8. Chapter eight

So, to cut the long story short, I ended up coming in and out of consciousness after breaking out of that nightmare.

At one moment, it's morning and I can hear the birds chirping. Then, I close my eyes and suddenly, it's evening, with the color of red from the sunset streaming past my windows and onto the bed, spilling red like wine over a white canvas.

Days pass by, without me knowing the precise time, as I remain to teeter between the edge of lucidity.

*********

The next time I come to, it is to the presence and noises of people shuffling around the bedside and the feeling of my wrist being pricked, ow.

"She's banned from taking any strenuous activities for the foreseeable future." I hear the deep, rich voice of a man coming from my left side as I feel my wrist being tucked back in under the cover. "You can let — — — but I suggest she do not walk anywhere — — — needed to go to the bathroom and – — — twice a day, after waking up and before bed-- ah, you, make — — completion."

"Yes sir, I will make sure that Miss finishes this." Sieghart's voice answers from somewhere a little further away.

There are more talks around the bed, but I'm still diving up and down in the sea of consciousness, and this is the time I go back under with a frustrating feeling welling up in my chest as I don't get to meet the ghostly doctor again.

But hey, there's one gain to be had and to know that he exists! One small step at a time! Now I just need to figure out if he took blood samples or injects something. . .

**********

"..it is only after a careful consideration that the merchants finally yield, and join Albert's vision as he expanded his influence over his territory by rightful way of the laws."

Sieghart reading the history book is starting to become a common greeting between us. I'd usually catch the tail or beginning of a sentence, and he'd pause, as if knowing that I've come to, before continuing to speak at a louder volume. I hear his voice the most, even as other staff like Ina and Sonya attends to me, by wiping down my sweat and dressing me every day (I pray it's every day cause waking up gross will suck so bad), those two's chatters are far overshadowed by the sights of gold and blue-almost-purple that I see when my eyes just so happen to open a little longer.

It's quite a bizarre experience to go through, when I realize that Sieghart has become the constant fixture in between those lapses of time. That the narration of Hortensia History have morphs into the most familiar thing that I can immediately latch onto. I can count on one hand the moments that I didn't see him tending by my bedside, and that's saying something…

I swear, villains or not, the people in this house have to start learning the work-life balance! I'm going to invent it if it doesn't exist here yet! The author is going to watch it happen whether they like it or not!!!

********

I don't know how much time has passed, but I've noted another thing to focus on as I'm fighting for my life to remain awake.

The last meal that I ate was that poisoned soup.

Argh, it's frustrating now I think about it! The soup wasn't even that good!! It was mid!!! You'd think that being poisoned in romance novels will have the poison slipped into foods that take your taste buds to heaven literally because of some bullshit about never trusting anything that's too good to be true or something, but nooo I got bed-bound thanks to a fucking bland porridge and fishy fish soup!

"Huu.." The sigh leaves my lips without meaning to, but it leaves all the same.

"Isn't it unfair?" I ask myself since I have all this time and none of the reflections done, answering myself with a yes, it is incredibly unfair to get paralyzed from a mid food. "If I'm going... I want it to at least be an A-grade steak, or something, with wine…"

Right! It has to be a steak! The image of the villainess, eating a medium rare streak while swirling the wine haughtily, before she coughs and the red blood dribbles on her lips, nearly indistinguishable from her lipstick, the splatter of the wine on the white napkin blooming like crimson flowers! Isn't the image awesome!??

But alas, this body doesn't take kindly to epiphanies as getting to that conclusion saps me out of all my energy and I go right back down to unconscious again, to dream of A-grade steak worth dying for.

**********

"How many days have passed?" I ask the first time that I can open my eyes long enough to blink and not nosedive back to blank out.

"Nine days," is the answer that Sieghart gives me while he fetches the bell and calls the maids to fetch the doctor, "Miss, do not go back to sleep again, the doctor is coming..!"

I can't even if I want to! Everywhere in my body ache like I've done a triathlon race! I can feel the pain in my bones, like some kid in puberty getting growing pains–

Ah, shit. Even though I don't know her actual age, doesn't Carlyanne look kinda young? Is it possible that she's still growing even after getting this big??

If so, I sure wish that it's going to the height department so I don't have to wear heels ever again!

In the short yet long time that I'm distracting myself to stay awake, Ina enters the bedroom with an old man in tow. Wearing glasses, half bald hair, a little pudgy, dressed in a semi-formal attire– if not for the stethoscope hanging on his neck I'd have thought that this is the Head Butler.

"Finally, I get to meet the Hortensia's family doctor." Hmm.

….

Fuck, I messed up the internal and outer thoughts! Shit shit shit, the man looks livid- immediate double down!! Channel the inner Karen out before I pass out from embarrassment!!! "What? Are you waiting for permission now? Go on."

The doctor obliges while still looking a bit annoyed at being told what to do, sits down on the chair set by my bedside and, oh, I can turn my head now so I follow his figure to see an absolute bonkers of a sight.

Oh, what I'd kill to have Google on hand right now! Or a phone, actually, a smartphone will do cause I want to document this sight of an IV BAG hanging on one of the poles for posterity. IV Bag!! It's an IV bag!!! I think I'm about to go into hysterics just at the sight of it, from relief or humor, I'm unsure which one done me in. I'll decide later.

Honestly, I get so distracted by the pink, thin IV hose hooked to a needle that pierced the top of my left hand that I kind of forget about the doctor until he hovers his stethoscope over my chest and the cold head shocks me back to feel conscious of this aching body again.

"Breathe in."

I do the breathing exercise as the man moves his stethoscope from the left to the right chest, then back to the left again. His left hand is holding a pocket watch, a more lux version than one Sieghart has since there are patterns engraved on both sides of the brass. I'm just assuming though, who knows with this world where IV bags exist in the medieval era, maybe the ones with engravings are cheaper!

Once the doctor finished taking my pulse, he took off the stethoscope's earplugs and looked down at me and huh, I just noticed from this angle that his nose is really big. "What's the diagnosis?"

"You suffered from a severe allergic reaction, miss." He said with the exasperated tone of an infirmary nurse dealing with another ball-to-the-nuts 'accident' during P.E. for the second time this week. "Whatever you consumed reacted badly with whatever medication you consumed prior to the meal, though the fact that you emptied your stomach helps in lessening the impact and allowed for the necessary treatment to take effect."

"Hm." I eye the man, stare at him right into his dull blue eyes, and find that I can't read him that well. Continue the conversation then. "So?"

"I have mixed a medicine for you, to be drank twice a day. It is best taken after a meal with a full stomach, and try to take it by the hour of your first consumption if possible." The doctor opens his bag and takes out two long vials, reminiscent of the one that Sieghart gave me, though the liquid looks like water with a pastel pink color– putting it on the tray by my bedside. His eyes flit to Sasha and Sieghart's side for one second, just one second where it's enough to let me know that his orders will outrank mine during this endeavor.

It's a little funny to hear the man giving actual medical advice while also handling the adult-sized patient with kid gloves, like he has no faith whatsoever he's speaking to. It's not very doctorly of him in my opinion but to be fair, I also don't have much faith in canon Carlyanne following doctor's orders after what happened to her. But girlie did manage to somehow escape containment to survive anyway, so she can't be all bullhead and stubbornness.

Anyway, I kind of want to know where this guy's been for the past three weeks of my second life here, it's a little intriguing to know that the sickly patient has never seen their personal doctor while being sick, right? "And how long am I to consume the medicine?"

"Until you start to recover." The doctor quips lightning-quick as if expecting that question to come.

"Any side effects I should keep in mind?"

"Sleepiness, as I have to add some slumbering agents to promote recovery."

"And when am I going to recover? I'm assuming that you'd know the condition of my body well and can provide a rough estimate." I push back as I look at this man's face, observing as closely as I can, unwilling to miss anything that might hint me of importance. "You won't tell me? Or can't? Ah, my apology if it's the latter, I certainly didn't mean to."

Mean to do what? Who knows, I certainly don't! It's the beauty of ending sentences so vaguely, that you let the other party assume whatever they want when all you need is their reaction! In their knee-jerk reaction lies the answer, whether it'll be a verbal response or just a shift in expression, all you have to pay very close attention.

It's been a while since I've had to resort to the trickier stuff like this. Whether it's because this man has the best poker face to ever exist or because he's a doctor who truly seen some shit, it's not a lie to say I'm having a bit of a hard time trying to read him and that's kind of bad since it looks like he and Carlyanne has bantered before I took over and I don't remember a single thing about this man mentioned in the memory vault!

Carlyanne! Which part about having a personal doctor to treat your fragile body is not important!!!?? What's with your priority listing huh??!

In any case, what I can make so far of this doctor is the air of command that leaks into his words whenever he talks, very reminiscent of my old school nurse, and that is unhelpful since that kind of air is something that anyone can cultivate with enough experience. My nurse told me that you just kind of absorb the vibe the longer you work on the three steel pillars of the country, and I believe him wholeheartedly.

If I want to see past the cover, I'll have to dig deep, and well.. the easiest way to peel off someone's facade is by making them angry and want to react.

Thus, the reaction I wait to see happens, with the man taking an exaggerated intake of breath. There's impatience, a little bit of an insulted look as his brows knit too close to be a mere annoyance, and the way he has to school himself back right after suggests some sort of habit. "To be honest, miss, your condition is rather special. I've never seen anyone with a constitution as unique as yours, and thus, there won't be anyone else with the knowledge to treat you to full health."

"Ah, so the fact that I'm half healthy must rely on your exceptional skill, then?" I give the man a nod, just to emphasize the point, ensuring that my eyes still meet his no matter the difference in elevation and position. "I should thank you for your service, if so, what's your name? I have some trouble remembering names of people I don't see often."

That usually gets people going. Going off on a tangent, to snap, anything. But this man is really formidable in that the only reaction he lets loose is a twitch at the edge of his right lip as he chuckles, "Rochus Keller, the unfortunate face you'll be seeing often as I have to supervise your medicine time from now on."

On the mention of medicine, I give the two vials another look, before I take one of them into my own hands– almost knocking over the glass of water until Ina and Sonya help me sit up properly –so I can inspect them a little closer since my blurry eyesight isn't helping much in that department.

They look similar to test tubes from my high school science experiment days, though a lot shorter in length and capped with natural corks instead of the usual glass ones that I'm familiar with. Guesstimating the volume of this vial, I can probably down the liquid in a single shot, two gulps, if it's pungent and I have to steel my will and nose first.

Perhaps my contemplation shows on my face (since I'm not exactly hiding it either), and Doctor Keller might have noticed this and say in an almost insulting, placating tone again - that 'talking to toddler' voice, while looking at me straight in the eye as if daring me to say something else. "I suggest you also do not consume anything sweet while ingesting this medication, as it will lower the efficacy but if you must, do not swallow the candy and spit it somewhere else."

I stare at him dead in the eyes. The man stares back at me as if this is a regular occurrence of being glared by a patient. And so begin the game of chicken that I end immediately due to feeling a faint reminder of the school nurse again and thus, instinctively cause me to default into speaking politely out of a faint amount of respect for the old guy's balding head. "Can I rinse it with tea then?"

"I'd suggest not."

"What about water?"

"Water is fine."

As soon as our negotiation concludes, I uncork the vial and down the content in one go, still keeping my eyes on his as I make sure I don't taste as much of the fluid as I can. It's still bitter going down my throat, and I rinsed it with water as agreed, then pat my very dehydrated, extremely dried lips with the handkerchief Sonya offers. "Tastes lovely. You should serve this in a whiskey glass so it's easier to drink, Sir Keller."

That, for some reason, got the man to snort. I can't tell if it's a derisive snort or an actual amused one, but it's a short moment where I can kind of see the man beneath his doctor's mask, and all I can see is tiredness which- mood. You'd think that sleeping for a week would make you feel refreshed but apparently not.

"I shall remind the maids to do so next time."

And with that, my interest in the man wanes as I start to feel weak again in the head, though this one is a familiar sign of a symptom I know dear to heart. My true and only weakness, making its appearance known once again now that I'm out of the immediate danger zone. "I think I'm going to faint from hunger."

"I suppose now will be a good time to eat," Doctor Keller sighs as he moves away from the bedside and completely addresses Sasha with his full attention and focus, "Remember, light food. Nothing too fatty and certainly none of her bready creation until I run some tests on it. No alcohol and limit the dark tea intake, brew it light if must. She is to remain consuming warm water until I take off the infusion cables and…"

Sasha nods dutifully as she takes in the orders while Ina hands me a dark-colored shawl, distracting me from the fact that the doctor had just insulted sandwich to be some kind of unhealthy food. I get the hint that I should cover my top half that isn't covered by the blankets, though it's weird that she's handing this to me now and not earlier but I took it anyway. Not without some reluctance, since I'm not looking forward to having to sweat the sickness out like a boiled egg—

Ah, the fabric is cool to the touch, almost silky in its texture, in a way that still feels airy and not temperature-trapping. I'm sorry I doubted you, girl, I don't think I can sweat even if I want to while wearing this! Good pick!

I only finish adjusting the shawl when Doctor Keller and Sasha wrap up their conversation, once again staring at me with mixed expression in his eyes though he settles again on tired as he excuses himself in a very script-like manner. I look over to Sieghart, who hasn't been doing anything but standing at the corner of the room, and the blond takes it as me telling him to escort the doctor out which, fair. I don't want to stay in a sick person's room for too long either, even back when I was healthy.

Anyway, now that it's back to my usual crew, I glance over to Sasha who's talking to Winnie that I caught the tail ends mentioning the kitchen, before the young girl walks away with a bow to the senior maid and me. I think she's being sent to inform the kitchen about my new dietary restrictions, nothing exciting.

What's also not exciting is the gross feeling on my skin. I don't smell, thanks to being wiped down every day but that's not the same as getting a proper bath! Warm water, oh how I missed you so!

I think I almost moan in bliss as soon as my skin touches the perfect hot water. Summer or not, there's nothing that can beat the greatness that is a warm bath when you're feeling sick! Topped with all the scrubbing and me washing my teeth after nearly a week, I feel like I'm almost halfway to being healthy again for real!

Just as the maids finish dressing and escorting me back to my bedroom, I notice that the bed sheets have changed and that Sieghart has returned, along with the kitchen staff waiting to enter. The setup for my bed meal is quick, as usual, and I'm oh so ready to finally taste real food in my mouth after so long!

I notice Sieghart has his mouth open as if he's about to speak, hesitant eyes dancing between me and the spoon- oh, I see what he's thinking, that's so cute! I'm fine though! Carlyanne's body is definitely weak after a week of straight sleeping but thankfully not that weak!

Lifting the spoon does take some effort, but not to the point that I struggle with it. I manage to get a single serving into my mouth, reminding myself to not cry over the warm food and my taste buds coming back online, as I chew on the porridge as slowly as I can to savor the taste.

Overall, it ends up being a silent, scrumptious mealtime. By the end of the meal, I can feel the medicine kicking in as my head starts to get all loopy and thus ends my fight for life as I slumber for real this time. See you all at dinnertime!