After an officer finds an unconscious boy dressed in medieval clothing and discovers he has no memories of where he came from, she decides to take him under her wing. She realizes quickly, however, that medieval clothing is not the only thing that m...
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My eyes fluttered open. I was still slumped forward in my chair with my face lying on the edge of the bed. Someone had draped a blanket over my shoulders while I was asleep. I tried to turn my head, but my neck was stiff and sore. Everything in my line of vision was blurry and duplicated.
I heard deep, steady breathing from somewhere close by which made me lurch back upright, ignoring the searing pain in my limbs. I rose shakily to my feet and leaned over Alex's bed, knocking over my chair in the process. My bleary eyes took a moment to fixate on my friend. When they focused in on his still form, my heart clenched.
"Alex." I grasped the sides of his face and swept a lock of hair away from his forehead.
He didn't move and his eyes remained closed.
My mouth turned dry. "Alex!"
An eye shot open. "There's no need to shout, Jake," he murmured sleepily. "You're right next to me."
I stared at him in disbelief. "Wh―You're alive!"
He grinned, his eyes practically glowing with vigor. "No, I'm dead."
I'm not sure how long I stood there in shocked silence, but eventually it registered that he was in fact still alive and I wasn't hallucinating. Before I knew it I was pulling him up into my arms. He groaned in pain after I moved his injured shoulder, but he returned my embrace anyway.
We held each other tightly for a few moments, but after the initial surge of relief my anger got the better of me. "You idiot!" I yelled. "Have you completely lost your senses?" What were you thinking out there?"
Alex let go of me and settled back into his pillow, scratching his head. "Um, I think it was something like: Oh, Jake and Lancelot are about to die. Maybe I should do something."
"Well, I don't think you were thinking at all. I thought I—we lost you." My voice quavered.
Alex's smile faded, but just then the door swung open and a hoard of people hurried inside. Lancelot, Ben, and Peter stumbled into the room and looked between Alex and me in alarm.
"We heard shouting―," Lancelot gasped.
"How long have I been out?" I looked between my two friends furiously.
Ben processed the situation quickest. "A few hours, but―"
"Why didn't you wake me?"
"Merlin, you nearly killed yourself with that blasted spell! You needed rest."
"Yes," Peter agreed. "You look worse than Arthur did when he was near death." His voice was filled with sadness and he gazed at me with a look of resignation.
I ignored them both and turned back to Alex. "If you ever do something that idiotic again, I swear I'll finish the job next time."
He glared at me. "You have the nerve to call what I did idiotic when you performed magic that you knew perfectly well could kill you? Jake...when I woke up, I thought you were dead." His voice cracked and he looked away. "It was like when we first arrived here all over again and...." He trailed off. "I thought I lost you."
