Chapter 262: Shadows of the Fever

The Medical Facility

The nurse paused outside the room, a gentle hand resting on the doorframe. She had been tasked with checking on Sophia, giving her the prescribed medicine, and ensuring the fever did not climb too high.

She stepped into the room quietly, the polished floorboards creaking under her soft steps. At first, she thought Sophia was asleep, curled beneath the blankets. This wasn’t the first time she had given Sophia her drugs, after all.

But what she saw made her pause.

Sophia was standing right next to the bed. The nurse jumped in shock at seeing Sophia stand but then paused and blinked, cleaning her eyes.

Maybe because she’d been the one giving Sophia her drugs, the fever had extended to her, she thought to herself. But she knew that wasn’t possible. Sophia’s illness wasn’t the kind that could be contracted, after all.

"Good, you’re awake," the nurse said to Sophia.

Sophia nodded as if replying, but the movement made her sway on her feet, and she fell down.

"Miss Sophia!" the nurse cried, rushing forward instinctively. Her hands reached out, but the moment her fingers brushed Sophia’s arm, Sophia flinched violently, shrinking back.

The nurse tried again to get Sophia off the floor, but Sophia shifted back, putting distance between them.

"I’m only trying to help you," the nurse said to her.

Sophia didn’t care. She put a reasonable distance between them, and the nurse’s eyes widened as Sophia hit herself. She rushed forward and held the hand Sophia used to strike herself, but Sophia used the other one, hitting her other cheek.

The nurse’s eyes widened in horror. Sophia’s actions were frantic, almost animalistic in their urgency, and the fever flushed her pale skin a harsh, angry red.

"No, no, no..." the nurse whispered, stepping back to give Sophia space. But she couldn’t just stand there. She had to act.

This wasn’t the time to be scared of what was happening. She had never seen a condition like this, but she knew people who could help. Marta wasn’t in the medical facility now—she had stepped out to get something—but Lysander was.

"I’ll be back," the nurse said as she dashed out of the room.

She had almost made it to Brynhild’s room, where Lysander was, when she ran into him.

"Lysander," she called out.

Lysander turned to her, his brows furrowed. "Why are you running around like that, Mira?" he asked her.

Mira swallowed. "I... I need your help. It’s Sophia... I don’t understand..."

Mira didn’t even get to finish telling him what was going on before Lysander began walking toward Sophia’s room.

Immediately Lysander entered, he saw Sophia crouched in a corner of the room, rocking back and forth, her body shaking uncontrollably.

Lysander did not like what he was seeing before his eyes. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

He approached Sophia slowly, hands open but low, not threatening. "Sophia," he said gently. "It’s okay. It’s me. You’re safe."

He tried to move closer to her, but she shifted back, putting distance between them.

"What happened?" Lysander asked Mira.

"When I came in, I saw her standing, and I thought maybe she was better. I spoke to her and she nodded, but then she fell and hit herself. I held her hand and she used the other hand to hit herself. That was when I knew she wasn’t conscious and that it was more serious than I thought. And that was why I went to call you," Mira told him.

"How about Marta? Is she in?" Lysander asked her.

"No. She stepped out for a moment. She was the one who instructed me to give Sophia her drugs, and I didn’t think much of it because I’ve given her before," Mira said.

Lysander nodded. He tried to move toward Sophia again, but she shifted back, muttering words to herself.

He turned to Mira. "Does she let you touch her?"

"No," Mira said, shaking her head.

"Get Marta. Tell her to come back, that it’s urgent, and send someone to get Orion too," Lysander told her.

Mira frowned but she didn’t question him at all. "Yes, sir."

She moved out of the room while Lysander stayed, trying to coax Sophia into the bed. He spoke softly to her, but she wasn’t listening at all. She wrapped a blanket around herself as she cried, her knees to her chest as she swayed.

Marta arrived before Orion.

"What is the issue—oh gods!" Marta said immediately when she saw Sophia.

Sophia’s small body stiffened violently. She flinched back, rocking harder, muttering apologies into the folds of the blanket. Her words were fragments, whispers of guilt and fear.

"I... I’m sorry," she stammered, shaking. "I didn’t mean to... I won’t... I can’t..."

"Good, you’re here. Please try and see if you can get her to the bed. She needs rest; her body is too frail for this," Lysander told Marta.

Marta nodded and approached Sophia, who flinched and shifted back, putting more distance between them. At this point, it was like Sophia wanted to burrow herself into the walls.

Marta tried again, though. "Come on, love, we need to get you to a bed. You can’t be on the floor; it’s not good for your health." She spoke softly as she tried to approach Sophia again, but Sophia only shifted back.

She shivered violently, curling into herself, whispering, "I... I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please... I didn’t..."

Minutes passed. The more Marta tried, the more tense Sophia became, so Lysander put a stop to it.

"Orion will be here soon," he told Marta. "No need to try too much."

"Orion?" Marta asked with a frown.

She wondered why they would be calling Orion. But then she reasoned that Orion was the Alpha of the pack. He needed to know these things, after all.

Lysander nodded but he didn’t say anything. He could only hope that Orion’s presence would help, and that Sophia would let them approach her with Orion around.

Minutes passed in tense silence, and Lysander and the others could do nothing but stare at Sophia helplessly. The tears poured freely now, and her mutterings became frantic. Lysander heard her apologizing numerous times. Whatever memory Sophia was going through, it wasn’t a good one at all, and he wondered if there were more memories like that buried in her mind.

Looking at Sophia, one wouldn’t even know that she had memories capable of hurting her like this. The only time he had seen her angry or even the least bit annoyed was when she was with Orion, and even that was not real anger... at least to him it wasn’t.

He also wasn’t sure he had seen Sophia crying at all. She was clumsy, curious, and bright. Brynhild had once told him that Sophia blended annoying kid and perceptive adult together.