16/05/1164

William’s House

Zack’s Perspective

I was reading a book while lying down on my side, the same book which had me engrossed in for the past few days. Hearing a creaking sound, I turned over to my other side, facing the door. Through the door, I could see a hall with elegant wooden furniture. The most eye-catching of them was the wooden table at the centre of the hall, surrounded by six chairs. Behind the table was another door, which supposedly led to the kitchen.

From the hall, I saw Samuel entering with a bowl — which contained either porridge or soup in the past few days — in one hand, and a cup whose contents radiated a pungent odour, containing a liquid that tasted disgusting to an ungodly degree.

Using my hand to push against the bed, I leaned against the bedrest to sit upright. I took the bowl from Samuel before eyeing its contents.

My brows jumping, I exclaimed, “At last, some solid food! Well, at least some level of solid.”

The bowl contained some white rice in vegetable soup. Samuel passed me the spoon, using which I dug into the bowl. The rice had absorbed the taste of vegetable soup to a considerable degree and felt delicious when chewed. Vegetables were firmer than yesterday, while still being thin enough that I could chew and digest them easily.

Soup and porridge are tasty but oh boy, I missed the feeling of actually chewing something. This feels great.

Time passed as I ate the food while making small talk with Samuel.

After finishing the rice in my mouth, I said, “Alright, today will be the day when I finally do it!”

“Zack, are you sure? You fell yesterday as well,” Samuel asked, concern plastering his face.

Smiling and waving my spoon to gesture, I said, “Yeah! Today will be the day when I finally do it! Doctor said about a moontide and it’s about time.”

“Don’t spread porridge all over the bed and I’m pretty sure he said around a moontide or two, and definitely not just nine days.” Samuel retorted.

Giving him a flat look, I continued munching on my food.

Samuel began speaking in a rare tone full of seriousness, “I’m worried that if you keep doing this, your recovery will…” He didn’t continue as he shook his head helplessly. “Ya know, both now and in the past, you were not a person who would get set on something easily. But when you do, you do get set on it to a crazy degree.”

“Yeah, I know it.” I replied while nodding. “And don’t worry, this will be one of those cases as well..”

In a monotone, he replied, “Yeah, yeah, this is like a hundredth time I have heard that. Learn how to stand first, shorty.”

Grumbling, I said, “It’s only the seventh time. And don’t exaggerate. I’m not that short, right? And, although I need a little support, I can stand.”

This time, for sure! I clenched my fist while steeling my resolve.

“Fine, it’s useless to try to persuade you, anyway.” Samuel shook his head in resignation. “Well, the thing mom asked me to do is done, so I’m out of the picture now.”

What? How? My brows shot up as I panicked.

Hurriedly, I asked, “Does Aunt know of this already?”

Samuel sighed as he said, “You can’t really hide anything from her in this house now, can you?”

“Thats…” it rendered me speechless. Without thinking, I blurted, “Even when we were being this careful?”

“It’s not a matter of whether or not we’re careful,” Samuel replied, looking a bit uncomfortable. “It’s more like… She has eyes and ears all over the place. You can’t really hide anything which goes on in this house from her.”

He continued, “Well, she hasn’t done anything concrete to stop you so…” Samuel blurred the end of his sentence, making a sly grin.

I nodded while wiping my brows. Making a weak smile, I said, “Doctor said I could walk fine in a few days. And I was doing just fine yesterday. What could go wrong? Not like—”

“You do not say that,” Samuel cut me off. “Everything goes wrong when you say that. How many times have you explained that already? Once again, not to mention after a few steps, your feet gave out. Even standing was…” He took a slight pause before changing what he was saying, “And, the doctor agreed that you would be able to stand on your feet. Not to walk.”

Why don’t they realise? I can do it! Just a little more!

“Yeah, yeah, it’s the same thing,” I shrugged his warning off as he placed his foot on the ground. An excited smile spread on my face. As the cold sensation of ground permeated from my foot, my blood seemed to flow just a tad bit faster. Burning with a desire to walk, I pushed against the bed using my arms, getting up on my two feet and using the built-up momentum to take a step forward.

However, to my dismay, my balance was a bit off, causing my second step to slip up. A second later, my cheek met the ground as a pained groan escaped my mouth. After taking in a few breaths, I turned my head to sneak a glance at my accomplice, a wry smile spreading on my face.

Samuel was looking at me from behind, his gaze screaming, ‘I told you’.

Shifting my head to the other side, my gaze landed on the mirror resting against the bedrest.

Now, I looked a lot better than the day when I first saw myself in the mirror. My cheeks did not sink in and my body has some weight to it because of Aunt’s well-proportioned meals and the effects of the medicine. My skin no longer looked pale as a sheet of paper, bearing a healthy complexion befitting of a child my age. With hair tied behind in a ponytail, I look a lot more pleasing to the eye when compared to the time I first took a look at myself.

However, an area barely as big as my fingertip, slightly above where the bandages of my left eye wrapped, had discoloured white hair growing out. And due to the contrast with my black hair all round, the hair in that small area stood out like a sore thumb.

Having had enough of embracing the cold ground, I used my hands to push against the floor and stand back up. Yet, I could not quite make it. My hands still weren’t quite able to bear the weight of my body, let alone push it. And that’s not mentioning the fact that I couldn’t balance properly because my feet won’t take the load. So in all aspects, it was a fool’s errand.

Following a sigh from the side, two arms helped me to my feet. I closed my eyes before taking in a deep breath to prepare for what’s about to come next.

This is how it goes… Zack, I told you, didn’t I?