"Sabine? Wake up, please," Quigley choked, hovering over Sabine's barely moving body.
He had broken away from the Baudelaires to find her, and he'd managed to drag her out of the river just in time to save her life. Now they were sitting on a large rock by the side of the stream. He managed to get her to cough up most of the water she inhaled, but she wouldn't wake up.
"Sabine, please," he begged. A tear dripped down his face and he shivered as a cold burst of wind rushed through the air. He brushed his fingers against Sabine's face affectionately, her head in his lap. Her closed eyes twitched a bit, as did her fingers, but nothing more than a twitch. He sighed and ran a tired hand through his dripping wet hair, looking up at the top of the mountain.
A small, terrified whimper escaped Sabine, and Quigley's focus shot back to her immediately. He wrapped his arms around her limp shoulders and sat her up a bit. She whimpered again and rested her head on his shoulder, but then seemed to fall back asleep just as her eyelids started to twitch open. Quigley groaned in frustration but held her closer, trying to keep her warm and comfortable.
"Sabine? Come on, you have to wake up!" he pleaded quietly. They had been sitting on the large boulder by the side of stricken stream for about an hour, and Quigley was completely panicked. Sabine had only slightly moved throughout the hour, and her breaths seemed pained and forced.
Suddenly, she started violently coughing and her eyes opened all the way. Quigley cupped her face and lifted her head. She looked up at him in a mix of shock and relief. He smiled sweetly and hugged her tightly.
"W-where are we?" Sabine stammered, shivering in the cold air. Even though False Spring had arrived, Mortmain Mountain and the Valley of Four Drafts was still freezing.
"By Stricken Stream," Quigley replied, pulling away slightly to meet Sabine's gaze.
She took in a shaky breath, but winced as her chest started to burn. Quigley's smile faded and he wiped the pained tears off her face as they fell.
"Sabine? What's wrong?" he asked.
Sabine's stomach roiled and she slammed her hand over her mouth. She crawled off of Quigley's lap and over to the stream. Falling to her knees, she vomited up tons of salty stream water. It stung her throat and made her nose bleed. Quigley knelt beside her, holding her hair out of her face and rubbing her back.
After a few minutes she had finally vomited it all out and started coughing. Quigley wiped her mouth with the sleeve of his jacket and then hugged her again.
"I don't feel good," she mumbled weakly.
He chuckled and brushed her damp hair off her forehead. "Yeah, I can tell."
Sabine looked towards the still rushing stream and then backed as far away from it as she could.
"Sabine?" Quigley asked.
"I don't wanna be near that stream ever again," she said as she shook her head.
He sighed and crawled over to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Well, we should get out of here then. Are you up for a walk?" he asked.
She nodded and pulled herself to her feet. Her legs felt like jelly and she wobbled a bit before Quigley stood up too and wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her.
"Where do we go now?" Sabine asked as they limped along the cold, hard ground beside the stream.
"I don't know," Quigley admitted. He pulled his purple commonplace book out and flipped through the pages. "My journal got soaked, and all the ink from my pen smeared, so I can't read any of this stuff." He sighed and put the journal back in his pocket. "It's all useless now."
YOU ARE READING
𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕨𝕠 ℂ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤 (ASOUE)
Fanfiction"Shh, don't cry, Sabine," Quigley whispered in her ear. "It's okay, don't cry." His hand slid down her arm, then gently landed in her palm. He slowly spread his fingers out, then carefully entwined them with hers, as if he were savoring every sweet...
