Passion | | Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Eighteen

Tana had started to recover from the infection after being cared for almost twenty-four-seven. Some of the healers were amazed at her seemingly miraculous recovery but were obviously glad by a much quicker recovery than expected. She had a few more hallucination situations, all of which ended up in her being sedated again to ensure the safety of herself and the others around her. At one point they had to strap her down to one of the cots.

During that point in her fight against the infection, Rookwood was getting impatient. "She doesn't seem to be getting any better." He spoke in a low tone to the main healer.

"Her physical condition is improving– it's her mental state that we'll have to worry about as she progresses," Paul stated. "So she won't die, I can assure you of that. But we could've suspected her mental decline from miles away. She was never really that stable anyway, but this must've just set her off. Experiencing extreme hallucinations due to the infection has just pushed her over the edge."

"Well FIX it then!" Rookwood shouted, slamming his fist down on the table. "I don't employ you for nothing! Fix it, fix her, do whatever, I don't care!"

Paul looked shocked. "S-Sir we can't just fix it, it doesn't work that way. Although we could–,"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT, JUST DO WHAT YOU CAN!" Rookwood shouted at him, causing Paul to flinch and stop mid-sentence. Without another word, Paul scurried out of Rookwood's office and off to the medical tent. Rookwood angrily slammed his fist on his table again, muttering swears under his breath.

As the days passed by, Tana was able to gain more mental and physical healing and clarity. She could walk on her own now, although she was supervised most of the time by Paul's demand. The hallucinations had stopped and most of what needed to be done was just the physical healing. The infection was almost completely gone, and although it would take Tana a bit to get back on her feet, so to speak, it was better than being half-dead on a cot.

"How are you feeling?" The female healer said with a smile as she walked into the medical tent to see Tana wide awake, sitting up.

"Better than the past few days, that's for sure," Tana said, with a humorous chuckle. The female healer smiled, grabbing the leafy substance that Tana was familiar with by now.

"I can tell, your sarcastic tone is back." She chuckled, administering the substance to Tana. Tana furrowed her brows at her words but waited for a few moments to speak so that she could get through the disgusting bitter taste of the medication.

She sputtered just a bit before swallowing down the taste. "What do you mean by that?" She chuckled, giving her a small grin. The female healer rolled her eyes, Tana knew exactly what she was talking about. "You know, I never got your name," Tana stated, leaning back on her elbows for support.

"My name is Alynn," The healer said, smiling at Tana. "I usually don't tell patients my name, hence why you've probably never heard it. But you seem to be Rookwood's special patient so I feel I can trust you." Now she had a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"Alynn... I like it," Tana said, nodding her head.

Alynn hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to ask a question she had on her mind for a long time. "What is going on between you and Rookwood anyway?" She asked, knowing she was probably overstepping a boundary here, but she was just so curious about the situation surrounding them that she couldn't help but take the chance to ask her.

Tana's brows furrowed, "What do you mean by that?" She asked, extremely confused.

"He treats you better than anybody else around," Alynn stated, sitting on one of the stools in the medical tent. "He's already killed one of my healers for you, and he's threatened to kill my boss if you didn't make it. He seems to care a great deal about you."