Beloved - Emrys

November 16th, 2017

Before I open my eyes I feel the pain. At first I don’t know where it comes from, but the longer I am conscious the more accurate my feelings become. My arm hurts the most. From the point where the nurse had pricked me with the needle. Then I notice the place above my eyebrows. I feel stickers on my skin, pulling as I raise my brow. I move my right arm to rub the bruise I feel on my arm but I feel a restriction. I try again, feeling a tug on my wrist.

Now I panic. I can’t move my arm, so I try to open my hand, but again there is something holding it closed. I open my eyes in a flash, vision swimming. When I can I look down at my hand. It’s bound in a leather mitt of sorts. I follow the strap along the edge of the bed where it is buckled. I look to my other hand and see it too is bound.

Tears form in my eyes. My heart is racing. I look around but I don’t see anyone. My breath quickens and I grit my teeth as I pull on the straps, harder and harder.

The room is not mine. It’s also not the room I was in before. My bed is in the centre of this white room. There is a light above me, and from my position on the bed I can’t see a window. I hear the ticking of a clock.

I feel a small weight on my chest and I look down quickly, not noticing it before, to see a familiar faerie. The one I saw before the darkness. She’s wearing green trousers and a golden string around her waist. Her red brown hair, almost purple is in a thick braid over her shoulder. Her features are pointed and she has pink cheeks and lips. Her eyebrows are creased with worry.

I feel my lip tremble and I can’t hold back the flood of tears as they begin to well up from within and pour down my face. A small whimper escapes my lips. I am past embarrassment.

“Shhh, It’s OK. Shhh. Emrys. I’m here. You’re OK,” I hear her words, but the tears keep flowing, my jaw shaking. I take a ragged breath, hiccuping.

She reaches an arm out for my nose and strokes it.

In time the hiccups dissipate and the tears begin to wane.

“There, there Emrys.” Her voice is deeper than the other faeries. She’s maybe four and a half inches tall.

“Where… am I.” I managed to say between hiccups.

“We are on the 5th floor.” She answers.

“When did they leave?”

“After they moved you. They took your blood. They strapped you down. They talked, then they left. Maybe 5 hours ago.” She is surprisingly coherent for a faerie. Not many faeries speak so directly. Some use childish words or riddles. But a few are more direct. Sometimes these faeries have names.

“Do you have a name?” I ask.

She looks at me, a small smile on her lips. She nods slightly. “Merigold.”

“Can’t you get me out?” I ask, desperate for these confines to be off. Her smile fades and she looks troubled.

“That is difficult. We can get you out, but the how is the question. You do not know enough to get yourself out. I’m sorry.”

After a time my breathing slows and my heart is back to it's regular rhythm, though I still feel uneasy. What she says is confusing. What don’t I know?

Merigold leans back. I can see her kneeling on my chest. She starts to hum a soft melody. It sounds like a child's lullaby. It’s very calming. Her voice is quite pretty. When she stops I feel almost like I could sleep.

“Do you want to know what they talked about?” She says. I let out a sigh and stare at the light above the bed.

“Yes,” I croak. Her fingers tap a button on my uniform.

“They said you are dangerous. They don’t know what you can do. They want to call some experts. They told the nurse to keep you sub-dued- ” she stumbles on the word a little. I don’t think she knows what it means. “Until they know more. The doctor with the mean face-”

“The one in the glasses?” she nods.

“He says you might hurt the others. He is looking into your rec-cords.” She stumbles again. My records? My history? Did he want to know about my time here or before here? I didn’t know what here was called. I just knew it wasn’t as safe as it used to be… for me.

“Thank you, Merigold.”

“You’re welcome Emrys. You are special. You are different. That’s why we like you. That’s why we’ll do our best to protect you. Please come play with us soon.” I hiccup a little.

“I really want to. But… now…” The words fail to come. I can’t think of what will happen now. Everythings changing so fast. What will happen next?

I hear the door open from behind me. I crane my neck back but I can’t see who it is until they walk around the bed and face me from the left side. It's the nurse, Susan.

“Hello dear, I see you’re awake. You gave us quite the scare back there. I’m sorry I had to interfere but it IS protocol. How do you feel?” She asks calmly.

Her endearing tone is slightly irritating and is beginning to grate on my calm composure.

“I’m sore.” I croak, feeling my voice catch in my throat.

“I’m sorry to hear that dear. You must be hungry too. After all you haven’t had breakfast yet and it’s well after lunch hour.” As soon as she mentions it, I feel the gnawing hunger in my stomach. I nod slowly.

I see her reach for something beneath the bed near to my arm and I flinch. She sees it and frowns. “I’m sorry dear. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just propping the bed up so I can give you your lunch.”

“Ohh,” I mumble. I feel the bed rise, causing Merigold to tumble off my chest and into my lap with a small cry of surprise. She rolls onto the bed and nestles herself in my elbow. She’s stroking the inside of my arm, which tickles.

“So for lunch today we have pea soup and milk.” She rests the try on my lap and pulls up a chair. She reaches for the spoon on the try.

“Can I eat by myself?” I ask. I don’t really want to have to be fed like a child.

She shakes her head. “Sorry dear, but I’m not to unbuckle your hands. Protocol.” She shrugs and picks up the spoon. Never can I remember a time when I was fed before. Merigold’s strokes keep me from panicking again. I never knew I had such fears. I guess I had it easy up until now.

Spoonful by spoonful Susan fed me the soup. Then she helped me drink the milk. Before I knew it, the meal was over and she was wiping my face with a damp cloth.

“Looks like you're beard is beginning to come in.” She points out, taking care to move the cloth along the hairs. “Would you like me to schedule a shave for you? Your hair’s growing long too.”

“It’s OK. Thanks. I like it.” I say, hoping she’ll drop it.

“I understand dear. I’ll be back round supper time. I’ll leave the bed upright for you, is that alright?” She asks. She’s surprisingly kind.

“Sure. Thanks.” Merigold is looking up at me, watching me carefully as the nurse cleans up and exits with the empty tray.

“I should have pinched her.” She says, crawling up my arm and standing on my shoulder. She starts moving the hair around my ear.

“No, she seemed... nice.” I say, trying to sort my feelings, “but annoying.” I exhale, glancing at the buckles strapped around my fists. I can see them more clearly now. I test my hands in the leather mitts, seeing if I can move my fingers, but I can barely flex them at all. They are beginning to feel cramped.

“Ta-daa!” Merigold sings, holding a string of braided hair out so I can see it. It’s only a few inches long and I can just see the end of it.

“What did you do?!” I gasp. How would I explain this to the doctors? It seemed the faeries were causing me more trouble than help these days.

“I braided it silly. It looks nice. I’ll tuck it behind your ear so no one can see.” She explains with a smirk.

The light tugs on my hair had, admittedly, felt nice. I rested my head back and closed my eyes. “Tell me a story, Merigold.”

“OK!” She sits on my shoulder, leaning against my neck and begins to tell me a tale about a frog who lived by a pond as I start to drift off into a light sleep.

#Fantasy #Magic