Elpitha

[zinovia]

Elpitha: Chapter 6: A Dark Night and a Warm Glow

A/N: If you’re careful in analyzing this chapter, you may learn a lot about Elpitha’s past and possibly even her past relationship with Jack…

Thanks for the reviews everyone! Krazie4Christ, I wasn’t aware I had a flavor…I’m not sure what it is exactly, so I can’t “fix” it, lol. Anyways, thanks for the advice! That chapter was a bit of comic relief because I knew this one was going to be a bit on the dark side. Hope you like it!

The wind is a strange entity. It is invisible and yet it can be seen. It is wonderful, terrible, encouraging, and frightening all at once. It is odorless and yet on it one can smell springtime or the coming of a storm. The wind is a strange entity, and Elpitha was mesmerized by it.

The wind has no voice, and yet its howls sent chills up and down Elpitha’s spine, paralyzing her with fear. It was a cold and dismal night for a midnight stroll. Elpitha had lost her way, and no longer recognized her surroundings. She hugged herself, hands clasping elbows, and she trembled as the frozen wind attacked her. She marveled at the power of darkness. It was almost impossible to see, the dark forbidding sky obscured by clouds, and the full moon was hidden behind them. There were trees, and their great branches swayed with the wind. It was a sight that would have been a thing of beauty in daylight, but this same sight, disguised by night’s sinister cloak, was as ominous as a graveyard. The creak of a nearby gate made Elpitha jump. The clouds began to drift away in the sky and Elpitha looked up at them. The moon, still partially obscured by the drifting clouds was tinged orange. It seemed to glow orange almost as if it was reflecting the flames of some nearby bonfire. Elpitha was mesmerized by it. She no longer clutched her arms. Elpitha felt quite warm suddenly, almost too warm, in fact.

Quite suddenly the clouds revealed the full moon in its glory, shedding a pale light on Elpitha’s surroundings. She drew in her breath as she finally realized where she was. She could barely make out the shadows of houses up and down the lane upon which she now tread. However, these shadows did not concern her. She gazed in unbelieving terror at the sight directly in front of her. The wind abandoned its howls for whispers. Stealthily it passed through Elpitha. It passed through her body. It passed through her soul. The wind had seen her secrets and it whispered them to the night so that even the very ground upon which she stood seemed hostile towards her. The trees, swayed by the wind’s influence now bent their branches towards Elpitha, accusing her of past crimes long forgotten. The gate in front of her creaked ominously, its sinister little cackle sending another wave of shivers up Elpitha’s spine. The wind now seemed to circle around Elpitha, its whispers getting louder and louder. She listened to the whispers, and her terror increased. The wind was carrying voices along with the whispers. She wanted to cover her ears. She wanted to scream. However, there was something enchanting about these voices that forced her to listen to them. They called to her. They laid her secrets bare, and through the whispers and voices another sound caught her ears. Elpitha heard a haunting giggle echo throughout the area, and her heart stopped. Her breath came out all at once along with a single whispered word.

“Mikri…” She breathed.

The wind picked up and pushed her towards the gate that had slammed open suddenly by a gust of air. Elpitha wandered through the gate in a sort of trance. She gazed in disbelief at the house in front of her. It was dark and abandoned. The house looked as if a single gust of wind could have leveled it. It had not always been so. However, now Elpitha knew there was no turning back. She had gone through the gate, and another giggle echoed in her ears. It was coming from the house. The front door was ajar and Elpitha climbed a few broken steps to reach it. The pitch black opening seemed like a void that absorbed light, happiness, and even life. As Elpitha reached for the door, a gust of wind blew it shut. More giggling found its way to Elpitha, almost as if it had traveled to her on the wind. The void was gone. Elpitha saw a warm glow of light escaping from underneath the door. Had someone lit the fireplace? She tried the door and it opened. The fireplace was barren, and yet the same orange glow emanated from somewhere. Elpitha could feel the warmth. She could smell the cinders. However, there was no other fireplace around. There was a creak as well as the sound of footsteps on a staircase. The footsteps ascended the stairs a little too quickly. The sound made Elpitha’s blood run cold. Heart pounding, she turned quickly to face the staircase behind her. It was dark at the top of the stairs except for a pair of dark eyes that glowed for an instant before the shadow that surrounded them dashed out of sight. It had all happened in a matter of seconds, and Elpitha stood frozen, staring into the darkness. Another set of giggles echoed through the house and made Elpitha’s heart stop. The glow had disappeared and she could no longer see. Then it returned, but it flowed down the staircase.

Elpitha slowly climbed the staircase. She held her breath, trying not to make a sound on the stairs. The smell of cinders was stronger now, as was the heat. Elpitha felt almost as if she was standing next to a fireplace. A door stood ajar at the end of the hallway. Everything inside Elpitha’s soul screamed for her to turn and run from that place. She wanted nothing to do with that house, that door, or that room that she knew so well. Somehow she knew what she would find in that room. Elpitha no longer felt her heart pounding in her chest. Her heart had escaped her and floated into that room without her. That strange orange glow seemed to originate from the open doorway, and Elpitha found herself drawn to it. She approached the door, her hand outstretched, but just as she reached it, there was another fit of giggles and the door slammed shut, completely shutting out the orange glow and throwing the hallway into darkness. Elpitha felt her way to the door and gently grabbed the handle. She took a deep breath and prepared herself to open the door, but just as she tightened her grip on the doorknob, the door was jerked open suddenly. Three pairs of eyes shone at her and the giggles rang out once more, deafening her. She fell backwards, hitting the ground hard as she was once again thrown into darkness.

Elpitha jumped up, throwing the covers off of her. She had fallen out of bed and she was sore. Her heart must have found its way back into her chest because it pounded now so that Elpitha was afraid that it was trying to escape her chest and make a break for it. Elpitha felt like doing the same. She tossed her blanket back onto the bed and headed for the door without a backwards glance. She didn’t know where she was going, only that she needed to move, to walk. The wind hit her face with a cold slap as she stepped outside. For a moment it was a terrible reminder of her dream, but she wouldn’t let that stop her. Without any idea of where she was going she made a right and headed for Jack’s farm, intending to cut through to the woods. She ran across the farmland, stumbling along the way. Jack had left his sickle and hoe outside and she tripped over them, falling and cutting her arm on the sharp blade. She ignored it and kept going, finally making it to the bridge on the other end of the farm and into the woods. She had just reached the first pack of trees when someone grabbed the arm she had cut. Elpitha stifled a cry of pain and turned to find Jack staring at her angrily.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing out here at this time of night by yourself?” He scolded, trying to keep his voice calm. “Don’t you know wild dogs come out at night? Don’t you know how easy it is to get hurt out here in the darkness?”

Elpitha yanked her arm away, letting her breath out as trying to ignore the throbbing of her arm. She was too upset to think clearly, and now anger clouded her judgment completely. She stood there trembling, searching for the words to tell Jack off. Jack took a step closer to Elpitha, holding up a candle that he had brought along. Elpitha stared at the candle. She slowly backed away until she hit a tree and stood there, silently staring at Jack. Jack approached her, setting the candle down.

“What’s the matter?” He asked. Elpitha didn’t answer. “Come with me. It’s freezing out here! We’ll go back to my farmhouse and we can talk.” Elpitha continued to stare at him, almost frightened, and so Jack continued to persuade her. “Please? I just…” It was then that Jack noticed the blood on his hand. “What is this?” He asked, the anger rising in his voice once more. “What happened?”

Elpitha hid her arm behind her back and tried to back away, forgetting that she was already against a tree. The result was her rubbing up against the tree and irritating the cut on her arm. She gave a small cry that was barely audible, but Jack noticed it. He walked over and tried to grab her arm, but Elpitha squirmed out of the way. Jack let out his breath impatiently and roughly grabbed Elpitha’s arm. She let out small cry as Jack pulled her toward him, tightening his grip on her arm. He looked down at her arm and let out a gasp, loosening his grip immediately.

“How did this happen?!” He asked, quickly taking off his jacket and wrapping it tightly around the wound. “Where on earth do you think you were going with this cut? You need stitches! Come on! We’ll have to wake the doctor!”

Elpitha pulled away from him and backed off a bit. “I’m not going to the doctor. I’m fine! Just leave me alone!” Jack reached for her other arm, but she backed out of the way. “I said no!” She cried in frustration. “Mind your own business! This isn’t any of your concern.” Elpitha began to get dizzy. She had lost a significant amount of blood during her excursion.

Jack ran up to her and tried to help her, but she shoved him away. “You’re going. I’m not asking you.” He said in a voice of dangerous calm. He reached out suddenly and lifted Elpitha who was too weak to fight him off. He hadn’t tied the jacket tightly enough around the cut and blood still leaked out of it. Elpitha was turning pale. Jack took off for the doctor’s office.

Until next time…

[Entegy]

Heh heh.

[Butterscotch]

Wow! That was amazing!

[BorderWolf]

Great chapter Zin!

*exalts*

[zinovia]

Elpitha: Chapter 7: A Trip to the Hospital

A/N: Here’s the seventh chapter. I’m not fond of visiting the doctor, so I couldn’t resist throwing some of that into Elpitha, lol.

Krazie4Christ: thanks! Chapter 5 was all humor and no drama and Chapter 6 was just the opposite, lol. I like to do a mix of both, but those two got one or the other. Glad you enjoyed it!

DrippingInk: For some reason I thought I couldn’t name chapter 1, but it worked! Thanks! The blood on Jack’s hand wasn’t anything special. He grabbed her arm which was bleeding and so he had blood on his hand. He saw it and realized she was bleeding.

Quack-Wabbit: Looks like I can’t please everyone all the time, eh? I’m thinking you missed the lack of comic relief? Chapter 5 was rather on the heavier side.

PacificTwist: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

The world was shaking. Elpitha could hear footsteps pounding. They pounded in unison with the quaking of the earth. Pound! Quake! Pound! Quake! The rhythm seemed to speed up. She couldn’t move. In fact, she was almost too weak to breathe. Elpitha tried to open her eyes and it was painful. Her eyelids seemed to weigh a hundred pounds, and the cold night air stung her eyes. The world was indeed shaking, and she seemed to be floating in mid-air. Was she being carried? Perhaps whoever it was could drop her off at home if it was on his way. There seemed to be an explosion somewhere in the distance, and the sudden outburst of noise echoed in Elpitha’s ears, giving her a headache. Where was all the water coming from? Why was she getting wet? Was it getting darker? No. Her eyes were finally succumbing to the weight of her eyelids. They were slowly closing.

“Doc! Doc!” Jack pounded on the clinic door. Afraid of dropping Elpitha, he slipped his arm around her once more and began kicking the door. “Doc! Open up! It’s an emergency!”

The door jerked open and the doctor stood in the doorway wearing his pajamas and a surly expression. However, his expression turned to one of fear when he saw Elpitha. “Get her inside!” He cried, making room for Jack to pass through the doorway. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure!” Jack said, carefully putting Elpitha down. “She had that nasty cut on her arm, but I don’t know how she got it. I think she’s lost a lot of blood. She was heading for the woods and didn’t seem to care. I had to force her to come!”

The doctor lifted Elpitha’s arm and shook his head. The “cut” on her arm ran from mid-forearm to a bit before her elbow and was rather deep. “Well she always was a stubborn one. I need to begin work. I’ll check her chart and see if we have any blood matching her type in storage. What a mess…is that bits of tree bark I see in there? And dirt. What on earth was she doing?”

“I don’t know. Is she going to be ok?” Jack asked.

“She’s definitely lost a lot of blood, but I think she’ll be fine. She may need to spend a few days in here though. That gash is infected. Run down the street and wake Elli, will you?”

------------------------------------------------------

“How is she?”

“Time will tell. She had lost a lot more blood than I originally thought. It was a real stroke of luck that we happened to have her blood type on supply. A lot of people scoffed when Elli organized that blood drive last month, but it was lucky she did.”

“Elpitha donated, as I recall.”

“Yes. She came on a couple of different occasions. In fact, it was her own blood I used.”

“What about the cut? Was it infected?”

“Actually that was a rather nasty turn of luck for her. You told me she had pressed her arm against one of the trees. It looks like she may have been stung by something. Perhaps a centipede or some form of arachnid. Whatever it was, she was allergic to it. That’s what caused the infection. She probably will be ok to go home in a day or so, but I want to keep her here an extra day or two just to make sure the poison works its way out of her system smoothly.”

Elpitha opened her eyes and sat up quickly. Instantly, three sets of hands grabbed her, preventing her from springing out of the bed.

“Hey! Relax!” Jack exclaimed.

“It’s ok. You’re safe here. Just take a breath and calm down. It’s normal to be disoriented after what you’ve gone through.” Elli said, propping up the pillows and gently pushing Elpitha back against them.

“How do you feel?” The doctor asked.

Elpitha looked at her reflection in the doctor’s metal clipboard. She looked as if someone had robbed her grave and stuck her in an ugly hospital gown that looked as if someone had made it out of paper towels. “Oh, just fine and dandy. I feel like I could sing and dance. Off a cliff that is. May I ask why on earth I feel like crap run over twice?”

“Sounds like she’s back to her old self to me, doc!” Elli said cheerfully.

“Tell me what you remember.” The doctor said.

Elpitha cleared her mind, and memories of the previous night slowly filtered into it. The only thing she remembered vividly was the dream she had had, but that was not something that she was about to discuss. Then it all came back to her. “I fell and cut my arm last night.”

“What were you doing out at that time of night? It’s dangerous, you know.” The doctor said, making a note on his clipboard.

“I…I wanted to go for a walk.” Elpitha said.

“At that time of night?!” Jack exclaimed incredulously.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Elpitha whispered.

“Why not? What happened?” Jack demanded.

Elpitha looked away. “Nothing.”

“Why didn’t you come to the clinic right away after you fell? You lost a lot of blood, you know.” The doctor said calmly, still scribbling on his clipboard.

“I…I didn’t realize it was that serious.” Elpitha said quietly.

“The hell you didn’t!” Jack said, rising along with his voice. “I practically had to kidnap you to get you here! There is no way you just didn’t notice that gash.” He knelt down by the side of Elpitha’s bed and glared at her directly in her eyes. “I would never normally pry, or make you tell me something that you feel is private if it makes you uncomfortable.” He said calmly. “But you could have died. And I want to know why.”

Elpitha looked away once more. Elli, noticing that Jack’s frustration was about to explode, and wanting to avoid having to scrape her patient off the ceiling, placed her hand on Jack’s shoulder.

“It’s time the doctor gave Elpitha her examination. Perhaps you could come back and visit tomorrow.” She said gently.

Jack stood up and gave Elpitha one last look before leaving without a word. The doctor finally finished scribbling in his clipboard and looked up.

“I’m going to go put this report in your file and I’ll be back for your exam in just a minute.” He said.

After the doctor left, Elli let out a sigh. “Isn’t he dreamy?” She asked, resting her chin in her hands.

“Oh yeah. Of course it’s his personality that really makes him irresistible.” Elpitha replied.

Elli gave Elpitha a sideways glance. “I heard you and Kai are really hitting it off.” She said with a smirk.

“Do you really need to be here? What’s the matter? Hoping the doc will examine you next?”

“Actually I’m here to make sure you behave yourself. The last time we managed to get you in for an exam it took him nearly half an hour to get you to say ‘ah,’ as I recall.” Elli said, turning to face Elpitha.

“Oh, like he really actually learns anything from that!” Elpitha scoffed. “What’s he gonna do? Tell me I need a tic-tac?” She leaned back, folding her arms and gave Elli a childish scowl.

Elli laughed. “Look at you! That tough act of yours isn’t very convincing, you know.”

The doctor entered the room once more and handed Elli his clipboard. “Jeff just came in and I need to take a look at him. He thinks he has food poisoning. Apparently Karen came up with a new recipe. Can you take care of Elpitha’s exam for me? Just the basics. You know what to do.”

“Of course doctor.” Elli replied and the doctor left the room. She drummed her fingers on the clipboard thoughtfully for a moment and then faced Elpitha once more. “Now, we can make this easy or we can make this very difficult.” She said calmly.

Elpitha looked frightened. “You’re not like one of those nurses that puts their patients to sleep and takes advantage of them, are you?” She asked.

“Oh you’re just hilarious, sweetie. So you never said exactly why you were out so late last night.” Elli replied.

Elpitha looked away. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” She said.

“Actually it is my business. You see, while Jack was a little overzealous, he did make a good point. It’s my job to make sure the patients are ok. That includes making sure certain uncooperative patients don’t end up in here again, only worse off. Now, would you be so kind as to answer my question?”

Elpitha glared at her. “I don’t have to tell you anything.” She said defiantly, scowl back in place.

Elli smirked. “Well I could tell the doctor that you aren’t looking so well. He trusts my judgment. He wouldn’t question it. Perhaps more tests would be necessary, and you certainly would need to be kept here a few more days. Perhaps even a few weeks. Better safe than sorry.”

“You wouldn’t…”

“Try me.”

Elpitha sighed. “I had a bad dream, ok? I wanted to get out of the house and was careless.”

Elli sat down on the bed and placed the clipboard in her lap. “Now was that so difficult? What about your arm?”

“I wanted to get to the woods. There’s a spot there where I go on nice days when I’m in the mood to write and I figured I could go there and calm down. I decided to cut through Jack’s farm, but it was dark and I tripped over his sickle. I fell on it, and that’s what happened to my arm. I wasn’t trying to off myself, if that’s what you were thinking. I was upset and I’m not sure if I was even fully awake. I knew it was pretty bad, but I just wanted to calm down a bit before I had to deal with anyone. Then Jack showed up and I don’t remember much afterwards…”

Elli flinched. “Jack’s sickle, huh? Wow! That explains it. Well that’s why we don’t go running around in the middle of the night, eh?”

“Yeah, right.” Elpitha said. “No more night strolls for me!”

“Good.” Elli said with a smile. “Now, we’re getting somewhere. Now how about this dream?”

Elpitha frowned. “Come on…don’t be mean.”

Elli smiled once more. “Part of the treatment, I’m afraid. Come on. You’ll feel better if you talk about it.” Elpitha hesitated, and Elli continued. “I promise it will be just between us.”

“I…” Elpitha put her face in her hands.

Elli gently placed her hand on Elpitha’s back. “It’s ok. You can tell me…” She said quietly.

“I visited a place that I haven’t seen in a very long time last night. I saw some people that died when I was little. It…it scared me. I thought I was there all over again. I thought that I was watching it all over again.” Elpitha whispered.

“I see. You witnessed some deaths when you were young and had a nightmare about them?” Elli asked.

“Yeah…something like that…” Elpitha said.

“Ok, sweetie. Just one more thing, then.”

Elpitha looked at Elli as if she wanted to cry in frustration. “What?” She asked, resigned to her fate.

Elli smiled and took Elpitha’s arm in her hand. She took a pair of scissors and cut off the bandage, holding up the cut for Elpitha to see. “This, my dear, is a serious injury. In the future, make sure to visit us, hmm?”

“I’ll do that.” Elpitha said with a weak smile.

“Good! Now, missy, it’s time we started that exam.” Elli said, turning her back to Elpitha to grab some things off of the counter.

“Let me guess. You want me to say aaaaaahhhhh.” Elpitha asked.

“Not quite yet. First we need to clean that wound.” Elli said, turning around with a bowl of disinfectant. She sat on the bed once more and reached for Elpitha’s arm.”

“Oh, no that’s ok! It looks really clean!” Elpitha said quickly, yanking her arm back.

Elli gave Elpitha a reproachful look. “It’ll only sting a bit. I need to clean it before I can put the new bandage on! Give me your arm.”

In the lobby, the doctor was prescribing some medicine for Jeff. A sudden crash made them both look up.

“Dear me…what was that?” Jeff asked.

“Elpitha! Hold still!”

“Rape! Rape!”

“That’s not funny! Hold still so I can clean that cut! It’ll be very quick! I promise!”

“Get away from me with that, you sadist!”

“It’s just a little sting. It won’t be that bad. Trust me!”

“Never! Keep back! I’ll use it!”

“Elpitha, put down that feather duster and get over here!”

“It’s fine! I’m fine! Look! See? I feel like singing and dancing!”

“Sweetie, don’t be ridiculous! You’re still weak. You’re going to hurt yourself!”

“You put your left arm in! You take your left arm out! You put your left arm in!”

“Come here!”

“Come on everybody! Let’s do the twist!”

“Elpitha!”

“Nooo! Stay back! I’ve still got the feather duster!”

There was another crash and Jeff practically jumped into the doctor’s arms. “Aren’t you going to see what’s going on in there?” He asked the doctor timidly.

“Sounds like Elli’s got things under control.” The doctor replied nonchalantly.

“Let go of me! You’re dirtying my cut!”

“Elpitha, just let me clean it! Oh no! Watch out! You’re about to sit on that needle!”

“What? Where?!”

“Ha! Gotcha…..there now! Was that so terrible?”

“Little sting my aunt fanny! What was that? Acid?”

“Oh, stop it you big baby. Go on. Get back into bed. Here, I’ll help you. Now say ahhhhh.”

“Ahhhh go f…”

“That’s very mature, Elpitha!”

Jeff looked at the doctor in awe. “All that just to clean a cut?” He asked in amazement.

“That’s nothing.” The doctor replied. “Just wait. I need to take some blood too.”

Until next time…

[Entegy]

XD

And here I thought I hated going to the Doctor's.

[Butterscotch]

Great chpater; I liked that part about Karen inventing a new recipe. ^^

One question, Doc told Jack to run down the street and fetch Elli, but I thought that Elli lived with the Doctor? (in seperate rooms, of course! ^^

[Entegy]

She does go home to Ellen and Stu every so often, so maybe she stayed there for a night.

[BorderWolf]

Great chapter Zin!

*exalts*

[zinovia]

admin said:

Great chpater; I liked that part about Karen inventing a new recipe. ^^

One question, Doc told Jack to run down the street and fetch Elli, but I thought that Elli lived with the Doctor? (in seperate rooms, of course! ^^

I assumed, and for the purposes of my fic, that elli lived at home with ellen and stu. I kept it consistent that way throughout future chapters as you will see, that she went to the clinic during the day, has wednesdays, holidays, and days when the doc is out off, and goes home every night.

basically, I never knew that in FoMT Elli lived with the Doc at the clinic, so I wrote her as living with ellen and stu, taking care of them. we'll call it a quirk of my fic, lol

[Candyapple]

this is a great story! ;D

[zinovia]

Elpitha: Chapter 8: Bedside Confessional Part I

A/N: Well here is the eighth chapter. Hope you like it!

Shattered, scattered, broken down
Whispers in the air
Falling, calling, endless sound
Lost without a care

Flying, crying, in the night
Souls without a home
Wallow, follow, those in sight
Shadows as they roam

Tears, fears, nothing more
Guilt and hidden blame
Leering, jeering, keeping score
Spirits lost in flame

Elpitha read the lines to herself over again. She scoffed in disgust and tore the page out of her poetry book. She glared at the words once more before grasping the page with her other hand. She was about to tear the page to shreds when a hand snatched it out of her grasp.

“No! You can’t!” Mary exclaimed suddenly. She was a quiet and gentle person, and as such, often went unnoticed. She had silently entered the room, like a mouse, scampering to Elpitha’s side. She had watched as Elpitha wrote in her book, reading over her shoulder. Elpitha, lost in another world, had not noticed her audience. Now she turned in shock to find Mary behind her, protectively clutching the page out of her reach.

“I’m sorry…did you need a tissue?” Elpitha asked.

“Don’t tear it up! I think it’s really pretty! Why would you want to destroy it?” Mary asked, taking a seat in a chair next to Elpitha’s bed. It was Elpitha’s second day in the hospital and the doctor was letting visitors in to see her.

“It never comes out quite right. I have this image of what I want to write…the picture I want to portray, and it just never comes out quite right. I always end up with garbage.” Elpitha said with a sigh, leaning back on her pillows. If anyone else had taken that page out of her hand, she probably would have been angry. However, there was something disarming about Mary.

“Garbage? I don’t think it’s…” Mary began.

“So how are you?” Elpitha interrupted calmly.

“Oh! I’m fine!” Mary said, embarrassed. “How are you? I heard it was quite serious. Jack told me that you could have died!”

“Jack’s a drama queen.” Elpitha replied. “Don’t you worry about me. I’ll be fine…that is if certain psycho nurses let me get out of here alive!”

“I need to change that bandage again soon, sweetie. I’d stay on my good side if I were you.” Elli called with a chuckle.

“You just changed it this morning!” Elpitha cried.

“I need to change it twice a day!” Elli called back.

“Sadist!”

“Baby!”

Mary’s eyes were wide with shock when Elpitha focused her attention on Mary once more. “Oh don’t worry!” Elpitha laughed. “We won’t fist fight or anything, although…could you hand me that feather duster? I might need it later.”

Mary looked confused, but handed Elpitha the feather duster. “Well I…ah…I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better.” She said timidly.

“Yeah, thanks.” Elpitha replied with a smirk. “So what have you been up to? Continuing the saga of Grey the Adonis?”

Mary blushed. “Well…I...he…”

“That good, huh?” Elpitha laughed.

Mary blushed once more. “He’s sweet. He really is! I know it doesn’t seem like he says much, but what he does say means more to me than all the romantic talk in the world! It’s so cute the way he tries so hard. Sometimes I wish he had the courage to be more forward with me, but when it’s all said and done, I wouldn’t change him for the world.”

Elpitha, amazed that Mary had managed to get so much dialogue out in one shot herself, gave Mary her little half smile. “Well I suppose that’s all that matters then, eh?”

Mary smiled in reply, and then turned at the sound of footsteps approaching. Elli entered the room, making Elpitha tighten her grip on the feather duster.

“Little May is here to visit!” Elli said cheerfully, leading May in by the hand.

Mary stood in response. “Well, I better get going! I hope you feel better, Elpitha!” She said, quietly tucking the page into a pocket.

Elli, noticing the feather duster in Elpitha’s grasp, gave Elpitha a wicked smile. Elpitha laughed in reply.

“Watch out May! Elli turns into a witch when she’s in the hospital.” She whispered audibly.

Elli lifted May into a chair. “I’ll be back in a bit, sweetie.” She said. She turned to Elpitha before leaving. “I’ll get you, my pretty!” She said with a smirk.

May settled herself comfortably in the chair, her legs dangling off of the end. She looked at Elpitha shyly, unsure of what to say. “Are…are you OK?” She asked finally.

“I’m just fine. I’ll be out of here soon, I hope, and then you can come over and play with Mikri, if you like.” Elpitha replied.

“I went over your house yesterday and you weren’t home. Then Jack told me you were here…”

“There’s nothing to worry about, honey. I’m fine, and you can visit me when I’m home, OK?” Elpitha said reassuringly.

“OK…” May said, casting her eyes to the floor.

“What’s the matter? Was there a reason you came to see me? Do you need something?” Elpitha asked.

“I…I…well, you said your mommy doesn’t write to you either. I just…”

“What is it?”

“Do you think there’s something wrong with me, Elpitha?”

“You look like a normal kid to me.” Elpitha said with a shrug.

May climbed up onto her chair and then climbed onto Elpitha’s bed, crawling into her lap. “Thanks…” She whispered.

Elpitha winced slightly. May had decided to rest on her injured arm. This was aside from the fact that she still wasn’t very comfortable with May’s sudden outbursts of affection. However, she somehow felt that it might be impolite to throw May off of the bed. “Why would you ask a question like that?” She asked instead.

“I asked my mommy again if she would at least come to visit on my birthday this year. She said she had plans already. She doesn’t like me…”

“Oh honey, I don’t think she…” Elpitha began, but May interrupted her.

“Don’t you think angels are perfect? If I was an angel, my mommy would love me.” She said with a sad smile.

“It’s not your fault…things just get messed up sometimes. You’re fine. Really.” Elpitha said in an attempt to console her.

“No, you don’t understand.” May said softly. “If I could become an angel, my mommy would always want to see me. Everyone wants to see an angel. I just need to become one…”

Elpitha was getting worried. “You want to become an angel? How?”

“My grandpa said that some people who went to heaven became angels.” May replied softly.

Elpitha gasped. However, she didn’t get the chance to respond. At that moment Elli entered the room. She stormed over to the bed and scooped up May in her arms.

“No, no, sweetheart!” Elli scolded. “You’re right on Elpitha’s arm! You’ll break her stitches!” Then she turned to Elpitha reproachfully. “What’s the matter with you? Can’t you be even the least bit responsible? You know better than that!”

Elpitha looked down at her arm. “It’s fine.” She said simply.

Elli walked over and looked down at Elpitha’s arm as well. “It looks like it may be. I’ll take a better look when I change the bandage. Come on, May. Your grandpa is here.” She said.

“Hey Elli, could you ask Barley if I could speak to him alone for a minute?” Elpitha asked.

“Sure.” Elli said, and left the room. Barley came in soon after.

“Hi! How are you feeling?” Barley asked as he took a seat.

“I’m fine.” Elpitha said quickly. “Barley…do you think May would ever want to hurt herself?”

Barley scratched his head. “May? That’s ridiculous!”

“She told me she wanted to become an angel so that she could make her mother want to see her.”

“Oh! May’s lonely. That’s just a childish fancy! May’s much too young to think of causing harm to herself.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive! You’re overreacting. I thank you for your concern, though.”

“OK. Thanks.” Elpitha said, resting back on her pillows.

“Thank you. I’ve got to get going now. It looks as if you have another visitor anyway.” Barley said with a smile. He gave Elpitha a pat on the shoulder and left the room.

When Elpitha looked up to greet her new visitor, she nearly screamed. A giant teddy bear was slowly inching its way through the door, grunting and straining because it was a bit too large to fit through the door. The bear lurched forward and fell on its face. It was suddenly lifted and pushed through the door, and Elpitha spied a bandana bobbing up and down behind the bear’s shoulder. She gave a little chuckle as Kai finally entered the room, dropping the bear next to her bed and leaping to her bedside, catching her up and squeezing her tightly in a big hug.

“Ow ow ow ow ow! OK…nice to see you too! My arm! You’re squeezing my…” Elpitha cried.

“What’s going on in there?!” Elli called suspiciously. “Kai! You be careful with her! If I come in there and find you’ve caused further injury to one of my patients, you’ll be sorry!”

“I won’t, sweetheart! Don’t you worry your pretty little head about me!” Kai called back. Then he turned to Elpitha. “Listen, you want to get out of here tonight?” He whispered. “I can sneak you out and we can have some alone time up on Mother’s hill. Elli would never know!”

“Oh, I won’t, eh?” Elli asked. She stood in the doorway with a scowl, staring Kai down.

Kai backed nervously into Elpitha’s bed, half sitting on her arm. Elpitha cried in protest and Kai stood up. “Now, Elli. You know I was just…I was just kidding, right?”

Elli stormed over to Elpitha’s side, glancing down at her arm before snatching the feather duster out of her hand. “I won’t have you in here attacking my patients.” She said, pointing the feather duster at him threateningly.

“Hey, relax babe! If worse comes to worse, you can just stitch her back up, right?” Kai replied with a grin. It was his idea of a joke, and yet Elli didn’t find it very funny.

She scowled once more, swatting at him with the feather duster. “Out! OUT!” She cried. Elpitha slowly began to smile. Apparently Kai had made another comment. Elli had graduated from simply swatting at him with the feather duster to hitting him over the head with it. “No you can NOT just borrow her for a few hours! Do you know how much blood she lost?! Do you know how weak she is?!” Elpitha was laughing so hard that she was crying. Elli had grabbed hold of Kai and was dragging him out, swatting him with the feather duster all the while. “And if I EVER catch you in here again, trying to…”

“Ow! OW! OK! I’m sorry! I’m going! Hey! Stop it!” Kai yelped as he finally succumbed to being dragged outside.

Jack entered the clinic and edged curiously around Elli and Kai. Elli motioned Jack inside as she gave Kai a final shove and whack with the feather duster out the clinic door. Then she walked over to Jack and whispered something into his ear. He smiled and nodded.

Elpitha had finally managed to stop laughing when Jack entered the room. Wiping her eyes as she caught her breath, she looked up to see him standing in the doorway with a timid smile on his face. She looked at him nervously, her eyes a little frightened, but mostly defiant.

Jack sat down next to her. “Hey, listen. I’m sorry about yesterday. You really threw a scare into me, that’s all. I know I overreacted.”

Elpitha let her defenses down slightly. “I don’t see what reason you have to overreact.” She said quietly. She had been looking him in the face, but now she purposely lost his gaze. “You hardly know me.”

Jack smiled sadly. “I feel like I do know you. You remind me so much of someone that sometimes I can hardly bear it.”

Elpitha focused her gaze on her hands which were resting in her lap. Why didn’t he recognize her? She had changed in both appearance and personality, but not a great deal. She was thinner, taller, older, and her hair was now short. She had gone through much in the past eight years, and it was reflected in her personality. However, she was still the same person. “So what happened to this mystery person?” She asked carelessly.

Jack rested his face in his hands for a moment before answering. Then he looked up. “She died.” He replied quietly.

Elpitha gasped.

Until next time…

[BorderWolf]

Wow again Zin.

*exalts*

[Candyapple]

wow.... YOUR KILLING ME! what the heck did Elpitha do!? and why does Jack think she's dead!?? *exalts*

[Butterscotch]

The suspense is gonna kill me, what with Elpitha's secret past and poor May wanting to be an angel.
Poor May ;_;