Chapter 10 - Hospital

Everything hurt. She was soaked and covered in mud to boot. Her foot was broken, or at bare minimum sprained. It was a fixable problem… but she just couldn’t bring herself to care. So, she limped on.

Day had passed to night, but the storm raged on.

“Hah… I’m an idiot. A dead idiot,” her voice filled with apathy. Maybe it was better this way. Her mom would be sad, sure, but at least Holly would be freed from this cruel joke of an existence.

Even with the dark thoughts that swirled in her head, she continued to move. That was until she stepped on what she thought was solid ground and it rolled away underneath her. The battered and exhausted girl hit the ground once more. She lay on her back, the rain continuing to soak her, mud splashing up from the tiny impacts around her.

“Ha…hahahaa…” She couldn’t help but laugh at the comedy of it all. “Go on Sahji! Are you amused?! I’m the jester of your little play, aren’t I?!” Holly yelled at the uncaring canopy.

“Who am I kidding? No one cares about me… certainly not the wish sage…” She covered her face with her arm, not to shield herself from the rain, but to hide her shame from any divine witnesses to her resumed bawling.

Though perhaps she was cursed by Sage Sahji – he wasn’t going to allow her to die, not today at least.

“Over here!” a new voice shouted.
“I’m coming Ryn! Hold up!” another voice joined the first.
“I knew it! There’s someone here!”

Holly didn’t want to see them, so she left her face covered. She wanted to tell them to do with her whatever they wished, but she couldn’t bring power to her voice. Even after all her performative screaming, when another person appeared she couldn’t find the will to speak.

“She doesn’t look good Maki, pick her up.”
“Hey, can you hear us?”

She wanted to say yes.
She wanted to say leave me alone.
She wanted to say let me die.

But her voice continued to fail her.

Not a protest was uttered as she was scooped up into a stranger’s arms.

“She’s small. What is she?”
“I think she’s a zalavan.”
“Really? I’ve never even seen a picture of one.”
“Her hair is like grass, that's how I could tell.”
“Well, she doesn’t look good. Let’s get her to the MA Office. Maybe she has a Maestro.”

She could have corrected him, but her voice refused to work. Even under the cover of her arm, she closed her eyes, not wanting to see anything more. And eventually, she got her wish as she was taken from the waking world into the blissful ignorance of unconsciousness.

---

Next she woke, Holly found herself in a familiar situation in an unfamiliar setting. She sat up, her head whipping to and fro as her mind desperately processed the current state her body was in.

Her clothes were gone, replaced by a thin gown. A bed lay underneath her and she was surrounded by bright white walls, the room cooled to an uncomfortable degree. Her left foot was wrapped up tight, but at least the throbbing pain was gone. All the pain was gone actually. Dirt no longer clung to her skin. Unlike when Nat-

…

-that bird had found her. Someone went through an extreme amount of effort to clean her up and treat her wounds.

“Alive alas.” Holly held herself, trembling from the chill that penetrated the modest gown. The scent that hung in the air stung her nostrils, it was familiar but fleetingly so. “Doctor’s office,” she realized.

She never saw her rescuers. Hopefully, she’d never truly meet them. The little zalavan had some choice words for them (not that she’d actually be able to get them out).

As she slowly took in her new environment, she found her seed satchel, set gently on a nearby table. Her clothes were still absent, but that could be addressed at a later time. The sides of the bed she awoke in had metal bars currently raised.

Holly touched her head and found four berries atop her crown. “At least eight,” she muttered to herself. She curled up pressing her face into her knees.

“Now what?” she squeaked, battling the mounting frustration.

No matter the plan, no matter the scheme, no matter her preparation, it all seemed to fall to ruin the second she relaxed. Would it ever truly end?

Maybe with her demise.

That was thwarted too. What a miserable joke she was.

Before she had time to tear into herself further, the room door opened.

“Oh, you're awake!” said a larger woman. She had long fluffy ears on the side of her head with a thin brown tail coated in short fur bearing a ball of longer fur at the tip. They were dressed in a simple blue outfit consisting of a shirt and pants. It looked lightweight, and a word came to Holly's mind.

Scrubs. That certainly did match the sanitary environment she found herself in. This woman was a nurse. Quite the respected profession, even in Inverna. Surely that meant employment in the wider world was plentiful for Resonators.

“How are you feeling honey?” asked the Resonator woman.
“Hee hee, my name's Holly, not honey!” giggled the zalavan, her practiced innocence flipping on like a light switch.

“Well Miss Holly, you mind tellin’ little ol' me what happened?” asked the Resonator, taking a seat next to the bed.

Holly recounted her adventures in Riterra, though she spoke with all the cheer and innocence that came with her false persona, details omitted unwillingly as her mask refused the dark thoughts she wanted to convey. Thankfully she wasn't questioned on the finer details and her lies by omission steadily became fact.

“Oh my! You poor little girl, you've been through so much!” the nurse gasped upon completion of Holly’s tale.

“I wanna go home, but that bird lady said there were a lot of mountains here. Like one thousand! That's a big number,” Holly noted helpfully. She had to keep spinning the narrative to act like she was going home, just in case.

“I'm sorry Miss Holly, I can't say I know much about your people. Can't even say I've seen one of ya until today,” replied the nurse.

That did inspire Holly's own curiosity. “What are you?”

“Oh! You really were born in a mountain huh? I'm a cow, honey. We're real good at healin’ magic, so a lot of us get into the medical fields,” she explained.

“That's super neat! Can I be a doctor?” asked Holly innocently enough.

The bovine woman's expression clouded for just a moment. “Maybe you should focus on getting home first.” The deflection was obvious and loud. “Where did ya say you came from?” asked the cow Resonator.

Holly wanted to call her out on the change in subject, but couldn't bring herself to do it. “Well I was in the box, and then I ran, and then I fell into the river and then I dunno, I was here!” She had been so spun around by everything she could have truthfully been anywhere on the map. At least she was still in Selvica, but from her memories of the maps she looked at in the past, that wasn't too helpful given the enormous scale of the landmass in question.

“Hmmm, well do you know how old you are?” asked the bovine.
“Eighteen! My sprout day was in April!” Holly beamed proudly.

The nurse nodded, taking in that information. “Well, let me get you your supper, I'm sure you're hungry.” The nurse stopped in place, stealing an appraising glance back at the young zalavan, before nodding to herself and leaving the nature element alone.

Holly's shoulders caught slack as she slumped over. She allowed herself a tired smile. “At least there's food,” she spoke, uninhibited. “Wonder what's on a hospital menu?”

---

“Uhhh… excuse me? Miss?” Holly stared at the lap table in front of her. A single glass of water was all that she was presented with. The nurse meanwhile was opening the window to allow the afternoon sun in.

“Oh, if this isn’t enough sunlight we can take you to the roof. It's a nice cloudless day today!” the nurse Resonator fretted as she tried to tie the curtains up in a way that blocked the least light possible.

“N-no miss I just wanted-” but poor Holly was cut off.
“Oh, more water! I can getcha that!” And then the bovine woman was off again.

Holly's expression went from cheerful concern to an annoyed scowl as soon as she was alone. “Fine, if you won't listen, I'll play that card then,” decided the hungry plant.

As soon as the nurse returned she was met by Holly sobbing into her hands.

“Oh no! What’s wrong dear?!” The cow rushed over to tend to the distraught girl.
“I haven’t been a good little berry tree, have I?” asked Holly wearing a tear-laden facade.
“What do you mean? You’ve been such a sweet little thing!”
“Mom says good little berry trees can have food, but I’m only getting water and sun,” Holly sniveled.
“That’s not what I meant dear, I just thought-”
“Mom always lets me eat what I want because I’m a good little berry tree.” Holly once more buried her face into her hands.

“Hold on! I’ll get you a big dinner, you just wait here!” And the nurse Resonator ran off.

Holly smirked, wiping her face dry. “That’s what I thought.”

The nurse didn’t take long, she was back with a steaming tray full of food in less than five minutes. The tray was sat in front of the eager patient who practically swooned at the sight of a piping hot fresh meal.

To say her mouth was watering was an understatement. Holly had read the phrase “having eyes bigger than your stomach,” and she felt she was about to learn what that felt like.

“This is baked fish, green beans, asparagus, fried potatoes, a dinner roll, fruit cocktail, chef salad, and if you’re good you can have this brownie a little later.”

Okay, so now the nurse was doting on her. Whatever, food was food and this was a ton of it. Even if she wanted to dive right in and devour everything, she was in the presence of another; so she moved with a steady hand and remembered her manners – after all, she was a good little berry tree.

The fish was excellent, hot, steamy, and melt in your mouth – compliments to the chef. The veggies were good too. The nurse seemed particularly worried about that, maybe she thought that feeding vegetables to a plant was some kind of social faux pas? Holly wouldn’t correct her unless it was brought up. The fried potatoes were the best part – a nice crispy outside with a tender almost mushy inside with a tinge of salt baked in. The little zalavan just discovered a new favorite food.

As for the dinner roll, that was good, but it didn’t top the potatoes. The salad was just a salad, the dressing they used was interesting; it had kind of a zesty kick to it, a good flavor. Lastly was the roll. It sure was bread, but it was fresh bread, so it was also pleasant.

“My! I didn’t think a little thing like you could finish all of that!” exclaimed the cow Resonator as she checked on her patient.

“It was all so tasty! Thank you so much!” Holly was even a good little berry tree and polished off her glass of water.

Now all that was left was to bask in the warm glow of the evening sun. Life was good.

---

Holly opened her eyes. The sun finally set, but given the part of the world they were in, it was still warm outside. Not horrible, especially for a zalavan who primarily thrived in the blanket sunlight. Now that she had eaten and mostly got her emotions back in order, she could take in her surroundings in earnest.

The window was the most interesting thing. She could tell she was high up in the hospital based on how much of the city around her she could take in. In the distance was something she had only read about.

“Woah…” Her head whipped around as she tried to figure out how to drop the railings on the side of the bed. After some fiddling and a loud clunk, the railings slid down, allowing her to hop out of bed. Her left foot was still sore, but she could put more of her weight on her right side and hobble over.

A salty breeze blew over her. “Ocean…” she gasped.

Around her was the hustle and bustle of the city, but not too far from her was a large sandy strip of land and then water. Water as far as the eye could see. She had only read about the ocean and pictures did not do it justice. She never thought she’d be able to witness its sheer scale, much less touch it.

Once more the girl was overcome with emotion, tears breaking free.

She sniffled as she took in the majesty of the sea. “This world is too beautiful, I can't die yet…”