Dragons of War - Rising Storm

Chapter 8 (2/3)

The following days went by like a hazy dream, I remembered little of what happened. Every time I awoke the experience was the same. My mind would be empty at first but then it would explode with sensation.

Once anyone got close to me I would be overwhelmed by emotions and pass out. Aaron was by my side almost every day, and every day I noticed how differently he treated me.

His eyes would drift from mine. He never stayed in one place very long, no matter how tired he was, he would pace. Most of all, I remembered the way he spoke to me. His eyes told a different story than his words. Or his heart.

My awareness of things around me changed very little – it all felt like a dream that had happened long ago that I could not control. I was just acting out the role given to me.

Rarely, I would have moments of clarity and in these moments, a heaviness would overcome me and exhaustion would make my mind slip away. I could hardly move, and once I did, the energy would drain away at an alarming rate.

My mind grew muddled and the experiences more painful. Whenever anyone touched me, or even got close, like a shock of energy, an emotion of feeling would course through me so powerful it would knock my awareness away for a moment. It made be feel dizzy and sick to my stomach but I could not speak to tell the nurses who tried to touch me this. Speaking was too complicated on a bad day. On a good day, the words would not even form themselves right and I quit after the first attempt.

Today was different. Despite my half-lucid state, I knew the people around me were acting differently. They spoke very little. The short woman with her blonde hair clipped back was there, I had only seen her once before. There were many other nurses too, and Aaron. I could see the urgency in his eyes.

Then the tall man, who I had come to realize was my doctor, made me eat a small pill.

I didn't like it. At first I thought I would choke. And then I thought I would puke. Whatever the pill had been, my body did not agree with it. The minutes that followed had many different sets of eyes watching me but none more intense then Aaron's.

Then it happened.

I blinked my eyes and the world around me cleared. With every beat of my heart, it was like someone had pulled more and more cotton out of my ears. That a thin paper was taken away from my eyes, and my skin had been freed from lukewarm waters.

"How long until we know?" I heard Aaron mumble out. At least it heard like a mumble to me.

His hand rested on mine and I clenched it into a fist at his touch.

Why did I tense?

Oh, that wasn't me.

What?

My thoughts overwhelmed me again and I shut my eyes. Then I realized I was thinking clearly enough to speak to myself. To move my eyes. To react with full control.

I felt something I thought might've been excitement, but it faded and a calm state entered my mind.

I heard the doctor next to me reply something but I didn't understand it and my thoughts began to fade again, the darkness returned. Then it slowed down. My thoughts returned.

What was happening?

I opened my eyes and looked around. My head moved in a slow and delayed way, but I could feel every action.

"Jaya?" Aaron asked with wide eyes.

"It looks like it's working!" The doctor said.

I looked over at the doctor. He wore an over-sized lab coat and there was a label on his coat chest pocket.

Jasson it read.

I could read it?

I looked around with wider eyes now and saw that I was lying in one of many other beds, all but mine empty, in a long line. It was the infirmary. I had been there few times in my life and the times I had gone, were days I wanted to forget.

It wasn't a happy place to be.

"So it's working?" The blonde woman who stood at the foot of my bed questioned.

"Of course it's working, I told you I'd figured it out!" Jasson cried out and his face lit up.

"Of course you did, because you're a genius," The woman replied in a mumble.

"At least I think?" He then questioned, not hearing the woman's remark, and he cocked an eyebrow at me.

I had so many questions run through my head. Who were they, what had happened. How long had I been there, and had it worked? I opened my mouth to speak them but then I shut it again. What was I even going to say? I knew, without hearing it, what Aaron thought of me now, whether it had worked or not. I felt cold thinking what bringing up the subject would do. Or anything surrounding it.

"Jaya, is there something you would like to say?" Aaron asked me and I looked over to him, my heart sinking.

Of course he would ask that. It would happen no matter what I did, wouldn't it?

He was the only person I had in that colony other than Lewis. Thinking of Lewis made his words come back to me, and I realized then what he may have meant.

'After this you will be completely alone.'

"Are you okay?" Aaron returned his attention to me, noticing my reaction.

"Maybe we should give her more... This is clearly the problem." Jasson bent down and looked at me closely behind his frames.

"Give her too many and she'll be exactly where we started. We just need to test it out to find the right dosage." The blonde woman replied.

I narrowed my eyes at him, not looking away from his relentless stare. He smirked and then stood up.

"She is obviously better now." He mused.

"I don't understand how suppressor pills is the answer..." Aaron trailed off and wiped his mouth.

"Of course you wouldn't Aaron, you have no natural telepathic talent. It has to do with the-" The blonde woman began.

"Please spare me." Aaron cut her short.

She seemed annoyed by his short response and glared at him from above her clipboard. Then she turned on her heels and stormed down the isle.

"Come Jasson, we need to review this data," she called over her shoulder and Jasson glanced between me and Aaron before racing after her.

Aaron sighed and turned back to me.

"Do you remember what happened?" He asked.

I watched him closely but the sensations I'd had before were gone. Was I only dreaming about them? The emotions and feelings? Were they mine?

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