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The night of the full moon had been a confusing one. Farah had spent the night fighting off hordes of the undead and creatures from the depths of hell. Carmen however had spent the night fighting for her life against a dangerous fever before ultimately bursting into a ball of flame.
Looking at her hand in confusion Farah grasped at any explanation her brain could come up with. “God, your fever’s gettin’ worse!” She whispered more to herself than to Carmen. She took a moment to test the temperature of her face, neck and chest but when those too were scalding, she scrambled to grab the discarded bucket. Before she could make it to her feet Carmen gripped Farah by the arm.
“Farah wait-” She trailed off, what exactly was she going to tell the woman? ‘I’m perfectly fine, I just burst into a ball of fire is all.’ Yes, a completely normal thing to tell your significant other.
The look of concern on Farah’s face only grew at Carmen’s visible confusion and silence. This was turning a bad situation even worse. Not giving the bucket a second thought, Farah grabbed the blanket off their cot. In one swift movement, wrapped Carmen’s naked body in it and scooped the woman into her arms bridal style. “We need to get you cooled off now.” The shorter woman said in a grave tone as she kicked open the jailhouse door and made for the makeshift bath house.
Carmen protested the whole process but Farah had a death grip on her. She was at least thankful the panicked woman had enough thought to cover her in the blanket before she was paraded through the street. Rarely had she seen Farah move with such purpose and fear. Was she really that sick?
Luckily for the two of them, it was still the early hours of the morning and most of the other members of Fort Brimstone were still busy dealing with the last dregs of the horrors and what bodies remained in the aftermath. Anyone killed would need to be cremated quickly, as would any remains left from the monsters.
Without the obstructions or distractions, Farah made it to the bath house in under two minutes, running as fast as she safely could with her delicate cargo. The bath house was more of a group of tents set up for the workers to use after a hard day’s labor. With quick access to the well and river not far off, it was in a prime location for cold water.
Bursting through the line of tents breathing heavy from her run, Farah searched for the first empty tub in sight. The one directly in her path was still empty so she took no hesitation to deposit Carmen into it with her back to the opening of the tent.
When the shorter woman went to remove the blanket from around her Carmen seemed to find her voice again. “Farah stop! I feel fine.” She assured her lover as she took her wrists in her hands to stop her efforts. Really she did feel fine. If anything the cold metal of the tub stung the bits of skin it came in contact with.
Farah stopped long enough to check Carmen’s temperature once again. When it was still dangerously high she took the taller woman’s cheeks in the palm of her hands and made sure their eyes met. “Carmen. Sweetheart. Please stop fighting me, you aren’t fine. You’re burning up. … Please” she pleaded.
Between the sheer desperation in her tone and the look of terror in her eyes, Carmen released the grip she had on the blanket covering her. She wasn’t going to convince the woman that she was fine anytime soon. To be honest, she was starting to question her own mind. Was she fine? She felt comfortably warm. No hint of a fever or ache when she did a mental check of herself. The only missing pieces were the ones always missing below her knees.
When the ill woman seemed to accept that she was indeed sick, Farah removed the blanket from the tub and tossed it on a stool off to the side. Next was to fetch the water. She needed a lot and she needed it as cold as she could get it. The well would be the coldest but it’d take time to get the buckets filled compared to just dumping an armful of buckets into the river and tossing what she could into the tub. The well was closer so it won her mental debate. “I’ll be right back Firefly.” Farah assured as she raced off towards the well with bucket in hand.
Now without her cover, Carmen did her best to hide herself in the tub as she could. She certainly wasn’t shy around Farah but that definitely did not apply to the random strangers that could stumble into the tent. With a filled bucket in hand, Farah quickly returned. “Alright, hold your breath” She instructed as she dumped the bucket directly over the top of Carmen’s head.
The cold water hit Carmen like a ton of bricks. In spite of her warning, when the water touched her skin she drew in a large gasp and inadvertently some of the water. It burned and stung her skin and throat as she coughed vigorously. Farah muttered a “Shit” and began patting the other woman’s back in an attempt to help get the water out. Though her coughs Carmen struggled to get out a question. “Why is it so cold!?” It felt like Farah had dumped a bucket of snow on her.
“Sorry, sorry, I should have dumped it slower. It’s not that cold, it just feels like it because of the fever…” Farah attempted to soothe while rubbing Carmen’s exposed back. When the coughing subsided enough, she stood to fetch more water. “Sit tight, the next one I’m dumping on your back.” She added before heading back to the well.
The next bucket was indeed dumped on her back and it hurt just as much as the last one. Gripping the sides of the tub to brace for the sting of the next bucket, Carmen contemplated everything that had transpired until this point. Bucket after bucket was emptied over her and each one chilled her to the bone. When the tub was finally filled Farah came to sit beside it to test Carmen’s temperature once again. However little had changed.
“This will work. It has to.” Farah whispered into the air around them as she scooped up cups full of cold water to dumb over Carmen’s head and hair. All while lovingly combing her fingers through it. This went on for what felt like hours with little to no change as Carmen shivered in the tub of slowly warming water.
It was quiet for a long time outside of the splashes of water when Carmen broke it. “Farah. … Am I dying?” She questioned as she took her lover's hand in hers. The question looked as if it broke the woman to even hear.
Farah stopped pouring water and took Carmen’s hand in both of hers. “Hey- You’re not- .. I’m not going to let you die Firefly. We’ll figure this out. You just gotta cool off yeah?” She looked so hopeful, as if she could stave off what seemed to be happening with pure hope and effort.
Exhaustion from the night's events, the fever itself, and the whole process of being drenched in cold water for the last few hours was apparent on Carmen’s face. “Farah, I’m hungry, I’m tired and I’m cold. … I’ve been in this tub since daybreak. If it was going to work, it would have by now.” If anything this had made her feel worse but she wasn’t going to tell Farah that.
There was a brief flash of anger that crossed Farah’s face at the statement. “Sweatheart we can’t just give up.” A bit of the anger seeped into her tone and she cursed herself for it. IF Carmen was dying, how could she be angry with her now of all times.
“I’m not giving up Farah.” Carmen responded with the same tone. Taking a second to take a calming breath she continued. “I feel fine, normal. I don’t feel like I have a fever. I think…. I think something else is happening- happened?” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she contemplated how she was going to explain what she saw and experienced. “I- … Last night, I was so exhausted. I was overheating and nothing I was doing was helping. At some point all the heat just .. sort of … moved? … It traveled up my arms and my hands… burst into flames….” She explained as she stared at her arms and hands. There was no indication that any such thing had happened. No burns or marks of any kind outside of the wear and tear from the last few days of hard work.
A weary sigh escaped Farah’s mouth as she stroked Carmen’s drying hair. “Firefly, that was just a hallucination. It wasn’t real. Your mind’s just playin’ tricks on you cause you’re sick.” She looked as if she was about to cry. This was just a more distressing sign that things were going downhill for the other woman.
“Mon Cher, it was real- it felt real. I know how it sounds but it felt so real… and ever since then I’ve felt better. The water! When I poured it on myself it steamed. If that wasn’t real, why wasn’t there a puddle on the floor? I swear my mind is together. I am here, ask me anything. Test my mind and I’ll answer. … If I’m wrong I’ll … I’ll accept what is happening. … But! If I’m right you have to believe me Mon Cher.” Carmen frantically spilled out. She needed to prove to Farah that it was real. It had to be. If it wasn’t then, well … It had to be real.
Taking a moment to think back, Farah tried to remember if there had been any water on the floor or if Carmen had been wet. She was sweaty but Farah didn’t think it was enough to have been drenched by a bucket. … The bucket had been empty when she got there but she couldn’t remember the floor. Too much was going on in such little time. “Hmmmm, what weighs more, a pound of lead or a pound of gold?” Farah asked half heartedly.
Carmen sighed at the question. “Farah, they weigh the same. They’re both a pound.” She’s aware she asked to test her mind but this seemed like such a stupid question.
“Okay, okay, give me a second.” Farah requested while she contemplated what she could ask to test the woman. She wasn’t that good at math to test that. They didn’t have anything to test her ability to read with them. Taking a look around the tent she took stock of the supplies nearby. “What all bathing supplies are in this tent?”
Carmen cataloged the tent mentally for a moment before speaking. “Well that entirely depends on what you consider bathing supplies, but I can see the tub I’m in, the bucket you used to fill the tub, the stool you set our blanket on, a scrub brush of questionable quality, and what I’m hoping is soap and not just bacon grease in a tin.” She concluded with a disgusted look on her face.
Well she’d been right, there had been some less than desirable supplies about but even she wasn’t sure if that was soap. She certainly wasn’t going to go find out. For now the only other thing she could think to test was her memory. “Alright Firefly. What’s my middle name?” She asked with a half smile.
“Maria, after your mother.” Carmen responded instantly. “That one was easy Mon Cher.” She added with a small smile of her own.
Farah chuckled at the response. She was once again correct at least. “Okay, Okay. Let me think of something hard.” She took a few moments to think of something that would require more brain power. When the idea struck her, her heart sank but it would be the hardest thing she could think of. She just hoped Carmen wouldn’t hold it against her for bringing it up. “Walk me through the night we left…” It would take a lot to go back through the whole night but if she wanted her mind tested, this would be her best bet.
The smile on Carmen’s face disappeared as soon as the question left Farah’s lips. Of all of the things to ask her to relive, but she did say to ask her anything. “Oh…” was her initial response. It took her a few moments to actually start the story proper. “I couldn’t stand it anymore. I- …” She took a moment to steel herself mentally and refocus her thoughts. “My parents, discovered us- me. They tried to kill you.” Farah rubbed her arm at the memory. Carmen’s mother had walked in on them in a- lets say compromising position and pulled a knife on the woman. She was just glad it wasn’t a pistol. No that came later.
Carmen continued “Mother stabbed you and I saw red. She had you pinned and there was so much blood. … So I grabbed the vase on the stand next to the bed and broke it over her head.” Farah gently rubbed the back of Carmen’s hand as she relived the memories. “When Father heard the commotion he ran in and- …” Carmen choked up at the thought. She ran a hand over the scar across Farah’s chest. Just to remind herself that she was still alive. Still here with her. “He shot you.”
Farah pulled Carmen’s hand up to cup the side of her face and looked into her eyes. “Hey Firefly, I’m here. I’m still kickin’.” She soothed with a soft look.
“I tackled him before he could shoot again and tried to get the gun off of him but …” She trailed off as her gaze drifted away. She hadn’t been strong enough to wrestle the weapon from the man and he threw her to the side next to her mother’s unconscious body before reading another shot. “I stabbed him. I took mother’s knife and I stabbed him.” She wiped a tear from her eye before it had a chance to fully form. These people didn’t deserve her tears. They had been horrible to her and the staff for as long as Carmen could remember. “I was so tired of them hurting the only people that loved me so I just kept stabbing him. … When I stopped and realized what had happened, I crawled over to you. Somehow you were still there, still breathing. I helped you up from the floor and you told me to grab my things. We needed to run before it was discovered what I had done. I threw some things in a bag while you wrapped your arm and chest.” It seemed the bullet had lodged itself in her rib and this was Farah’s lucky day. “We went to the stables and grabbed our horses. River, my favorite mare and Fantasma for you. She always hated it when I tried to ride her. You got them ready best you could while I went back into the house. I took everything they had in the safe.” She let a laugh slip past her lips when she said it. “I could barely carry the damned bag. I had to drag it part of the way. … When I took the money I lit the house on fire. I thought maybe if the law thought I died in the fire, it’d give us a chance.” Carmen concluded her recollection of the night’s events. It had been hell then, just as it had been now remembering it all. “We set out on the trail and we were doing ok surviving, until the bounty hunters started looking for us.” She added sadly at the end.
Farah took a long hard stare at her lover when she was done. The story had been accurate and not something either of them wanted to think of again, but it certainly proved her mind was still there. At least to a certain point. She genuinely believed she felt fine and that she had caught on fire the night before. “Firefly…” “Farah-” Carmen interjected. However Farah continued on. “Carmen. I’m not going to say you’re completely fine or that I necessarily believe you were on fire, but if you believe it I’m not going to say you’re wrong. You’re right that the cold water isn’t doin’ anything. … Why don’t we get you back to bed and I’ll go get us something to eat. Then we can try and see if some sleep will help, yeah?” She offered to her lover with a sad hope on her face. Maybe she just felt warmer to the touch than she was and she’d be ok. Maybe Farah was the one hallucinating the heat. God only knows and she so desperately hoped it was the latter at this point. She was tired too.
Grabbing the blanket from the stool, Farah offered her other arm to Carmen to help her up and out of the tub. “I’ll carry ya back to our room. No sense in you hurtin’ your feet on the dirt.” It was the least she could do since she had neglected to grab clothes, shoes or Carmen’s cane and braces in her panic.
Not looking forward to the process of being carried back through town in only a blanket, Carmen heavily contemplated remaining in the tub and sending Farah off to fetch her clothes. However the other members of the fort were out and about by now and all she needed was for one man to get a thought stuck in his head while she was as naked as a jaybird. “At least let me wrap myself up better to hide my honte.” She begrudgingly accepted the blanket and began her task.
When Carmen was wrapped sufficiently enough to both their satisfactions, Farah scooped the woman up gently this time into a bridal carry. With less panic, her grip was much lighter. Carmen herself was light as a feather to the shorter woman, barely over a hundred pounds so she was easy enough to cart around. Although the height difference did make the sight a bit awkward looking. “Ready to go Firefly?” Farah asked gently.
Carmen released another weary sigh. She just hoped any passerbys would be too preoccupied to pay them any mind. “As ready as I’ll ever be Mon Cher. Allons.” With that Farah began the walk back to their room at the jailhouse.