Curse the Mainframe! 221 Thea Neil Reporting For Duty

Thea Neil woke up feeling like death warmed over.

She didn't know what happened for her to feel that way, but there was a strange, pressing need at the back of her mind, as if she was forgetting about something important. Something that she'd put her life on the line to remember.

Despite the sheet that was only covering her lightly, it felt suffocating, and she was sweating profusely. Whether because of the pain, or because her body was just naturally feeling hot, she didn't know.

Regardless, her pressing need to do something pushed her to try and remember even when her brain throbbed with agony.

Despite how hard she was trying to remember; she was unable to recall about what was so urgent that she woke up even when she felt as if she was dying from the pain.

When she breathed, she felt pain scorch up her sides, and Thea ached as she tried to remember what happened to her.

Absently, her line of vision cut to the slightest sting of pain that she felt in her arm, and her eyes met the IV line that was pierced into her body.

With her mind still feeling like cotton wool, and her normal thoughts shrouded, she clumsily pulled out the needle that was nestled in the crook of her elbow. The slight pain there couldn't even be compared to the pain that radiated from her middle.

She found it kind of strange that her injuries hadn't been completely healed – this place was the clan's medical centre, of that she had no doubt. In her teenage years, she visited this place countless times together with her classmates.

Then, what she had to do hit her like a ton of bricks, and she scrambled out of the soft sheets that surrounded her, but the cool air that hit her body did nothing to relieve her discomfort that was born from pain.

Someone had knocked her out when she'd been on the way to see the clan leader!

Thea grunted in pain, but even then, she didn't halt her jerky movements. She had something more important to her than the pain she felt. Anyway, she had worse pain before. It was still tolerable.

Staggering as her foot was caught on the sheets that she'd been tangled in, her body tilted as she tumbled to the ground, but just as she braced herself for the additional pain that would no doubt send her close to unconsciousness again, she was caught gently and placed back on the edge of the bed.

Thea's head swum as she clutched her abdomen. Even though she had not fallen to the ground, the pain was like a dagger to her sides – well, that was literally what had happened to her, so it was fair enough.

"Do I need to get the doctor?" she heard come nearby, and Thea blearily looked at the person who had caught her from meeting a more painful fate on the floor.

Her breath felt like it'd been stolen away at the gentle smile that he gave her, and her heart started pounding in her chest for a different reason.

The glaring lights that shone down from the ceiling above didn't seem so harsh when it gave the teenager in front of her a glow that made him seem almost holy.

While she was instantly stunned at the gentle feeling the boy gave off, she quickly snapped out of it.

Her cheeks flushed, and she mentally slapped herself for her annoying tendencies to get carried away at a pretty face.

'This is not the time to fall into romantic fantasies, Thea,' she scolded herself.

Instead, she croaked out, her voice hoarse, "I have to see the clan leader."

The smile on his face didn't change, but his eyes seemed sharper that before as he studied her. Thea felt her traitorous heart pound, but she maintained the seriousness on her face.

She didn't understand what he was thinking about, and he was strangely hard to read.

This teen wasn't the man who'd tried to get her to enter the medical centre yesterday, that much she knew.

If he said no, then she would incapacitate him and barge into the clan leader's office anyway.

That was how important this information was to the safety of their clan.

It was rather strange that someone that was younger than her was in the clan. He looked around sixteen or seventeen, and he didn't have the standard brown Neil hair, even though he had their eyes.

Jet black hair and blue eyes. Something flashed in her mind, but the thought disappeared before she was able to grab onto it, disappearing like smoke between her fingers.

Thea was incomparably frustrated.

She did not recall anyone who had black hair –

"The clan leader will be here soon," he said, breaking her train of thought, and Thea didn't know whether or not he was just saying it to comfort her, but something inside her told her that wasn't the case.

Thea felt a sense of relief creep up on her, but she knew that time was of the essence.

She'd been willing to give her life away, even when she was bleeding out, to give the message to the clan head.

It felt like ants were crawling through her body, with the worry and anger burning through her.

Had it not been for the pain that she still felt, her leg would have been bouncing impatiently.

"My name is Alec. And yours?"

"Anthea Neil. You may call me Thea," she said quickly.

Alec nodded at her, a small smile gracing his features, and Thea felt her felt blush a little in spite of herself. He was handsome, but the thing that really drew her in was the gentle aura that came from him.

Alec stood up, startling her. "I will go and get the doctor."

Thea's brows immediately furrowed as she tried to dissuade him. "No. Don't. There's no time for that. The clan head is coming soon. I will see the doctor after that."

The smile on Alec's face widened, but she didn't know what for. "I will get the doctor," he said, his voice brooked no argument.

"But - "

"Do you wish to die before you relay the message to the clan head? Otherwise, you may tell me what seems to be the problem that you wish to inform the clan head of."

Thea shook her head firmly, her eyes narrowing into a glare. While she'd found out a single person who was feeding them information, she still didn't know whether or not there was more than one person feeding information about the clan to the royal family of bastards –

No. Regardless of what good feelings the teen in front of her gave her, she would not allow her own feelings to get in the way of her duty or her reasoning.

Alec nodded as if he knew her inner thoughts. "Stay."

Thea should have left, but she followed his words as if she was possessed, and before she knew it, her chance to escape was cut off when three doctors entered the room and fussed over her wounds as they pinned her to the bed.

The female doctor's eyes pierced through her, and Thea cowered like she'd been trained to do from the Neil Clan doctors.

They undressed her without a care about Alec, who was standing in the corner, and Thea felt helpless as she submitted under the doctors' prodding hands.

Their magic was cast over her, and the pain all but faded into little pangs that were easily ignored.

It was only when her mind was clear of the pain that she realized he tricked her. Her lips twitched, and her brows furrowed in annoyance.

She was in pain, true, but she would not have died before she was able to relay her information to the clan head.

She glared at him, but he merely smiled back at her, as if saying 'I just wanted to help. Why are you so stubborn?'.

Thea growled as the three doctors left after working their magic, annoyed at her lapse in judgement. The blood loss must have addled her mind.

She swung her feet off the pristine white sheets, fully intending on chasing after the clan leader's shadow.

How could she lose in a battle of the wits against a teenager, when she was already an adult herself?

It was at this moment that the door slid open again, and the slightly unfamiliar visage of the clan head appeared in the room, causing her to heave a sigh of relief.

At least Alec hadn't been lying about that.

Chapter end

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