477 An ill omen

Victoria stared in horror at the little piece of quartz Gabriel had just pulled out of his pocket.

She was being ridiculous. Simone told her it was just an old scary story. There were no such things as ghosts, let alone little orphaned miner boys who snuck shiny stones into people's pockets.

But if there were such a ghost child, he would come to a place with a lot of death, wouldn't he?

Her heart was racing. She swallowed and pressed her hand to her chest, willing it to calm down. There was no reason to panic. Gabriel had been around the illness extensively and was perfectly healthy. There was no sign that he might catch it now.

"Victoria?" He raised his hand to wave it in front of her eyes. "Are you all right? You seem very concerned about that little rock, was it yours and I just gave it away?"

He looked at her with concern, and she shook her head.

"No, um, I'm fine," She lied. "I'm just… I'm fine! Are you feeling ok?"

Gabe yawned, "Tired, but otherwise in fine shape," He assured her.

Her heart skipped a beat. Fatigue?

"Do you have a headache?" She demanded.

He waved her off. "A little bit of dehydration. It's a hot day and I haven't had enough to drink."

"Chills?" Victoria moved closer, her eyes frantically searching his face for symptoms.

"I just said it's hot out. You don't need to–" He stopped as she pressed her hand to his forehead, obviously caught off guard by her sudden concern.

"When did you last eat?" She pressed. Nausea might be delayed somewhat on an empty stomach.

"I haven't had a chance today," He admitted, "What are you–"

"You're warm," She decided, switching hands to double check his temperature.

"You're imagining things," He shook his head, "Look, I appreciate the concern, but–"

"I'm not imagining anything, Gabriel." She insisted. "Can you tell me honestly that if I admitted everything you just did, you wouldn't order me to go lie down?"

Gabriel hesitated. "Tori, I'm just fine–"

She poured all her fear and frustration into a glare, and he fell silent. Evey whined at his side. With a sigh, he lowered his voice.

"No matter how I'm feeling–or not feeling–I have to keep going." His eyes pled for understanding. "There are so many patients, so many people. I can't get sick. I can't even entertain the thought of it."

"If you die, you're no good to anyone," Victoria hated to make such a fatalistic statement, but she was worried, and needed to press home the importance. "You claim your headache is from mild dehydration, which you know is the primary cause of death in the later stages of the illness. You're not taking care of yourself."

"You know," He said, "this is the most you've talked to me since before we left Klain."

"That's not important right now," She shook her head, refusing to acknowledge how nice it was to speak with him again, even though the specter of serious illness hung over the conversation.

"It's important to me," He said. "I've missed talking with you."

Her heart ached, but until he knew his own feelings, Victoria couldn't let herself build up hope. At least, not on purpose.

"Me too," She whispered, dropping her gaze and trying to contain her voice. "If you're actually well, we need to get back to work."

She spun on her heel and tied on a fresh apron to settle in a new patient. The bed was last occupied by a grandfather of twelve who passed in his sleep with no one there holding his hand. His wife had preceded him in death only hours prior. 

She hummed softly to the new one, noticing the chamber pot needed cleaning, and turning to call over one of the soldiers to do the task while she moved onto the next patient. They were clustered at the other end of the tent, and she let out an irritated huff. Evey was barking at them, probably trying to get them all to move and let her in. 

Marching over to order them to get back to work, though technically she was a recruit and had no authority to order anyone, she noticed they were staring at something and pushed them aside roughly.

"You're all lollygagging and staring when there's work to be done–" Her words cut off suddenly.

Gabriel lay unconscious on the ground. 

"Get him to a bed! Quickly!" She directed, clearing off the nearest empty one.

"He said he was tired," An irritating man named Mason said. "Maybe it's exhaustion."

"Back off," Victoria shooed him away roughly. "Gabe, Gabe can you hear me?"

She checked his eyes and felt his forehead. Was it her imagination or was it warmer than before? The tent was a bit hot, but that didn't account for this…

"Get Dr. David, immediately," She snapped at Mason, who looked about to protest being ordered around. She shot him a glare that sent him scrambling. Evey nudged Victoria's elbow with her nose, but there was no time to pay attention to the animal just now. 

"Gabriel, speak to me. Say anything," She begged. His face was flushed. She frowned, reaching for some water. Sliding one hand behind his head, she lifted it slightly to see if she could get him to drink a little. Dehydration was their greatest enemy now.

Gabriel took in a little water and opened his eyes. A temporary relief flooded through her that he wouldn't drop dead on the spot.

That happened, occasionally.

"Tori, I don't feel well," He tried to smile weakly before his body heaved. With reflexes rooted in the experience of a seasoned nurse, she snaked one hand below the bed for a chamber pot and had it in place in less than a second.

His body wracked with vomiting for several moments, turning to dry heaves when his stomach was empty of the little water it had held.

"Try to drink what you can." She said quietly as she lowered the pot to the ground. "I called for Dr.--"

"I'm here," David announced as he entered the tent, Agatha on his heels. "I was discussing herbal remedies and theories with our new friend when I was summoned."

Gabriel lay still on the cot, staring up at the roof of the tent listlessly and spoke drily. 

"The good news is I can tell you more about the disease now," Gabriel took in a breath. "There is a dizziness which accompanies the nausea, and the headache brings about minor visual disturbances, a slight glow in the periphery." 

Agatha looked intently at the newest patient, assessing. Victoria's eyes flickered between the halfling and the doctor, hoping that these newest symptoms would bring about some epiphany. She was mistaken.

"There's nothing I can do right now that you cannot," David said to Victoria. "Try not to neglect the other patients, but of course having Gabriel back on his feet would benefit all of us a great deal. I will leave the balance up to you."

Victoria closed her eyes before nodding solemnly.

"I'm not a child," Gabriel protested, though there was no fire in his voice. His eyes were still fixed on the roof of the tent.

"No, you're an adult," The woman shook her head, "But you're a stubborn one, and while you're sick I expect you to follow orders like a good patient."

"Doctors make the worst patients of all," David sighed. "Good luck with him. Let me know if you need me to come knock some sense into him, but only if absolutely necessary." 

The corners of Gabriel's mouth tilted upward before they twisted in discomfort. Victoria had the chamber pot in place for him to heave into it once more.

"Thank you, David," She said quietly before the only healthy doctor in the town departed.

"I've not done anything worth thanking me for." The man grimaced. "All I've done is send for help and drag more people into this disastrous plague. You may be cursing me before this is all over."

Victoria's somber mood dampened further at his pessimism, but Gabriel refused to be brought down.

"I'm not quite dead yet," He closed his eyes and sighed. "Please defer your mourning until then."

"Don't you dare die." David warned him, "I'll never let you hear the end of it if you leave me with the entire workload for such a silly reason."

Gabriel huffed a quiet chuckle. Dark humor was common at times like these, though many patients would not appreciate a comment like that.

"I do not understand. How would you punish him for dying?" Agatha frowned.

"Oh, um," David paused. "That was a joke. Come, let's get back to the herbs and I'll explain it to you…"

Victoria watched them go before turning back to Gabriel. He appeared to have fallen asleep. As he sometimes did, she decided to ask the Fae for help.

"Please let him be all right," She whispered. "Don't let him die, I couldn't take it."

"Don't worry about me," He mumbled and turned his head slightly toward her. "I'll be fine."

Victoria hoped he was right just as another patient cried out in pain nearby.