The Island of Fear (complete)

59) Unable to Forget

Isobeljones2000

Dashi's POV: I walked behind the retreating penguin, neither of us particularly in a chatty mood. The medic had seemed busy in the Sick Bay, but careful. Eager to help, but serious. Even walking along he seemed deep in thought, his eyes downcast and limping slightly on his leg that was bandaged up with a single hair ribbon. It was an odd sight, but i let it go. I was sure he had his reasons. And I had mine.

Whatever he had put on my cuts on my ankles and wrists, it was doing its magic. I could barely feel the pain of them now, only a cool moist texture on the wounds. He was young, yes. Couldn't be more than around twenty one. But he obviously had experience.

We rounded another corner, heading down yet another corridor. I could see the octopus symbol emblazoned on every wall, on every button. It was clear I was not going to fit in here. Dashi 1 did. She was evidently loved, she seemed kind and pretty and pleasurable and fun to be around. While when these strangers look at me, they see a face but nothing below. Will I be expected to be her? Since Lupo took the Flame away, I am beginning to lose my resolve to find my memories again. I feel like we - I am two separate people. Dashi 1 and Dashi 2. And I'm just the copy. The cheap imitation. The one that everyone expects to be her.

I have already peeked into a few of the rooms when passing. A library, a kitchen containing a few of the Vegimals. An art studio. We pass a room with voices coming out of it and I see the sea otter from before poring over a pile of papers with the lead Vegimal speaking to him earnestly. The one who kissed me. Dashi 1's boyfriend. It's clear he will see her in me. Will he see us as different people? Probably not.

"It's just up this Octo Chute," the penguin told me tersely. I see a grey tube apparently leading to my room.

"Yeah," I replied monotonously. "Thanks."

"Do you want me to -" Peso gestures to the tube.

"No, it's fine. I'll be fine."

"Okay." He pauses awkwardly, and I can tell how odd this must be for him. Talking to someone he knew like a stranger. Well believe me, it's no picnic for me either.

"Night," he finished quickly.

"Night," I replied, and begun to climb into the tube, wondering how on earth these people climbed these things. But it wasn't long, and doors at the top slid smoothly open, revealing my room.

Except it'll never be my room. It's a relic of a past. Dashi 1's past, to be exact. Pink, flowery and girly beyond all doubt. I may not remember much about my own fake past, with my false memories and the relationships that have all been a lie. But I know I'm not this person. I know I'm not Dashi 1. No matter how they might want me to be.

And I sit on the bed, feeling hot angry tears come to my eyes for the first time as the bright pink assaults me from every angle. Even when I close my eyes it gets through to my retinas.

How can I live like this?

KateSeleneMelody3OCS

Peso's POV: As Dashi climbed up the Octochute to her room, or the old Dashi's room, I couldn't help but feel lucky that Lupo's Memory Flame hadn't worked on Kate. But her words still echoed in my mind. 'What's it like? Forgetting?' She had asked. She wouldn't know what it was like, because of her gift/curse.

I headed back over to the Sick Bay. Kate was completely conked out, and I forced back a light laugh. She was so beautiful when she slept. She was even more beautiful when she was awake, though. Eelean was sitting next to her. I smiled at the small Vegimal. She smiled back, but her green eyes were full of tears.

"Peso? Why is Kate holding back feelings of grief?" She asked me. "I was going to ask her myself, but she's sleeping so..." she asked me in English.

I felt myself pale, and now I found myself staring at the ground. "Umm... How do you know she's holding back grief?" I asked.

Eelean shrugged. "I'm not sure. I can just sense it."

I sighed. "It's not my place to tell, but I can say that she's had a hard life. One that most of us can't even imagine." I replied almost inaudibly, not looking at the small black Vegimal.There was a silence.

I glanced over at Tweak and Kwazii, who were conversing in low voices. Not wanting to eavesdrop, I decided to check on my own wound. Carefully, I unwrapped the hair ribbon that Kate had tied around it. It was infected, no doubt about that, but it had stopped bleeding. It was unsafe to take the bullet out. If I did, the blood would flow more, and I could bleed out faster than Tweak could say 'bunch of munchy crunchy carrots'. So the bullet would have to stay in. I grabbed the spray, and was about to spray my leg, when Kwazii glanced over at me. "Need any help with that?" He asked.

I nodded. "Sure. I guess it's a bit awkward having to do it myself." I replied.

Kwazii took the spray and counted to three. Not a second later, I felt the sting of the hydrogen peroxide in my leg, fighting off the infection. I clenched my fists, holding back a cry of pain. But I knew that the pain meant it was working. "Thanks, Kwazii." I said, getting up.

He nodded, looking down at my leg again. "Shouldn't the bullet have been removed before you sprayed the infection fighting stuff?" He asked.

I shook my head. "If it's safe to remove the bullet, then yes. But it wasn't, so I didn't take it out."

Kwazii's eyes widened. "So Shellington's hunch was right. That injury is more serious then you're letting on." He said. It wasn't a question. I didn't respond. There was no need to. "Did Kate know how serious it was?"

I nodded. "She saved my life, actually." I murmured.

Kwazii nodded. "You two really are perfect together. Not sure why I didn't realize that sooner." He muttered. I smiled, before getting into the bed next to Kate's bed. I glanced over at her one more time before drifting off into unconsciousness.

Isobeljones2000

Kwazii's POV: Peso drifted off to sleep almost instantly, gazing sleepily in the direction of Kate before closing his eyes. It was good that he could finally rest; life as a medic meant you had to put in longer hours than you would normally.

I resumed my previous post beside Tweak's bed. Peso before had sternly informed me that I had to go back to my own bed to let the wounds heal completely, and I had to comply. I owed him massively of course, so defying him then felt wrong. But as soon as he left to show Dashi to her room, I was straight back out of bed again and next to Tweak. Our beds were next to each other anyway but I wouldn't leave her side at all now. She was tortured when we were split up. I'm staying with her.

Someone had had the presence of mind while I was helping Peso to clean Tweak up a bit and change her bedsheets without me noticing. One of the Vegimals maybe. I caught a glimpse of Eelean hanging around near Kate's bed, studying her sleeping form with intent green eyes. But I made no comment on it. Eelean wouldn't have anywhere to sleep yet anyway.

Tweak now looked a bit more her normal self, with some of the matted blood cleaned off her face and arms and her headband tied around her forehead like normal. I was very glad that she hadn't been awake when she was being cleaned, she hated being weak and having to rely on other people in any way. I knew it would be a battle to keep her in bed the next couple of weeks. But Peso seemed to have a very good skill at that. A firm calm persona. Unlike me at the best of times.

I could feel the painkillers that I had taken pulling at the edges of my consciousness, willing me into sleep. I was the only one barring Eelean still awake in the Sick Bay. And I was pretty sure that was about to change.

I love you Tweak, I thought sleepily, resting my head next to hers and getting in a more comfortable position to sleep as close to her as I could without hurting her. Then sleep took me and I knew no more.