Warning: Your body lacks the energy to complete the siphon changes.
Well, that explained why she was still in pain. It also explained why it was so hard to move her muscles. If she didn’t have the ATP to power her cells, she’d get rigor mortis. It seemed the magic had made it so she wasn’t quite to that point yet, and the little amount of food she’d managed to eat was probably helping...but she was in trouble. If she didn’t get help soon, she figured she was actually close to dying because her body was eating energy faster than she could make it. She heard Kaylee knocking louder, but she couldn’t call out and her door was locked.
Mentally, she screamed at Kaylee. “Help me!” Her body spasmed in pain, seemingly in response to her cry. She felt even weaker than before. She closed her eyes, unable to hold them open any longer.
“Something is wrong! We need to get in there, right now!” She could vaguely hear Kaylee’s frantic yells. She could hear pounding footsteps and then a key was scraping across the lock. Oh good, someone has a spare… Her mind was all that was functioning properly right now, and even that now felt like she was slogging through a mire.
The door burst open and she could hear the footsteps of several people rushing in. She heard Kaylee’s gasp of shock. “She’s so pale! Is she even breathing?”
Raphael yelled at someone at the door, “Go fetch a healer, NOW!”
She didn’t need a healer; she needed food. With as much effort as she could muster, she tried to speak. “Enn…” She couldn’t even finish one stupid word before she started coughing, trying to get more air into her lungs.
“She’s alive! Get her some water!”
What seemed like eons later, but was probably only half a minute, she heard Jessica crooning softly as she supported Jade’s head. “Try and swallow this, please.” She heard the even quieter mutter that came after, “Please, please be okay…” Still, she felt the cold water dripping into her mouth, moistening the bone-dry cavity. Unable to swallow, she just savored the water. It would help, she knew. Not much, but at least a little. She continued to slowly take in the water Jessica gave her gratefully. It would stop her from dying for the moment, at least. Hopefully.
She heard someone else come into the room, and she wanted to smile when she heard his voice, but couldn’t make her lips move. “Move aside, let me see her.” Mike would take care of her, right? She felt his hand on her arm, the brief flash of warmth moving through her as she felt his magic. She could hear his sharp intake of breath because the room had gone silent in anticipation. He quickly ordered the others around. “Go, get some soup, broth, juice, anything she can drink that has substance.”
She heard several people scurrying to obey his orders as Jessica, who was still supporting her head and feeding her water, asked fearfully, “Doctor, what’s wrong with her?”
She could almost hear the frown in Mike’s voice as he spoke simply, “Her body is starving. Her muscles are undergoing a tremendous change, and her body didn’t have the energy to support it, but it kept trying. It looks like she was trying to eat something, but she didn’t have the energy to do even that because the rest of her body was eating it up so quickly. She’s severely dehydrated and almost in a state of starvation, but otherwise, she’s fine. Keep giving her the water until they bring something more substantial.”
She felt his hand on her wrist again, and then a warmth to her muscles. The pain lessened just a tiny bit, and she managed to croak, “What…?”
Mike seemed to understand as he spoke soothingly, “Shhh, just focus on drinking. I didn’t really heal you; I just gave you a bit of energy to tide you over.”
She heard footsteps rushing back into the room and felt Jessica take the cup away briefly before bringing it back with something that smelled like apple juice. As the sweet calories hit her tongue, she found that with Mike’s little injection of energy, she could at least swallow properly now. Much better than drowning.
“Is she okay?” Why did that sound like Will’s voice? What was he doing in her room?
“She’s going to be fine. However, I think it would be best if everyone else waited downstairs. Let’s give her some privacy while she recovers.” His stern tone seemed to remind everyone that they had barged into her room while she was ‘sleeping.’ She heard them complain, but start moving towards the door. She figured they had all left when she heard Mike say resolutely, “You too, Raphael.”
“I’m staying.” Raphael’s voice was firm, but Mike seemed to be set on kicking him out.
“And who’s going to keep that lot under control? She’s going to be fine. You’re needed more out there, though it would be best if you could procure more food that’s simple to eat. What we have here will help, but I have the feeling she’s going to need a lot more.”
Raphael finally grunted in agreement at that, and she heard him leave, closing the door behind him. Jessica was still holding her head and tipping apple juice down her throat, so she figured the other person in there was Kaylee, who from the sound of it, was getting the next dose of whatever ready.
When the cup was removed temporarily from her face, she croaked again, “Thanks…”
Jessica immediately shushed her, and she felt Mike pat her comfortingly again on the arm. Still, she felt his magic move through her once again, though this time he was just checking. He reassured her, “Don’t worry about it. Just work on getting better so you can reassure all the people downstairs before they wear holes in the floor with their pacing.”
“Mmmm.” That was all she said in response. She didn’t need to say more, though she was curious about who all would be pacing downstairs. She figured only a few of them were really worried about her; the rest were probably just curious or watching for entertainment.
Feeling a tiny bit better, she decided that she could multitask, since thinking didn’t interfere with her drinking down whatever they offered, and she didn’t need to open her eyes to pore over her profile. She mentally clicked on the little blue dot, examining the changes that were causing her so much pain.
Name: Jade Winward
Age: 18
Strength: 10.16
Dexterity: 11.21
Constitution: 10.14
Intelligence: 17.07
Magic: 12.89
Charisma: 11.12
Luck: 14.53
Special Abilities: Siphon
Skills: Acrobatics, Appraisal, Archery, Athletics, Blood Magic, Bluff, Compulsion Magic, Dark Magic, Deception, Diplomacy, Dodge, Earth Magic, Eating, Fire Magic, Glasscraft, Haggle, Healing Magic, Heat Resistance, Herbology, Illusion Magic, Information Gathering, Insight, Intimidate, Life Magic, Light Armor, Light Magic, Lightning Magic, Mathematics, Mental Fortitude, Metal Magic, Modeling, Nature Magic, Navigation, Perception, Perseverance, Persuasion, Running, Sense Motive, Singing, Sleight of Hand, Small Blades, Speed Reading, Stealth, Tailoring, Unarmed Combat, Walking, Water Magic, Wind Magic
Acrobatics
Beginner 5
86%
Appraisal
Intermediate 1
56%
Archery
Beginner 6
85%