The Cobra's Cage: Chpt. 3

Nitpick your heart out! =D

Phoenix

I was wheeled deeper into the hospital wing. As we walked/rolled, I tried making small talk. "So what's wrong with me?"

"Haven't I told you a billion times?"

"Do I have a fever?"

"No. Your temperature's normal." Finally, a straight answer.

"You know, Dr. Blythe," I said, clutching my arm to keep it from shaking, "I feel fine."

"I've never seen a more cowardly patient."

"Are you going to operate on me?"

Dr. Blythe fixed me with his not-so-cold gaze. "I'm not a surgeon, Agent Korsar."

"Right." I nodded, and the motion upset stacks of colors. "Right..."

Silence ensued. It crossed my mind that there should've been more doctors, sweeping past, checking on the various wards.

Wards... The harder I focused on them, the blurrier their contours became.

"Doctor..."

Then they collapsed. Sounds, sights, smells--all began boiling together, spilling across my vision.

My tongue registered something bitter. I retched. Then I realized I was only retching because I'd expected that bitter taste to mean retching.

"Easy now." Dr. Blythe's voice cut through the storm. "It was only a capsule."

My pulse accelerated. He's poisoning me. He's only brought me down here to kill me.

"Easy now..."

Black gnawed at the corners of my vision.

"Just submit to it, " he said softly. Mockingly.

I tried summoning magic but didn't possess the energy. The blackness yawned.

---

When I woke up, it was as if no time had elapsed since my hallucinations. Blankets shielded my skin from the cold, the soft cotton kind Candon couldn't afford for the dorms.

I felt great. The nausea was gone. I'd also gained some weight--some meat on my bones, as Siv would say. If only I wasn't so fatigued ... like I'd just run laps around the campus...

My focus swiveled to a side-table. My side-table, groaning under the weight of three neatly-wrapped gifts.

I snatched the nearest one, ignoring my body's protestations. An envelope was glued to it, and as I slid a finger under the flap, I caught whispers of Siv's melancholy voice.

You remember me being summoned by the Director? Well, he assigned me a mission. Top secret. I'd tell you anyway, but I think they check the mail. You'll probably wake up after I'm gone. She paused. See you in a few weeks. Sphinx s-said good-bye to me for you. Oh, and ... um, the gift's because I heard hospital food tastes awful.

My joy crumbled. I'd been looking forward to seeing her face, however gray it was, and with my other friend also on a mission, I'd traipse the corridors alone.

I tore off the wrapping. It was ... a box of sugar-coated phoenixes.

"Agent?" The noise must've alerted a doctor.

"Yes?" I said, squinting through the darkness. The word came as effortlessly as the thoughts accompanying it.

He zipped over to my bed. "I see you're awake."

"No, I'm asleep," I said sarcastically. Alarm flickered across the doctor's features. "Joking. Haha. Uh, is there any light in this ward? I'm relying on a moonbeam."

"We have to keep it dark for the other patients." I noticed that he spoke in a whisper.

I nodded, and whispered as well, "Can I have something to eat?"

"Of course. I'll just visit the storeroom, grab a food capsule for you. Don't eat anything else in the meantime." Both our gazes swept over the sugar-coated phoenixes.

"Thank you, sir."

As soon as he departed, I summoned light. Or rather, magic. Magic in its raw form was silver light, like the offspring of a moonbeam and a lightning bolt, I liked to imagine; so I didn't need to channel my power through it.

The ward slowly assumed shape. Beds lined the walls and stars shone through the fake windows. I knew they were fake because we dwelt underground.

Only four other patients. Three were sleeping, their chests rising and falling under their blankets. The other one was propped against his headboard.

"Hello?" I ventured cautiously.

He whipped around, and I stifled a scream. His irises were silver--molten silver, like mercury.

"Are you okay?"

He tried to speak but only emitted gagging sounds. It was then that I realized that the blood on his sheets belonged to him, not a victim. His gums were swollen, bright red, like mutilated blowfishes. Even so, I could see the beginnings of fangs. Two miniature convex blades, shaped to penetrate flesh.

My heart thundered. I extinguished the light, plunging into my blankets. He was still gagging, chains creaking. And, even with my eyes closed, I still could see his, draped with despair.

---

An eternity passed before the doctor returned.

"What's happened to him?" I mouthed, hoping I didn't seem too relieved.

He glanced at the boy's bed. "I'm sorry you have to be in the same ward. The hospital wing's overcrowded."

"Is--?"

"He's undergoing transformation into a vampire. Got bitten on a mission. He's to be executed at dawn. But that's--" He handed me an elliptical pill. "--not your concern."

"That's ter--"

"It is," he agreed. "Eat."

I studied the pill, skeptical.

"All the nutrients you need for the day. We're trying to convince the cafeteria to upgrade to them."

"That'd spawn a lot of complaints." I popped it into my mouth, and it dissolved on my tongue, sizzling. Just like that, the hunger vanished.

The doctor walked away before he could witness my reaction. I saw him kneel by the vampire boy's bed, saw his lips form the question: Are you ready?

A tear cut a path down the boy's cheek. And he nodded.

---

Even if I was tired, I wouldn't have slept. I wanted so desperately to help him, even just to grasp his hand, assure him that his suffering would soon end.

My ears were buried so deep in my thoughts, I didn't hear them slip out.

---

The next day, I was told I was confined to the hospital for a week.

"What happened that made it look like I was going to die?"

No answer. Just a faint smile.

Noon arrived, and a sickeningly optimistic doctor helped me unwrap my other gifts.

"Look!" she squealed. "Your sister Sphinx got you ... a jar of wine?"

I gaped. Even the most ignorant agents knew this. "Ustrina Juice. A potion."

"What does it do?"

"It makes you immune to fire."

She picked up the other gift--the one from Hunter, my best friend--and rattled it. "Ooh, that sounds like candy, Phoe."

"Can you address me by my surname?"

And so the minutes slipped into hours, and the hours slipped into days. Despite Sphinx's frequent visits, I felt lonely. I wanted to see Hunter and Siv again.

My dreams were flooded with vampires. Night became a regular torture, each concluding with fangs hooked onto my neck. Dr. Blythe was summoned to determine the source of my screaming, but neither of us tried very hard.

"So what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"All right. Let up when you want to."

 Then the snores would begin.