Incurable

“Is she awake?” a child asked excitedly. I pretended to be sleeping a little while longer.

“No honey, not yet,” the child’s mother answered.
“Is she going to be alright,” I heard another voice ask.

“I don’t know. Let’s just hope she hasn’t come into contact with any of them,” an elderly woman’s voice said, “I looked her over best I could and she doesn’t seem to have any cuts, scrapes or bite marks. I highly doubt that she’s infected.”

“Well if she was I’m sure we would know by now. Where has Luke gone, Amy?” the mother’s voice asked curiously.
“He said he was going to the river to clear his head,” a second, older sounding child said.

“Hmmm, I think this girl has done a number on his head,” Amy, I’m assuming said, “He’s been unusually quiet for the past two months now.”

I was beginning to get kind of scared. Have I been sleeping for two months? Where am I? Who are these people? I decided it was smarter to continue “sleeping” to see if I could find anything out.

“Mommy, I think Luke has a crush on the pretty girl,” the little boy said. “Now, Jordan. What did I say about that?” the mother asked sternly. “Not to tease Uncle Luke,” Jordan, the little boy, said dejectedly.

“Ahh, there you are Luke,” Amy said, “Where have you been, my child?”

“Down by the river, ma. Sorry I took so long,” someone, who I assumed to be Luke, said. The sadness woven into his voice that could rival nothing in the world, was what I was wondering about. Amy, the grandmother, said something about him not being the same for the past two months.

That’s when I decided to “wake up.”

“Grandma, she’s waking up,” the elder child stated. Amy mumbled something to him as I started opening my eyes.

“Mmmm, where am I?” I asked confused. I wasn’t acting either. I really am confused.

“Well, let’s see. You’re in a house, in St. Paul, Minnesota. The date is June 23, 2013 and it is three in the afternoon. That answer your question?” Amy said, amusement written on her face.

I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. Of course I would wake up on the same date this all started, at the same time. And then I remembered what they were talking about earlier. Time to get some answers.

“How long have I been asleep?” I asked.

“Well, we found you in the western end of the Upper Peninsula in Michigan on April 23rd. Iron Mountain I believe it was. It took us a week and a half to get back here, so we got here on May 3rd. And you’ve been asleep ever since. When we found you, though, you were almost dead. John our leader was going to leave you but, my grandson, Luke, noticed life,” Amy explained.

The little boy from earlier came up to my bedside and said, “Hi! My name is Jordan. What’s yours?”

“My name’s Tordis. It’s very nice to meet you, Jordan,” I replied, a smile on my face. Then the other boy walked in holding a glass of water. “I’m Michael,” he said shyly and handed me the water. “Thank you.”

“Where’s my brother gone off to now?” the mother asked. “Oh, dear. I’m sorry. Where are my manners. I’m Maya, Jordan and Michael’s mother and Luke’s sister. It’s nice to finally see you awake. We weren’t sure if you were ever going to wake up. Oh here he is. Tordis, this is Luke.”

“Please, call me Tory,” I trailed off.

Holy shit. He is tall and built. He has to be at least six foot five, if not taller, he has black hair and the most amazing blue eyes. I should know, I was only staring into them forever. I saw relief in his eyes, though.
“Umm hi,” he said shyly. And he has a deep voice.

Amy finally interrupted our staring contest. “Would you like to take a shower, Tory?”

“Oh. My. God. That sounds amazing right now,” I replied getting excited about getting to finally be clean.

“Well, let’s see if you can stand up first,” Amy said, “Just make sure to move slowly at first, please. I don’t need you falling over.”

As I was going to sit up, I gasped in pain and lay back down holding my ribs. I tried again anyways, regardless of the pain. I got to the point where I was sitting on the edge of the bed. I was practically panting because of the pain.

“What the hell happened to me?” I asked more to myself, but I got an answer anyways.

“You have a few broken ribs. You were sleep walking and Luke thought you were a zombie and tackled you,” Amy replied. I looked over at Luke and I saw the sadness and guilt in his eyes.

“I’m really sorry but with what’s going on you have to be careful,” he said quietly. “It’s alright. You were just doing your job.”

I continued attempting to stand up, holding my right side, and I was finally standing up. I earned an applause from Jordan and he came running up and hugged my legs. “Aww thanks little guy,” I said with a genuine smile. After he let go, I started to teeter and Luke ran up and grabbed my arms to steady me.

“Are you okay?”

“Yea, I think so.”

“Tordis, would like to go see your room and get cleaned up before dinner?” Maya asked.

“Umm yea. That’d be really nice. Thanks.”

“Luke will you show her?”

“Yea. I can.”

Once we got to my room, he led me to the bathroom and quietly left. “Wait! Luke?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you wait out here in case I need help?” I asked shyly, turning red.

“I guess I can,” he said scratching his neck, awkwardly.

“Thanks. Again. And just forewarn you, I sing in the shower."