The Girl Who Dared to Think Bella Forrest (best classic literature txt) 📖

The chattering of my teeth woke Grey, and he quickly got Roark. The two men lowered my hammock down, and Roark quickly began to check me over, while Grey wrapped me in another blanket. It didn’t feel like enough.

Then Roark gave me some medicine, and it was lights out.

When I woke up again, I felt worlds better. I was stretching out my aching limbs and shifting slightly in my hammock, debating the pros and cons of going back to sleep, when a voice alerted me to the fact that I wasn’t alone.

“No,” Tian squeaked quietly. “She’s still not awake, but I did see the hammock moving.”

There was a pause, and I lifted my eyelids, taking in the bright light. I shifted, the fabric of the hammock moving around, and sat up, looking around groggily.

I found Tian standing a few feet away, perched on her toes like a bird about to take flight, Grey opposite her. It was clear my waking had attracted their attention and caused their conversation to die out.

“Morning,” I said, my mouth inexplicably dry. I looked around dully and wrinkled my nose at the stale smell of sweat and general funk that seemed to be wafting from my body. It was... not spectacular. “What happened? How long have I been out?”

“You got here four days ago,” Tian announced.

I looked up at Grey and was surprised to see that the bags under his eyes hadn’t lessened. If anything, they’d increased. His eyes met mine, and the corner of his mouth quirked up.

“You had the flu,” he added, for my edification, and I blinked dumbly at him. “Roark said it was because you were so tired that you became vulnerable to it. But he managed to keep you mildly sedated so you could get through the process quickly. You don’t remember anything?”

I shook my head, and I saw something I could swear was disappointment flash across his face, but it was gone too quickly for me to identify it. So I pushed it aside, trying to focus on the facts. I’d been here for four days. I’d been gone from the Tower’s radar for four days.

No one knew where I was, except for the people here.

I exhaled, suddenly anxious. Everyone was going to be so worried about me. They were going to think I was hurt, kidnapped, or even dead! Zoe was still up there as well, the four on her wrist dragging her inexorably down, through the Medica and into the Citadel. Into that glass cell. Oh, God, if she thought I was dead... it would tear her apart. She would be just like Sarah, crashing down to a three and then a two, before...

The image I had conjured long ago flashed back into my mind: Zoe in place of the woman Gerome had killed in the Tower, the bright light in her eyes extinguished, her body utterly still. No more of her spark, her light, the joy she created in me, just because she had gifted me with her friendship... I needed to know what was going on with her. I needed to let her know I was okay. It would help slow her descent... and maybe I could get her a month’s supply of Paragon while I was at it.

I sat up and slipped my legs over the edge of the fabric, awkwardly sliding out of the hammock. Grey and Tian both looked alarmed as I landed barefoot on the cold floor, but I kept my legs under me, ignoring the wobble in my knees. I was still in my underclothes, and even if I didn’t want to believe it had been four days since we’d arrived, the dried sweat stains and dirt on them were evidence enough.

“I need my clothes,” I said, looking around for my uniform. “And my lashes.”

“Why?” asked Grey at the same time as Tian said, “Quess has your lashes.”

I blinked and looked at Grey. “I want to go talk to Cali about Zoe. Why does Quess have my lashes?” Asking the question without any panic in my voice was hard, but I didn’t want to cause a scene. Still, I was concerned—I didn’t like the idea of anyone else fiddling around with my equipment. Knights were trained to service their own equipment, so they wouldn’t have to place their lives in someone else’s hands. The fact that Quess was even now touching my gear...

“He’s improving them,” Tian said with a smile. “So you can use them outside like I can. Do you want to see?”

I frowned and pondered her statement and question. Use them outside like she could? I could use them outside, except for here under the Greenery, and that was just because the hydro-turbines kicked up too much water for the static charge to even form. Although, come to think of it, I couldn’t use them in the greeneries either, and in a few of the rooms in Water Treatment where there were large exposed pools or the waters were running through a condensation process to eliminate toxins. Maybe he had a way of making them work in those environments?

“Yes, but I should probably get some clothes first. Where is my uniform?”

“Cali has it,” she replied with a smile. “And she’s also not here right now, but she should be home soon.”

“Where’d she go?”

Tian shrugged her slim shoulders, looking slightly nervous, and I realized that I was making her uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, Tian,” I breathed, moving over to her and kneeling. “I didn’t mean to ask so many questions. I’m just feeling... a little out of place with all of my things missing.”

“Oh.” Tian bounced back and forth from foot to foot. “I’m sorry!”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about—I know everyone’s just trying to help.”

Tian beamed at me, a dimple forming in her right cheek, and she reached over and patted my head. “You’re a kind girl—not just tough like Doxy. I like you.”

I managed a smile—it wasn’t too hard,