but instead restrained from doing so.
"Wait, why are you back?"
"To see you again." He says as he continues to hold you tightly.
"You're so cold," he says as he holds your hands tightly in his own trying to warm them up. Only his hands were just as cold.
"Why did you leave?" you ask weakly.
"Shh- don't think of it too much," He whispered.
"Excuse me?" You push him off you.
"Don't think of it too much? Do you even know the slightest about what is happening? I'm literally dying and you just leave without telling anyone where you might be? I'm over here in pain, and pr-..." You stop yourself. Toby's large hazel eyes just stare at you.
"Forget it. Just leave. I needed more time away from you than I thought."
"I didn't know you were dying..." He spoke.
"Well I am. Luckily for me there is a cure but after this who knows if that creature thing wants me to stay. We've risked too much here."
"What do you mean?" Toby asks softly. "You want to go back home?" he asks.
"I don't know, Toby. Maybe. I almost died just having sex with you and that's fucking wild to me. Not even a day after it happened."
Toby looks down.
"I don't want you to go, but if that's what you want... If it makes you happy. If it keeps you more safe than being here than I'll support you. I want nothing more than for you to be safe too. But for the record, I didn't think that what we did would lead to all this suffering for you."
"I need rest right now. I don't know what I want right now. There's more at stake here than you realize." You tell him.
"Here, let me help you into bed at least," Toby offers as he jumps through the window.
"I'm fine, thanks," You say as you try to help yourself up. The pain shoots through and you wince.
Toby comes to your aid and helps you anyway.
"If all we have left is a small amount of time I at least want to make the most of it. Let me be here for you at least." He lays you down and helps you under the covers.
"Toby, how can I trust that you'll be around for me if you just leave like that? Brian and Tim said that you do that often. And now during this critical time for me? You're the only one I know here and you just left me. I'm thankful Brian even stayed with me." You say.
"Brian?" Toby asks.
"Yes, Brian."
Toby bites his lip and looks away from you.
"I thought I told Tim to stay with you."
"God, Toby. What the hell am I to you? I'm not a pet you can just leave with people. Please just leave..."