Like my heart longs for an ocean

Strong arms lift her frail body, pulling her toward the brown chest she has longed for some time to bury her face in. Her thoughts are sludge, moving so agonizingly slow that the world seems to be out of focus and distant. Each raspy inhale is followed by a wheezing, rattling exhale that leaves her body trembling from the effort it requires for such a simple task. Body curls inward toward Eltrys, seeking, not only warmth but the comfort that he offers.

Haydée drifts on an ocean of delirium, half awake and half dreaming as she lays curled against him. One of those warm arm leaves her and she whimpers pitifully, shivering at the cold space where it had just been and her body weakly curls further into the warmth that is left. Sounds filter into her consciousness, merging with her vivid half-dream, half-reality and only adding to her confusion. A cough rattles her chest, the unproductive, yet wet, expulsion sparking pain deep inside her body.

He is lifting her small body and she is putty in those strong arms, too tired and weak to protest if she even wanted to. His voice breaks through the fog of her mind, telling her stay there and she blinks open fever glazed emerald eyes to look dolefully up at him, silently begging him not to leave her because she is scared. All too quickly, her eyelids flutter shut and she twists on her bedding, falling into a fitful sleep as she dreams of Eltrys holding her while he is gone.


---
A presence enters her den, familiar and comforting and Haydée blindly gropes for the man before she is even awake. She fights her way through the muddy dreams, raising to consciousness so that she can slowly blink open her eyes. Raspy voice calls out, “El… I’m cold.” A blurry earthen form slowly resolves and she watches as he works on something before she tries to gather her legs underneath her so that she might reach him. Trembling legs support her for a few seconds before she collapses back onto the soft furs with a rolling coughing fit.

Eltrys growls at her, lifting her thin form so easily and moving her without trouble. She is settled near a small fire, the smoke directed toward her and Haydée suddenly panics. It tickles her throat, encouraging her body to cough but the pain that accompanies it terrifies her and the fact that the man she trusts explicitly is forcing this pain on her perplexes her. Body twists and contorts as she tries to get away, mouth snapping shut as she attempts to keep the smoke from reaching her.

Her small body is cradled against his strong form and her weak thrashing finally ceases as she is forced to inhale. A deep, rattling, harsh coughing fit seizes her and Haydée is forced to ride the wave as agony settles over her mind. It erases the world around her as she tries to breathe. The medicinal smoke pulls cough after cough from her, leaving her already weak body exhausted and she slumps against Eltrys as the fit subsides. A soft, trembling voice pierces the space around her as she pleads, “It hurts.”

The smoke continues to work, pulling more coughs from her chest and Haydée remains there, cradled against his body while Eltrys tries to draw out the illness that had settled into her lungs.


"Haydée Kedieo"