Wasting time mining gold

Ji-ho had dozed off while studying. A sudden throbbing inside her head yanked the sleeping girl's mind awake.

"Archer-" she mumbled in confusion as she stood up.

Demi had told her to remain calm while erecting walls around her mind. Ji-ho was failing at the task spectacularly but she managed to stumble out of her room and into Archer's. Because of the darkness, she could feel more than see where the psychic was at. He had abandoned his bed and had gone to sleep on the sofa.

Ji-ho turned on the night light and made her way over to the sofa. Archer had his hand pressed over his eyes and was biting his lip so he wouldn't make a sound.

"Hand," Ji-ho demanded as she sat down on the floor beside the sofa. A trained sentinel would have managed their psychic without physical contact but she was just a beginner.

"M'fine," he murmured.

"Clearly not. My head hurts, Archer. I want this to stop for the both of us."

Without waiting for him, Jiho grabbed the hand that was dangling over the side of the sofa.

"You're hot," she exclaimed, feeling the feverish skin on his cheek.

"am not-"

It appeared that Archer wasn't in his right mind at that moment. Ji-ho began meditating as she kept a firm grip on his hand. She imagined a peaceful scene from her past life. Clare De Lune played in her mind as she took a walk through the forest in her grandfather's mountain village. Though her head kept hurting, Ji-ho persisted and persisted till her mind was sharply focused on the details of the moss and detritus that her feet stepped over.

"Ava..."

Ji-ho opened her eyes and was met with sleepy grateful eyes.

"Thank you."

She wasn't gonna lie. A deep sense of satisfaction and warmth bloomed in her chest. The thin tether binding them grew just a bit stronger. Ji-ho then immediately let go of his hand like it was a hot potato and she nodded. Only one week of this, she told herself. One week.

"You're feverish, Svenson. I'll go call a nurse."

"Don't," he tiredly responded. "Had so many medicines today. I can't anymore."

"Want to suck on some ice?" Ji-ho responded. "It'll numb your tongue if you find the medicine to be bitter."

"Where will you get ice from?"

_______

Ten minutes later, Ji-ho was licking a grape flavoured ice pop while a nurse checked on her feverish patient. She had found the delicious sweet ice at the 24/7 hospital cafe. Since she wasn't spending her money on clothing and makeup, the least she could do was binge on cheap coffee and ice cream.

"It's three am," Archer informed Ji-ho after the nurse left.

"So?"

She tore open a watermelon flavoured ice pop and held out the pink and green coloured stick to the young man.

"I shouldn't..."

He had retreated back into his shell, putting on a stiff, serious demeanour that Ji-ho found annoying to deal with. But this way, they would remain distant from each other so she said nothing about it.

"Your loss."

She placed it on a tray and stood up to leave, carrying her paper bag containing two energy drinks. Ava's bad habits were so ingrained in her body that Ji-ho was unconsciously following its desires.

She closed the door between her and Archer, sighing at the sad week that awaited her. As his psychic powers grew, so would the frequency of loss of control and attacks of pain. Knowing how bad things would get, Ji-ho resolved to meditate during every hour that she wasn't studying.

_______

Early next morning, Ji-ho yawned as she turned on her datapad. She had been given access to her professor's live lecture and wasn't going to miss it. Headphones stuck in her ears, she brushed her teeth and washed her face in the bathroom she shared with Archer.

The next thing she did was crack open an energy drink and stare at it. Just because she was an addict didn't mean she couldn't try quitting, right?

Na, she had many lives to cycle through anyway.

_____

It was afternoon when Archer suffered another wave of pain. This time, it was so intense that Ji-ho felt her world spin. Flashes of light appeared in her sight as she stumbled into his room. If hers was this bad, she couldn't imagine what Archer was going through. To think that she had almost abandoned him to go through this on his own.

"Ava-" he called her name like a prayer. "Please-"

"I'm here," Ji-ho assured him as she grabbed his hand.

The machine hooked up to his wrist began beeping loudly. It had detected the cortisol levels in his system and was blaring in response to it.

Ji-ho sat by his bedside and forced her mind to sever from the suffering that narrowed her perception to just that - hot flashes of pain. While she did that, a nurse came into the room and began administering a mild tranquillizer into Archer's bloodstream.

"Trees- trees," Ji-ho begged her mind to conjure the image of a forest. "More trees." A few coconut trees sprouted. "Not that kind!"

The nurse stifled a smile as she watched the newly synced pair hold hands. Ava Robinson was doing so well for someone who had never had any Sentinel training. She believed that the girl would get the hang of it in a matter of days and that Archer was lucky to find someone like Ava despite being a late bloomer.

"Archer, what did you do?"

"Nothing. Why?"

"It hurts less."

"Nurse gave me something- I feel so tired."

"Don't fall asleep."

"Mmm."

_____

In the evening, miss 'I trust you but not her' arrived with the scent of roses.

"Archer, baby. I missed you so much."

Ji-ho gathered her datapad and her mug of coffee to leave the room.

"Stay," Camilla ordered her. She had done a background check on Ava Robinson and had been pleased with what she'd found. "Last night, I realised that you have nothing to offer Archer. Your parents are dirt poor and your looks are barely average. Just one week of this nonsense right?"

Her pink lips parted in a smile at Ji-ho. She was radiant in a salmon coloured dress and perfectly done hair.

Bullshit! Ji-ho thought. Ava was a gorgeous girl. She had big blue eyes and flaxen hair framing an oval face. Ava was a doll! Right now she was still in her pyjamas and wasn't wearing any makeup. But she still wasn't average looking by any means.

"Camilla, you know I hate it when you do that."

Ji-ho had been about to speak up but the fiance had gotten there before her.

"Do what? It's the truth. Her parents freaking live in the slums. I can't believe starfield accepted such a loser."

"Shut up, Camilla."

"What you're taking her side?!"

"You're so damn annoying." His voice had gone cold.

Ji-ho wanted to leave but she was also curious where this would go, so she puttered about the room with her mug of coffee.

"Archer, I am your fiance. Should I remind you what's at stake if you ruin this between us?"

Motherlode! Ji-ho thought. She had struck gold.