51
1139 Words
A fairly plain earthenware mug had a honey sweetened black tea in it, a common breakfast tea in most parts of the Empire which Matt was pretty sure he had a few ounces of left in his house.
The porcelain teacup with gold filigree had a strongly spiced black tea in it, though there didn’t seem to be any milk available for it to be served traditionally. A similarly decorative bowl sat next to that one, with blue accents the same shade as his mana rather than gold, and it held a strongly caffeinated dark green tea that Matt had never particularly enjoyed, though Liz liked it enough that they usually kept some around.
Next was a white tea served in a ceramic mug that seemed to have a sharpened lip. He was fairly confident that the particular variety had gone extinct a few hundred years ago when the rift that produced it had been destroyed, though he didn’t recall what had caused that.
The final two cups were a normal glass cup with a cold brewed pale green tea that normally had some additional flavorings added, and a strange iridescent bubbling jasmine tea served in an ornate cup and saucer.
As he scanned each cup and tried to unsuccessfully puzzle out what each of their lives might be he gave up.
With a shrug, he brought the first earthenware mug to his lips, and sipped.
10
Matt was sick.
He didn’t know exactly what was wrong, but when his alarm went off for school, he barely heard it.
Sometime after that, his mother came into his room to see why he wasn’t awake yet, but he couldn’t make out her words.
He felt her shake him gently, but that just made him hurt even more, and he groaned.
As if trying to torture him, she turned on the lights, sending agonizing pain into his eyes.
He tried to burrow into the blankets to get away from the light, but his mother started screaming for his father, who was getting ready for work.
Matt could feel each of the booted footfalls in his bones and knew that his father would be in trouble for walking in the house with his boots on.
Thankfully, his mother seemed to catch on that the light was hurting him, and the main light went off, so he was finally able to rest.
He was just about to fall back asleep when his father pulled him out of bed and pulled him into his arms, before they went running down the stairs while his father told him he needed to stay awake.
Before he knew it, they were outside, and he was enjoying the cool morning air when the flashing lights hit his eyes and seemed to set off every other pain in his body.
Trying to wiggle deeper into his father’s embrace to get away from the lights, he groaned as he was pulled away and laid out on something.
Above him, people were talking, but he was too tired and hurt too much to really understand it. Before he knew it, someone was shining a light in his eyes despite him trying to pull away.
“I know it’s uncomfortable, buddy, but I need you to hold still for me.” The voice was an authoritative man’s voice that seemed to cut right through the pain Matt was feeling, and he forced himself to stay still, even as another light was shined into his eyes.
Once more, it felt like someone was driving nails into his eyes, and his vision seemed to split into a thousand facets, like the view from a fractured mirror.
Thankfully, it only lasted a few seconds, and then the light went out, and they were quickly in what Matt suspected was an ambulance.
Almost immediately, the overhead light was turned off, which helped alleviate most of his headache, but the light coming in from the open doors didn’t help.
As he heard his parents’ worried voices, a sharp pain in his arm was quickly followed up by a cool sensation that almost instantly knocked him out.
When he woke up, it was to the quiet whispering of rapid fire comments that he recognized as his parents arguing. While they didn’t argue often, Matt knew better than to interrupt them. It would only mean that the argument was postponed until later, and then he would have to deal with the two of them pretending everything was normal.
It was better to just let them argue it out most of the time, but if they knew he was nearby, they would instantly stop.
“Clare, I didn’t pick up anything or go anywhere strange. I told you a dozen times. Don’t try and blame this on me.”
His mother’s voice was tight and sounded hoarse, like she had been crying, which almost made Matt open his eyes. “Well, I haven’t been anywhere except for home and the bank, so I couldn’t have picked anything up. I work in a cubicle not a graveyard.”
“Clare, I haven’t been anywhere but the construction site and home. I didn’t even go to the bar last Friday cause your parents were in town. Don’t blame me. I would never hurt our son.”
Before their argument could circle back around, a quiet knock on the door stopped them, and a second later, the door opened. Matt heard a new voice say, “Matt’s vital signs are indicating that he’ll wake up in a few minutes. Do you mind if I sit here with you two while we wait?” Matt almost smiled as he heard the tone of the doctor’s voice. It was masculine but held a tinge of humor when he said that Matt would be waking up soon.
It seemed his secret was out of the bag, at least for the doctor.
If his parents knew he had been listening to them argue, he’d get scolded for listening to adult things, but he was curious.
His mom was the first to speak. “Wonderful. Has there been any other news?”
The still unnamed doctor said, “Not yet. But I’d rather only go over this once when Matthew wakes up, if that’s all right with you.”
His father immediately responded, “That’s fine. Thank you.”
After counting to one hundred, Matt groaned and started to ‘wake up’.
Almost instantly, his parents were on him, and he felt exploring hands grasp his own. His mother kissed his forehead twice before the doctor coughed quietly and they backed up, giving the mystery man room to inspect Matt.
As his parents retreated, Matt got a good look at the doctor, who was a middle-aged man who winked at him from the side his parents couldn’t see.
- Writer
