Eliona's War 2: Veiled Healer

Chapter 44

Despite his wishes, they came anyway.

He'd been playing a game of Yuno with Mrs Beakor, who managed to win every time without even appearing to try. She got all the best cards and he'd go several turns just watching his stack grow while hers shrunk to the last two. She was probably cheating, but he didn't care. No one had ever sat and played a silly card game with him for hours before, and he was having more fun than he'd ever admit.

"Do you think I'll get out today?" he asked.

"Hm," she hummed in response. It was a doubtful sort of sound.

He frowned, because he knew, deep down, it was unlikely. Not when he'd spent the night in the bathroom, unable to drag himself back to bed. The nurse had to help him when she came to check on him in the morning. And when the doctor came by late morning, he seemed concerned about the complete loss of coordination. It was normal for some unsteadiness in seizure victims, but not to this extent. He said he'd return later to see if there was improvement, but Seth didn't think there'd be much, if any.

He was sure he'd improve slowly—that's how it happened before—but he couldn't explain any of this without looking like a complete lunatic. He didn't even dare tell Mrs Beakor.

He sighed, head drooping.

"Chin up, kiddo." She slapped a red six card on top of a yellow six, and that had been her second to last card. "Yuno."

He stared at it, grumbling, "You say that as I lose again." He couldn't play, so he drew a card from the pile.

She grinned. "Get used to it. Losing is a part of life."

"So is winning."

"Well, that part comes with age and beauty." She tossed the last card onto the pile.

"The age part is right," he muttered, then set his cards down. He had close to 20 left.

She laughed, not offended in the slightest, and gathered up the cards to reshuffle.

That was when a young woman stepped through the doorway in four-inch stilettos, where she paused, hands on hips, to regard them with narrowed blue-gray eyes.

"Well now," she primly stated. "What have you done to yourself now?"

At the sound of that voice, Seth went very still, his heart sinking to the deepest depths of the Mariana trench. Slowly, he turned his head even though the last thing he wanted to do was get yet another reminder of how she was the better twin.

Carly wore her hair pin-straight today, and it cascaded over her shoulders to fall halfway to her waist in a shiny wave. Auburn and blonde highlights threaded through brunette like an artist's vision, and if that wasn't enough to catch the eye of everyone she passed, then the skimpy, too-short dress clinging to her body would. The cropped jean jacket she wore over it didn't cover much, either.

"Oh," she said, when no one spoke, "you've got the old bag with you, too." Despite her flippant tone, there was a wariness in her eyes as she threw a glance towards Mrs Beakor. "Mom, you were right."

Mom? Seth's mouth went dry. Unconsciously, his hands found the thin blanket over his legs and curled in tight.

Another woman entered the room. She was an older copy of his sister. She leaned heavily on makeup for the appearance of youth, and fit herself into too-small clothes that were far too young for her age. The end result wasn't pretty, had never been, but Seth knew better than to comment on it.

"Seth, baby!" She rushed past Carly and grabbed Seth's arm. His left arm. While a lot of the pain had diminished, it was still very tender and it was all he could do to not grimace. "What have they done to you?"