Calm and Calamity

Chapter 6

Day: 252

Days Left: 5228

Lives Saved: 1

Sucking in a deep breath and putting on a smile, Rhea Earl strode down the hospital ward until she reached the very end where the crisp white curtains encircled a patient's bed. Hesitating, Rhea slowly pulled the curtain aside.

"Good afternoon, Dad." She beamed. "How are you today?"

The withered old man in the hospital bed stirred from his vacant staring into space and gazed up at her. Eyes squinting and blinking, he grumbled something incomprehensible then returned back to gazing at the nearby blank wall.

Swallowing, Rhea sat down on a chair to the side of the bed. She glanced over at her father Ernest Best, his small and frail body seemed like it was drowning underneath his bedsheets.

"I've brought some of your favourite poetry again," said Rhea, retrieving the anthology out of her bag. "Took me a while to find this one. We have so many bookshelves." She laughed, then stopped as there was no response.

She began reading the book of poems, and then after finishing a few talked about how the rest of the family was doing, only mentioning the positive, of course. The current passive-aggressive war between the divided halves of the family was not a topic that Rhea wanted Ernest knowing. All the while, as Rhea spoke, Ernest remained silent, his gaze ever fixed on the blank wall. Occasionally he would blink.

After what seemed like an hour of Rhea talking, she stopped, her voice trailing away. She massaged her throat, due to how long she spoke for it had become sore. As visitors weren't allowed to eat food or drink whilst in the wards, Rhea had to go outside into the corridor to get water from the water fountain. She rubbed her eyes and blinked profusely to prevent any tears from escaping.

A nurse walked by and stopped, asking if she was alright.

Rhea nodded and thanked her for concern but reassured her that she was fine.

Once she had regained her composure, Rhea returned to the ward and sat down in the chair. Ernest was still in the exact position as he was when she had left him.

"I'm back," said Rhea.

Turning his head, Ernest looked at her. "Who are you again?"

Still retaining her smile, Rhea answered, "I'm your daughter, Rhea."

"Corinna?"

"No." The old woman pursed her lips together. "Rhea."

"Corinna?" Ernest looked around at the rest of the ward. "Where is Corinna? Is she here?"

"No, Dad." Rhea's hand gripped her chair's arm-rests tightly. "Corinna isn't here."

"Where is she?"

Rhea hesitated. "She's just gone travelling. Somewhere far away... with friends. She's having a wonderful time."

"That sounds lovely..." Ernest's voice trailed away as his eye-lids dropped and closed shut.

In silence, Rhea watched as her father quickly fell asleep. She considered leaving but decided against it. The atmosphere back at the house was suffocating as usual. The food donations deadline was soon, and the majority of Rhea's relatives were avoiding her, escaping out of the room before she could even say 'hello'.

When Corinna was first imprisoned in the Eternal Abyss, so many of them had donated food. But now after only over half a year into her sentence, the donations had halved. Rhea dreaded to think of how little food would be sent in the future. Perhaps it would only be Rhea left that continued donating? Everyone else had begun to realise how expensive the donations were going to be. Some were being swayed over to the other side, now believing that the protests were wrong and that those who participated deserved what they got.