Page 33 of Shattered Magic

Vega pressed a hand to her forehead, and she felt tabs and wires connected to her scalp with more on her chest. Eon was sitting next to her with a worried expression.

“What happened?”

“You started seizing. They said it was a reaction to the drugs.” Eon looked like she wasn’t convinced. “You seem to be stable, but you were out for quite a while.”

“What day is it?”

“Friday. Why?”

“Where is my phone?”

“I just finished charging it. I kept it off. It was going crazy yesterday.” Eon got up and delivered it.

Vega held the phone, and tears hit the screen. “Oh.”

“Arkus said he had things to do today, but the staff said that if you remained stable and the last bloodwork came out clean, I could take you home today.” Eon smiled. “It’s been a few hours, so the results should be here shortly. I will see if I can get someone to remove the leads.”

Eon left, and Vega watched her phone cycle on, and the messages were in alarming, and her voice mail was full. She set her phone to speaker and listened to her sister sobbing at the curse that had been put on the unborn. Her mother cursed at her. The village head called her a disgrace. Friends from childhood called her a coward.

She sat and let the tears fall as everyone in her hometown took turns calling her a pathetic and useless coward.

Eon came in and stared at her as the screaming and invectives were playing out through the phone.

It continued until the final message. “Uh, Vega. We are all very sorry for the messages we have left. Please accept our apologies for the phone calls.” The village leader’s voice was strangled.

Vega stared at the phone, and then she started scrolling through the vile and vitriolic emails that also came to a sudden halt at seven in the morning on Friday.

Eon asked, “Vega, what happened?”

“I was supposed to participate in a religious event yesterday, and instead, I was twitching and foaming in here. My family and their friends were... upset.” She set her phone down and started clawing at her leads to get them off.

The door burst open, and Vega’s wrists ended up cuffed to the rails on the bed. She was screaming and fighting against the restraints.

Hands held her arm, and an injection sent cold-hot through her veins, and she slumped, still sobbing. Eon came up to her and wiped her eyes and cheeks with a wet cloth.

“Is this because you no longer have him in your head?”

Vega sobbed. “No. I was supposed to die yesterday for the betterment of the community.”

Eon paused. “What?”

“I am the abnormal one in the community, so when the next baby is getting ready to be born, I have to die so that the child can be brought into a homogenous community without knowing that the world is different until much later.” Vega dragged in a calming breath. The drug was rolling through her system, and she felt dazed and sluggish. “What did they give me?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“There are things that dwarfs are allergic to, and my skin feels hot, cold, and prickly all at once. Looks like I might end here after all.” Her vision was blurry, and she saw Eon slam the button as she started yelling as Vega’s throat started closing, and lights sparked behind her lids as her instincts fought to get air into her lungs.

There was more shouting, more injections, and then a period of stillness when she finally was able to take a whole breath.

Panting came next, and her skin was covered in hives when she was able to see her arms again. There was an oxygen mask on her face, and the cuffs had been removed.

Vega was soaked in sweat, and she looked at her friend. “So, I am thinking that keeping him in might have been the safer option.”

Eon stroked her hair in concern. “He’s on his way back.”

“Fucking hell. I wonder what’s going to happen next. I think I am just going to burst into fucking flames.”

The doctor next to her bed said, “Why didn’t you mention that you were born a dwarf?”

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