Mirrors & Shadows

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝐕

յօ 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔥𝔰 𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔬𝔯 ~ 𝔪𝔲𝔯𝔡𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔪𝔭𝔱 𝔦𝔫 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔤𝔲𝔦𝔰𝔢

"That was a seizure." Someone, whose voice Luna recognized but couldn't or didn't care to place, stated. "She needs lorazepam."
"For God's sake Edmond I know what she needs." A female voice retorted tartly.
"And activated charcoal." The man's voice pursued, ignoring her.
"It's too early for activated charcoal. You brought her in barely twenty minutes ago. We'll have to wait at least an additional half hour."
"I've spent centuries waiting." The man mused grimly.
"So a few more minutes won't do you any harm." The woman finished for him.
A rumble of bitter humour caught in his throat.
"You'd think."
Luna felt her wrist being grabbed. Something tugged at the skin of her arm. The atmosphere was thick with unspoken tension.
"You still don't trust me do you?" The female voice chuckled. "Let me guess, I'm too young to be meddling with people's IVs." she provoked.
"Among other things, yes."
"Theoretically, you're only five years older than me." she observed.
"In principle." he conceded. "In principle only." Their attention was brought back to the patient. "The seizures seem to have calmed down, she's at the brink of consciousness at the moment." It was his way of pointing out that Luna had probably overheard their conversation or part of it at least. "They'll want to keep her here. We'll have to arrange the paperwork to release her."
"You're doing her such a favor." The lady grumbled sarcastically. "You know the health care system has changed since 1922. Extra-surveillance might actually save her."
"Keeping her here will only make things worse." The man stated, making his desires final. Then, spasms began to run through Luna's body and she lost consciousness again.

When Luna woke up she couldn't tell whether it had been merely a second or a matter of days she'd been unconscious. The conversation she'd overheard came back to her vividly. To Luna it sounded like a bunch of jargon mixed in with references to time that made no sense.

Fleetingly, she wondered if her mind had distorted the sentences' meanings. This roused her worry. She had experienced delirium or psychosis on rare occasions before but when she had waken to her senses she had always been able to isolate those moments from her real thoughts and real experiences. What if she was still hallucinating? And even more importantly so, for how long had she been hallucinating? How much of her past week was real? Presently, she was scared to open her eyes, scared of what she might see.

However, a voice interrupted her concerns.
"You're at Hôpital Tarnier, 89 Rue D'Assas, room number 124, it is October 12th, two pm." A reassuring voice answered.

She couldn't fathom why she was surprised to see De Revel, in his black blazer, dark hair and stern expression standing a few paces away with his arms crossed behind his back. His misty eyes searched hers as if he were uttering a silent question.

She realized that her hair must look like it did when she usually woke up: as if a storm had dealt with it. Although, everything about him seemed so sure and calculated, during that brief instant his gaze was veiled with something resembling reticence.

For all the taciturnity between them, at last he spoke. His voice was clear but had a hushed edge, concealing his words from secret ears.
"The next time you plan on doing that again, call me. It is not necessary that the university members be notified about what happened today. Don't you have family or friends you can turn to for help?"
Luna tried making herself straighter.
"It's not necessary they know about what? That I had a migraine and reacted poorly to the medication?" She asked, flustered as she vaguely remembered taking something to ease the pain during her brief excursion to the bathroom.
It was his turn to look flustered.
"Who told you antidepressants were effective against migraines?" He bristled.
"Who said anything about antidepressants?" she countered.
"You just ingested a lethal amount of citalopram. Do you mean to say you ignored the true nature of this substance?" he advanced in disbelief.
"I know what citalopram is." She retorted defensively. "The pharmacist must have accidentally given it to me." she reasoned. During the time she was sick, she bought medication against headaches—or at least what she thought was medication against headaches. She had kept it in her satchel in case she needed it at work, determined as she was not to go on sick-leave, but hadn't used it until the conference.
He paused.
"I don't think this was a mistake." He admitted somberly. "Do you have a history with depression?" The question was asked in a detached tone. The tone used by a specialist seeking to come to some sort of conclusion. Nevertheless, Luna looked away, overcome by feelings of vulnerability.
"What does it matter? I wasn't trying to commit suicide."
"No, you weren't. However, that's what it would have seemed like."
"So you think this was a murder attempt in disguise?"

The idea was absurd... why would anyone want her dead? And then something even more absurd occurred to her. Was her mother's suicide actually a murder?
"We should call the police." she announced shakily. He had noticed the sudden spike of anxiety this possibility provoked in her and though his following words were harsh, his voice was softened with a note of sympathy.
"No. Whoever did this is experienced. Not to mention we do not have any leads. The police won't be helpful."
"The police is experienced too." She retorted. "Plus I remember what the pharmacist looked like."

De Revel's attention shifted to the bed beside Luna's. She realized that the man that occupied it was glancing at them clearly stumped at the unusual conversation taking place before him. De Revel drew the curtains that separated one bed from another and lowered his voice.
"They might have connections to the police."
"You sound like a conspiracy theorist." she accused.
"Do I?" he mused wryly, though his eyes stayed stonily serious.
"Either that or you suspect someone." she pointed out, more than ever clinging to any information he might be willing to give.

The sour smile that curled his lips straightened into a hard line.
"And if my suspicions are confirmed," he answered cautiously, "it is best they presume that you are ignorant of the danger they pose."

A/N
Word count: 1075
Hey, I'm just wondering how do I get 10 views on a chapter even though I've just published it? It seems unlikely that 10 people read it just as it came out. (How do you even find me on Wattpad? 😂) and then I've also got views on chapters I haven't published. Does anyone know why?