Fever - Selina Brinkmann (short novels to read .TXT) 📗

just felt too heavy and her body hurt too much. The noises around her went louder and Evy could not suppress the groan which escaped her lips.

“She is hurt!” Evy groaned again but this time about the obvious fact he stated. Of course she was hurt, she would not lie around the ground if she was fine! A light female voice cut through the chatter of the other voices:

“Be still. You know how Roan is about strangers. If we want to help her than stop the gossip and bring her inside the female’s dorm!” Evy sighed just great that she landed somewhere where she was not really welcome. Of course it would have been too much to ask for if she had landed somewhere where no one objected her presence.
But as the people tried to lift her up and her body screamed in agony the familiar darkness of unconsciousness embraced her again.

The first thing Evy realized when she woke up was the warmth and the silence. No forest, no howling hounds and no screaming men trying to detect and kill her. The heat was comforting and Evy slowly opened her eyes. The room was dark and only a thin slot let light through probably the door. With the strength of a new-born Evy tried to turn around to find out what else was in the room.

However her body was still hurting so much that she just fell flat on her back and tried to catch her breath. An amused voice floated through the room and Evy could fell the assuring touch of a female:

“I would not try to do that if I were you! You would only damage the progress you already made!”

“Who are you? And where am I?”, rasped Evy out. Her mouth was dry and every word hurt.

“Before I answer all your questions drink this!” Evy was reluctant when she felt a glass brushing against her lips because she feared drugs again but as her body still hurt even being sedated seemed appealing. Each gulp eased the burning in her mouth and she felt a little bit more alive.

“And do not worry we wish you no harm!” Evy giggled out loud at this statement. She remembered the first time she heard this and it lead to being imprisoned and being used for experiments.

“I hear this once, so please forgive me if I do not believe you in earnest!”

“Don’t worry, there will be a time for your trust but”, Evy already felt tired again the voice luring her back to sleep,” now is the time for healing!” And just before she heard the women leaving the room she remembered the discussion of the men.

“Wait”, as she did not hear a reaction Evy tried it again, “Wait, please! Those men did something to me. They told me I would be dead by the next day. If you want to help me, do not let me die because of those men!” And with that she fall back into a deep slumber.

Roxanne swirled around when she heard the women twisting in her bed and pleading for help. Her eyes rested upon the slim figure of the female and the fast beating of the heart. If it was the truth she needed help and fast!

Roxanne did not hesitate she opened the door and ran down the floor. Who in the keep was able to help her with that? Her healing abilities where limited due to her age and the healing she had already provided. If Roan was supposed to not detect this female immediately, her choices were narrowed. There was only one she could think of who would not directly rat her out to their leader and it was –

“Dominic!”, she cried out as she saw his lean figure resting against the wall next to the big hall’s entrance. She never once spoken to him without the assuring presence of others but he was her safest bet if she wanted to safe the young female’s life. He slowly turned his head to look her into the eyes.

“What could there be that the mighty Roxanne requires my assistance!”, he mocked her with a grin on the face.

“Really funny but I do not have a lot of time. You must follow me at once and I promise I will explain everything later!”, she pulled at his arm and he moved from the wall more surprised than willing. With an anxious look back making sure that nobody has seen them Roxanne gave him all the relevant data.

“Yesterday evening we found a female badly injured at the border to our territory. She did not awake until a few minutes ago. She was disorientated but pleaded for my help when I was leaving. The people who must have hunted her did something to her and told that she is going to die at the second day out of their reach. I would have tried it by myself but I am exhausted after helping to repair most of the damage. And you were the first one crossing my mind who would not tell everything to Roan without further notice.”

Dominic looked surprised at the young woman in front of him. She did not strike him as someone who would withhold information but Roxanne definitely knew about the distrust in Roan against newbies and followed her soft heart instead of the strict policies. In addition she knew about the row going on between him and Roan thus seeking him out.

“What do you want me to do? I am not exactly trained in the health department as you know!” Roxanne snorted as she knew exactly in which department he fell.

“I know that you are educated in poison and interested in technics. To cause death after such an amount of time would either mean poisoning or a technical device therefore you are my safest bet!” She came to a halt and was fully concentrated on the door in front of her and missing his perplexed facial expression.

He always thought that Roxanne knew next to nothing about him ignoring him as often as possible but in truth “You were spying on me weren’t you?”, Dominic grinned as she blushed and turned around.

“That’s not the time for jokes. Me knowing stuff about you does not mean I am interested in you! Here is a woman dying and I would rather safe her life!” Dominic felt flattered at her statement because he never asked if she was interested in him but if the female inside the room spoke the truth about her dying he would postpone the talk until later.

The room itself was dark. Dominic could barely see the woman lying on the bed beneath all the blankets. He rushed over to her and laid a hand over her forehead. Normal temperature and her breathing were stable and steady. He felt the presence of Roxanne beside her and whispered:

“It is definitely not a poison. Did you check her for tracking devices or any other abnormality?”

“I found the tracking device and removed it. Hannan destroyed it already but besides that we did not really search further as she had several broken bones and an internal bleeding.”, Dominic could see worry on her features as she looked at the fragile woman in front of them. She must have been a beauty once but she was so skinny and bruised that it was hard to imagine her former looks.
He took a deep breath and brought himself into visa a dreamlike state in which most of them perform their special abilities. His vision zoomed in on the female. He could feel the electrician impulses with which everybody worked but Dominic also felt the presence of something artificial in her body. It did not quite fit into her rhythm. He moved his look to the place from where the waves came from. It was placed near to her heart. Any surgery would be risky and could cost her life. Slowly he spread his fingers over her heart to trace the impulses easier.

“I found something. It is a small pacemaker but it is stronger than normal ones. If they activate it she will have a heart attack and almost no possibility of surviving!”, he heard Roxanne’s sharp breath intake and felt sorry for the pain both women must have already endured by getting it implanted and the other from trying to heal her.

“I cannot remove it but I can disconnect the signal from afar. She would still be able to get attacked though it if they come near enough but it is going to buy us some time!”

“Do it but make certain it does not hurt her any further!”, Roxanne put her hand on his shoulder reassuring him that she was with him if anything went wrong.
Dominic took a deep breath and focused on the device. He felt his vision change again by trying to get even closer to it and was wholly absorbed in the different colours swirling around him and signalling him all the different functions. He dismissed the red and purple lines as they clearly belonged to her body and focused on the bluish ones. Dominic followed them until he found where they were connected and with one stronger tug he disconnected them and smiled satisfied at their disappearance. Slowly he made his way back to reality and nodded his head at Roxanne’s questioned look.

“O thank you so much!”, she took his hand in her own and gripped it in gratitude as the woman’s features softened in her sleep. “I know I already asked so much from you but would you mind keeping her a secret until she is better and able to defend her own?”

“You truly need to harden your heart, Roxanne, if you want to survive in this world! But for now I promise that I will not interfere with your doing!”, and with this Dominic withdraw his hand and left the room already missing her warmth and softness.

He did not encounter anyone while returning to the spot he left in order to help Roxanne thus having no need to explain his presence in the healer quarters of the females dorm. This surely would have made a good conversation especially if he met one of Roans guardians. Dominic chuckled when he remembered the stern expression on Roxanne’s face while pulling him through the corridors earning a frown from a group of teenage boys passing by and decided to keep a track on the work of their healer. Not because he was interested in her, he reasoned with himself, but only to safeguard her and the rest of their citizen. And then adding with a sigh, who was he kidding, of course because he was fascinated by her!

Roxanne followed his figure with her gaze until he left the room and closed the door softly. The things he had done before he made his way to “New terra” had been shocking and made him a wary opponent but beneath all his cunning remarks Dominic still held unto his human side. She did not know what occurred between Roan and Dominic in the past but it made them sworn enemies and both of them were men one would not want to cross. With a sigh Roxanne turned her attention to the woman lying in the bed next to her and found her eyes open and transfixed upon her.

“Who are you?”, asked Roxanne and fixed the linen covering the woman.
And with a cough and a hoarse voice she uttered one word, “Evy”. Roxanne smiled and remembering the questions she has been asked before.

“I am Roxanne and you are at a place no one who wishes harm upon you is allowed to enter. So truly do not fear and do not longer fret about anything that has been done to you as I took care about it!”
Her eyelids already falling down again Evy uttered one last question,

“Why are you helping me?”

“Because we all have been in the situation of finding no