It felt like hours went by before I woke up.
The sound of water running felt soothing.
Lady Ellora liked that sound, we would sit by the riverside, and she and I would enjoy the sound. Matter of fact before she moved here that is exactly how we met. A young girl whose family could no longer provide for her being offered to the Torren family. I still remember the sound of the water running by the pond.
It ached to feel my mouth conjure into a smile
I could feel ants crawling over my body, my sense of touch still dull as I coughed up some blood.
"Argh..." I could barely groan as I felt a sting in my lower abdomen.
Shit, they must have pierced my stomach. I mustered all the energy I had in order to shuffle back against the rigid floors, splinters of wood etching into the skin of my back.
Thank the heavens my senses were dull.
I was at the door and as I used my free hand that wasn't holding my stomach to grip the frame; I came across an old carving that had my lady's initials. I closed my eyes tight as I recalled how she told me the story of her father etching it into the old sliding doors as some homage.
I kept moving, dragging myself to the door so I could sit up and at least die in peace while my body goes into shock.
It was agonizing to move, every fiber of my being felt twisted and curled around something and it made me curl over and freeze.
"Winnow!"
My head was dropped as I heard the loud voice of one of the house servants above me.
"Oh, Winnow. No, what have they done to you? Juri, come and help me."
It felt like a fever dream as I was gripped and moved, my screams echoing as my body ached and I could feel blood running from my lips. Their hands gripped my stomach to carry me, and I wished they would have let me die. To die in that small corner, against the door, with all my thoughts and memories intact rather than be lugged around to be a hopeless cause.
"Call for Steinfeld, Juri. Tell him to come quick."
"I can't Mero, he has his hands full with so many people already, this household isn't the only one to be ransacked-"
"She needs a doctor, she is coughing up blood and is on the verge of leaving us, call for someone, tell Steinfeld that Master Fra-"
"Master is already dead, Mero!"
There was a strained silence, one that was begging for some attention to break it.
"Winnow is a good kid, she doesn't deserve this. Please, Juri."
I could feel arms snake around me and pet my cheek ever so slightly.
"Mero...?"
"Shh, save your breath," she moved her blurry hands to my eyes as my head lolled downwards. I still do not even feel the true sting as yet; everything feels separated from it all. Life isn't that scary when it ends...
The black scene in my mind felt cool and all-encompassing after a while but more so it seemed to just be comfort. How could anyone hate comfort? It felt soft and lovely...
"Argh!" My throat burned as I felt something writhing into my skin, my body blooming back to life forcefully. Hands. Hands gripping my arms in place holding me down for what seemed to be my own limbs thrashing. I didn't feel myself; I felt so disconnected, as if I was floating above watching my bloodied body worm through the gates of life and death as three pair of hands coaxed me to relax.
"Winnow! Breathe, look at us and breathe!" It felt like that was all I was doing, my lungs burned, my throat stung and my eyes were wet. I could feel my nerves ache and my limbs go weak and still as all that I could truly hear was the sound of gasping.
"They broke a rib that punctured your lung, it took a bit of work but you should be better now," the new unfamiliar voice spoke so coldly to me as I finally blinked on my own volition to look down at my side, a bandage with dried blood wrapped around me. "You need to rest for a very long while, you lost a lot of blood and cutting in to you to get your rib out of your lung was not easy either, practice taking deep breaths every now and then."
The horrific encounter and a ghostly fading sense of pain lingered somewhere in my mind but I could not locate it, everything just felt like a spiral an pain to think, so I didn't. I sighed andthe sharp pain I was warned of pursued, and I could do more than just grimace and ease myself back to the hunger for sleep.