Another world, Celeste

Thirty Five

Dream world

A meadow of flowers stretches over the land and instead of a clear blue sky, the sky is covered in fog. A perfect reflection of my current mood. This time I don't need to wait as I usually do and wander around the constantly changing landscape because he is already lying near the winter tree. My hand rest on top of his chest where his beating heart is as I gaze at his peacefully sleeping face. However, I can't bring myself to be completely relieved. The image of him covered in blood still remains in my mind and the thought of 'what-ifs' scenarios swims in my head a couple of times.

What if I didn't follow my instinct?

What if I was a second late in the treatment?

What if I blanked out seeing him in that bloodied state and did nothing?

Breathe, Iris.

His condition is no longer in danger. I know that perfectly well because I checked the result of the diagnosis multiple times. My head knows that but my heart, my heart is still scared. I lower my head until our forehead touches.

"Please," I whisper.

I silently plead for him to wake up.

The breeze around me gets stronger follows by the intensified scent of lavender filling the air.

"Leon, wake up."

Captain Leon Woolfe opens his eyes with a startle and sits upright. The first thing he does is checking his surroundings and quickly realises that the room he wakes up in is an infirmary by the strong scent of medicinal herbs.

"You're finally awake, Captain."

Leon Woolfe turns his head to the unknown voice.

A middle-aged man in a healer's robe walks in and continues to say, "Your comrades kept fussing the healers tending to them about when you would wake up. They seem to care more about your well-being than their own."

"How long was I unconscious for?"

"Two days," the middle-aged healer respond then enquires about Leon's condition.

"Do you feel pain anywhere, Captain?"

"No."

"How about your head? Are you experiencing a headache or throbbing pain?"

"Neither."

"Any ringing in your ears?"

"No."

"Last question. Can you tell me what colour is that vase?"

The middle-aged healer points at a flower vase by the window with a trick question to test his eyesight.

"Yellow, the same colour as the flowers."

"Very good," the healer remarks, impressed with the captain's response and also his recovery condition.

"If there's nothing wrong with my body, I'd like to leave soon."

"Your head injury was very grave, Captain Woolfe. Even though you look to be completely healed, I still want you to stay here, in bed, a few more days for observation just in case," states the middle-aged healer with an uncompromising attitude despite his pleasant tone.

Captain Leon Woolfe reluctantly listens without objection.

"Good. I'll have someone bring food over to you and, a priest will come by later to see how you are doing."

The middle-aged healer leaves after he finishes everything that he needs to do. Alone again, Leon leans back on the headboard and touches his forehead.

"Which one was real and which was a dream?" He asks himself.

Everything that happened after the blast is foggy to him; the intensifying pain, the muffled voices, the ringing and then everything turns black. The first time he came to after falling unconscious, a pair of strikingly vivid purple eyes occupy his sight.

"That wasn't a dream."

He's very certain of that. Leon remembers the pain that shot through his body when he tried to lift his hand to touch her face made it clear that it wasn't a dream, that she was there, in person and she was very close to him. Leon clenches the hand that briefly held hers as he remembers how shaken her eyes looked before failing to resist falling back to unconsciousness.