Awakening

Why are you still here?

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Note: I specifically made sure that I asked Bing for fully clothed people, since I didn’t want to run afoul of their censorship program. I was rather surprised that it worked.

Glorina

I woke with a start, my head resting on Tolly's lap, his hand resting on my shoulder. I sat up suddenly, confused. How had I gotten turned around in the night?

"Good morning!" came an amused voice. It wasn't Tolly's. I looked around, and saw Jelana sitting near us, sipping on a cup of tea.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"The housekeeper found the two of you like this when she came in this morning. She didn't know what to think about it, so she called Belinda. Belinda also didn't know, so she called me. I came right over. I don't know what to think, either, so I had some tea, and waited until one of you woke up."

I stretched, and got up. There was still a couple cups worth of tea in the pot. I sat down again, beside Jelana. "Tolly had a muscle spasm last night," I said.

"Oh! The picnic? I should have thought . . ." Then Jelana frowned. "No, that doesn't make sense. He's done worse than that without effect."

I sighed. "He did do worse than that. He sat for about twenty minutes on the concrete floor of the Crypt, without back support." I paused for a long moment. "Then I think he may have pulled something when he tried to stand up again."

"Why would he do that?"

I paused for a long moment, then said, in a tiny voice, "I was trying to rob it."

"Oh, I see," Jelana said. She seemed amused, rather than shocked.

"I'm an idiot," Tolly's voice came. We both looked over at him. He hadn't moved. After a moment, he pulled his head up and looked at us blearily. He rubbed his forehead, and then his chin, and shook his head. "Glorina! You're still here," he said in a tone of some surprise. Then he closed his eyes again, and sighed.

"Well, of course I'm still here. I was worried about you," I said, puzzled.

"Of course you're still here. You were worried about me," he repeated. "Ms. Hoi, we're still going to have that discussion, but right at the moment . . ." He winced as he tried to sit up further. "Jelana, could you make me some tharl tea? As strong as you can get it." He put his feet down, and picked up his cane, and stood it up between his feet, and leaned his head against it.

"Perhaps in the smaller dining room, half an hour?" He tried to stand up, winced, then continued standing. "Make that forty-five minutes." He walked into his rooms.

I came out of my room, just over forty-five minutes later, feeling much refreshed, and found Tolly seated in the sitting room, his forehead pressed against the top of his cane. He was looking much better, freshly shaved, fresh clothes, generally more alert, but still a bit grey around the edges.

"Ms. Hoi, May I walk you to breakfast?" he asked, trying to smile gallantly.

"I'd be pleased," I said, going into a formal bow.

We walked out together. I'd seen Tolly carry a cane before, of course, but hadn't really had the impression that he actually needed it until now. Or last night, I suppose. Even his limp was usually only noticeable if you actually looked for it.

"There's one thing I want to know, Ms. Hoi," he said to me as we got into the elevator. "Why are you still here?"

"What do you mean? You said the same thing earlier. Where else would I be?"

He sighed. "Ms. Hoi, last night, you saw me in a drugged sleep. I couldn't even claim it was your fault for bringing me the wrong medicine. You could have taken my keycard to the Crypt, finished packing your bag at leisure, and have been gone well before I woke up. Or, I gave you my room key. There are several small, but valuable, items scattered through my rooms. You could have taken several of them and been gone again. In fact, even before I took the medicine, there was a rather long period of time where you could have easily overpowered me or knocked me out, and you didn't. Why didn't you?" He paused for a moment, as the door opened. "Thank you, by the way." He turned and smiled down at me.

"Thank me for not stealing from you? That doesn't make sense." I shook my head. "I just didn't think . . . I was worried about you . . . you're right, I really should have . . . don't tell anyone, please?" Not that it'd make any difference now.

"Don't tell anyone?" He looked bemused. "Who would I tell? That's not the reaction I was expecting." He shook his head, at a loss.

"My turn to ask a question, Tolly," I said.

"As you wish, Ms. Hoi."

"Why are you doing this? Why didn't you kick me out, like you've had ample opportunities and reasons to do over the past few days? Why not call the guards when you found my bugs or caught me in the Crypt last night? And especially, why risk your health, your legs, to sit on the floor last night with me?" I turned away from him. "It doesn't make sense."

He chuckled. "Many things don't make sense, Ms. Hoi. You and I most of all, I expect." I saw him reach out his hand toward me, then drop it with a sigh, and came to walk companionably beside me. "I suppose some would think that I have a character flaw, that when I see someone in pain and fear, I want to try to help. And another thing is, though I'm reasonably sure that if Petron hadn't sent that warning, in another few months I would have found several choice pieces of my art gone, with no way to trace that I ever had it in the first place. But somehow, you really don't have the mindset of a thief."

We went into the dining room. I saw Jasin and Belinda standing and talking to An, and Jelana sitting, eating a bowl of yogurt. I drew back a bit. "I didn't expect everyone else to be here."

"It's all right, Ms. Hoi. We are all your friends here."

"I doubt that," I said, as I gripped his arm.

An came over and put her hand out. "Glad to see you again, Ms Hoi." As I thought, she towered over me, taller than her brother.

"Glorina," I said. I went down in a formal bow. As I rose again, I saw her mirroring my position perfectly. "Oh, well done!" I said in surprise.

"I've practiced," she said with a grin. "Tolly!" she exclaimed, going to him. "You look positively green around the gills. What happened?"

"I'll be fine," he said shortly, waving her attention away. "Just some slight over-exertion yesterday. And in my haste, I inadvertently took the wrong medication and went to sleep, rather getting the pain relief, and ended both when I awoke this morning."

I frowned at him, not sure if I liked being totally cut out of the story or not.

"I warned you about that, when I got you it," An said severely. "You will have your leg seen to again soon, won't you?"

"I shall endeavor to do so," he said sharply.

"Tolly, you're being pompous again. What's going on?"

"Later," he said, brushing her off. "Ms. Hoi, would you care for some breakfast?"

The others sat down and ate and talked around me, but I didn't feel like eating, even though I had only a few bites since the picnic yesterday. I picked at the food, which probably deserved better, staying quiet while I let the conversations roll over and around me. I was aware of many covert glances in my direction.

Jelana slipped in beside me, and put her arm around my shoulders.

"Why ever did I agree to this?" I murmured to her.

"Because it's the least-bad solution you can see?" she suggested.

"Least bad?" I thought about for a little while. Maybe. Definitely not good.

After everyone was finished, they all sat around the table, and looked to Tolly to begin.

"Now, Ms. Hoi," he said, "was there something you wanted to tell us?"

I looked around at all of them, and panicked. I automatically told the Confession Story Two, with an abandoned spouse and a sick child, and needing the money desperately. They all listened attentively and politely, but I could tell I wasn't being overly convincing. I wondered what happened to my story-telling ability.

At the end, they all looked at An, and she gave her head a minute shake. Tolly stood and over to me, and put his hand on my shoulder. "Is this really the tale you wish to tell us, Ms. Hoi? Glorina?"

"Yes! No. I don't know. Let me be!" I began shivering. "Let me be."

"You can do it, Glorina," Jelana said. "Step back, Tolly, let her have some room."

I closed my eyes. I could do this.

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