Something Wicked This Way Comes

||13- Aftermath||

Katalina couldn't sleep for the rest of the week.

That voice.  The helplessness, the grief—the pain.  It was debilitating.  It clawed at her thoughts and left her shaking mess.

She had barely expelled herself from Loki's head before she vomited on her carpet.  Then, when her body felt hollow, she curled up tight, limbs trembling.  She didn't know how long she had laid there.  Time became unknown to her—at least until the scent of her own sick was too much to stand and the fact the Loki was still dying, drug her to her feet.

She could barely decipher what was her, and what was Loki's memories.    Every sound made her jerk.  Made her hesitate; as she forced herself to gather the ingredients she needed. 

Eventually, she lost count of how much she wasted due to her shaking hands.

When it was finally done, Katalina had been unsure if she even had the strength to complete the spell.  Her stomach had felt hollow and her legs weak.  The walls seemed to close in around her and the floor was unsteady.

But she managed.  She stayed there, beside Loki, until her eyes burned and the sun had disappeared.

Promptly after, she passed out.

And that was really the only sleep she had gotten since.

She didn't open either.

She also had to cancel Tuesday's practice and told the girls that they would not be having any for at least the next month. 

Loki had yet to awaken.  They didn't need to see him.  They especially didn't need to see him if the spell hadn't worked.  That was all Katalina could pray–if there was anything even listening.

That Loki would not die.

The spider webbing of veins around his wound had receded over the week.  His fever had gone down and his skin had regained some of its color.  But still, the only indication that he was even alive, was the slow rise and fall of his chest and his weak, but still golden, aura.

Katalina, on the other hand, was still recovering. 

She hadn't been able to force herself to eat—hadn't an appetite either. Just the thought of food made her stomach want to empty itself again. In a panic, she had unplugged her Avaya and closed all the blinds in her shop.

Katalina was, however, able to shower. At least three times. An hour each, and it was the only time she had been even remotely able to clear her mind. In those brief moments, she'd seen how irrational she was being, but she couldn't pull herself out of it.  What she had seen.  What she had felt.

Any normalcy she could stomach was the only thing keeping her from spiraling.

It was on the third day of silence that Katalina received the first indication that Loki was alive. 

His fingers twitched and his eyes flickered under his eyelids.  She felt his aura flare again.  Not the dull cold that she had to pray would grow stronger with time.

His voice came next; all rough and cracking from the lack of use. Katalina felt a weight lift off her chest and a tremendous sigh of relief left her lips. Tears formed in her eye but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to look at him.