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“Don’t thank me, I’m doing it for your health,” Nurse Flora replied. She dropped my hand, and I managed to keep up with her. “You look atrocious. And I don’t mean that in a cruel way. I mean it from a medical point of view. Your time in the Pit has drained this world from your cells, and you need to be replenished.”
“How long was I gone?” I asked.
“Almost two weeks,” she said. “Much too long. I don’t know what Remington thought he was doing by keeping you down there like that, but you need your treatments immediately, or you might not recover. Mr. Remington would hate to lose you more than he needs to make a statement.”
Everything was familiar once more, and we were back in the modern section where Victoria and I came for our beauty treatments. If it had been almost two weeks, then I was overdue, but I also hadn’t been taking any of my medications.
We entered the room I recognized, the one with the machines and bed where I would float aimlessly as my body was revived. I caught a glance of myself in the mirror on the wall and gasped.
My hair was dank and thin, hanging in greasy strands around my gaunt face despite the fact that I’d just cleaned it.
My collarbones were sharply edged above my chest, and you could see the outline of ribs shadowed in the skin below. The hollows of my cheeks were deep and shaded, and my shoulders appeared razor sharp under the fabric of the shirt.
“I look horrible,” I said quietly, lifting a skeletal hand to touch my cheek. As I looked at my reflection, it seemed to waver, and I disappeared for the blink of an eye. I faded away right in front of my eyes, and for a moment, the brightly lit room turned into a densely treed forest. I caught the whiff of evergreens and understory, damp and promising, full of life.
And then it was gone.
I turned back to Nurse Flora to ask her about it, but she was already moving toward me with a needle in her hand.
She plunged it into my neck, and before I could cry out, I plunged into unconsciousness.
CHAPTER3
“Willow, you must wake up now,”Doctor Norris said as I fought against him. It was as if I was a great, massive fish swimming slowly underwater, and he was tugging me up into the thick, unbreathable air.
I wanted to stay submerged. It made sense down there. Everything was simple down there. I wasn’t afraid down there.
But he insisted. His voice coiled around me and entangled me in its soothing melodic words.
“Willow, it’s time,” he said. “You’re about to make your grand re-entrance into Academy society, and you must look the part. Looking the part includes being conscious.”
“Was it too much for her body?” Nurse Flora asked. Her voice was like a disturbance at the surface of the water, a stone thrown in to create ripples expanding across the water while it sunk slowly towards me. “Baker needs to be held accountable for what she did. Miss Avalon should have never gotten that bad.”
“It was bad, but not beyond my skills,” Doctor Norris replied. I felt present in my body finally, and I could feel them talking over the top of me. “And don’t you worry, Matron Baker will be handled accordingly.”
“Has she stopped fading?” Flora asked.
“I believe we have her stabilized. She should be fixed in this world, especially if she takes her medications online and commits fully to her life. We won’t have to worry anymore.”
“And as long as Baker keeps her paws off her,” Flora said darkly. “You might want to remind your friend, Mr. Remington, what we’re dealing with here.”
“I won’t remind him of anything,” Norris replied. “Remington will do whatever he wants, regardless of this unique and strange situation. He’s got a particular interest in this girl and a very vested interest in how it all plays out.”
I couldn’t hide it any longer, and I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was Doctor Norris staring directly into my eyes, his face so close I could see the fine lines around his eyebrows from where he frowned too much, and the silvery hairs threaded there.
He was actually concerned. I could see it in the way his mouth was drawn into a flat, wide line and the way his cheeks were hollowed out as he sucked in air and held it in his lungs.
“Hey,” I said and turned to Flora. She had a perfect mask of surprise on her face, like the parody of an expression it was so practiced.
“Willow!” she exclaimed, and when I looked back to Doctor Norris, his expression had been replaced by the cold indifference he normally wore.
“Miss Avalon,” he said sharply. “How are you feeling?”
“I feel…”
My voice trailed off as I mentally assessed my body. I was fully existing inside of my own skin now, and I could feel everything from the rumbling in my stomach, the dryness in my mouth, and the tingling in my feet.
But overall, I felt fantastic. Better than I had before the Pit, actually. More secure in my flesh and connected to everything than I’d been.
