NAAN (The Rabanians Book 1) (46 page)

“Be careful,” said Su-thor.

“I’m only opening the window a bit,” said Ashima.

After straining against the weight of the window for a few seconds she was able to lift the handle and open the window. Clear air flowed into the room and Su-thor took a deep breath. “It's not quite like being outside.”

“You still have your oxygen mask on your face. I will leave the window open for a short while because you are not supposed to be breathing this air yet.  It is not good for you.”

“It rained yesterday. I heard.”

“Yes, it’s getting to be that time of year.”

“Is there a special smell outside?”

“Not anymore,” lied Ashima.

“I love that smell. I want go outside, just for a little while.”

“It’s too early for that, Su-thor. You will stress yourself too much and the symptoms will come back. You don't want that.”

Su-thor nodded. “Ashima, I want to see the trees.”

“You can see them from here.”

“No, I want to be next to them, beneath them.”

“Su-thor, what's gotten into you?”

“I don't know, I just feel better.”

“Yes, I know, we talked about it.”

Someone came up the stairs. Ashima looked to the door when Dug walked in.

“What's going on?”

Ashima gave him a faint smile and bowed a bit.

“Can I visit a moment with Su-thor?” he asked.

“Only for few minutes. She must remain completely calm,” said Ashima in firmly.

Dug walked to the bed. “You look good.”

“How can you tell? This horrid mask covers most of my face.”

“Your eyes are open and you are looking at me.”

“Yes my eyes are open. Not more than that.”

“And your tongue is sharp again. Your spirit seems to have come back as well.”

“I am going to prepare her medicines,” said Ashima and walked to the door. "Don't bother her too much. Keep her calm"

“How was your night?”

“Like every night.”

“Still hard?” he asked.

“It's harder to breathe at night. I don’t know why.”

“Nights are hard with many illnesses. It's probably due to the fact that the body doesn't move much.” He nodded, pursed his lips and looked out the window.

“I understand you are now in charge of the house,” she said.

“Ahh, yes. It’s no big deal.”

“It's only the two of you now.  You and Daio.”

“It's temporary, you'll see. You'll be back to yourself soon and fully functional.”

She shook her head. "Sometimes I feel death is just around the corner." she said.

"You are not going to die," he said decisively.

"You don't know that.  No one knows.  This disease…" she sighed.  "And if I do survive I won't be the person I was.” she looked down at her right arm as if it had been disconnected from her.

“Ahh, I hired a few people to take care of the trees,” said Dug looking for something else to discuss. “I noticed they are very important to you.”

“Thank you,” she said and looked out the window.

“I thought it would help us too. I mean, if they get to know us a bit and see that we are not that different from them…”

“They, the workers?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not sure how a few people will make much of a difference but it's a start.”

Dug nodded in agreement.

“Is Daio away in town?” she asked looking for new things to talk about.

“Yes, he met Musan a few days ago and asked him for search teams again."

“Search teams?” she asked.

“Yes, they are still looking for him.”

She took a deep breath.

“Daio went to a meeting this morning with the Secretary of the Commons. It seems that someone has been complaining that the searches are useless.”

“They are right,” she said.

"You think?" he asked, his eyes open wide.

She shook her head and looked through the window again.

"It can also aggravate the locals," said Daio. "This is the last thing we need right now."

“I wish I could go outside," said Su-thor still looking through the window. "But Ashima doesn't agree.”

“She is an experienced nurse. I would listen to her.”  He said realizing she didn’t want to talk about Sosi.

She opened and closed her left fist several times, and then started to cough. 

“Are you okay?”

She nodded, but continued coughing.

“Do you need something?” he look toward the door and hoping Ashima would appear.

Rapid beeping suddenly erupted from the device that controlled the oxygen machine. Footsteps drummed on the stairs.

“What happened?” asked Ashima rushing into the room.

Su-thor was coughing heavily now.

“She… clenched her hand several times. I thought maybe she had some kind of circulation problem, and then she started to cough,” he said. “I don't know if it's related,” he added clenching and releasing his own fist.

Ashima looked at Su-thor’s face. 

“Su-thor, I am injecting something to calm your cough. It will make you drowsy.” She straightened immediately. “What am I telling her this for?”  She fiddled with the infusion tubes and a few seconds later a liquid began to trickle into the lines.

“Is she okay?” asked Dug.

“What do you think?” returned Ashima sharply. “What did you tell her that caused her to cough like this?”

“Nothing. We just talked,” he said backing up a bit, still staring at Su-thor.  Her eyes were closed now. The cough had faded to small barking noises with whistling breaths in between.

He turned and left the room. He went down the stairs. “Damn this disease,” he mumbled to himself when he stopped at the bottom of the stairs. His gaze settled on the kitchen to the right and the table that was hardly large enough to seat four people. He then looked into the living room with barely enough space for a couch and two armchairs. It was more than they’d had in Seragon, but much less than what he’d gotten used to on Naan. Angry, he walked outside slamming the door behind him.

He took a deep breath and walked to the edge of the yard. The sound of a window closing came from behind him.  He turned and looked at Su-Thor's window. 

I didn't do anything at all, he said to himself, as he shifted his gaze to the front. All I did was mention the searches. He’d had a reason. He wanted to convince her that these search were pointless. He shook his head and grinned. She’d immediately agreed, he thought to himself. "Damn plague," he said and gritted his teeth.  If she told Daio the searches are pointless he would listen.

The workers in front of him were trimming the trees. Four long ladders, with closely spaced rungs, were leaned against the trunks. They made him think of the locals. The sounds of cutting and trimming grew as he approached the trees. There were bright circles on the trunks where the branches had been trimmed. The trimming was intended to clear away the lower branches that obscured the view of the fields beyond. It was Daio’s request, but Dug knew it was what Su-thor wanted.

“Be careful,” he heard someone say from above. He looked up and saw a man standing on a ladder leaned against the trunk of a tree. 

“Ahh, sir, I didn't notice it was you,” said the man.

“How are things progressing here?” asked Dug.

“Fine,” said the man and looked around him, “I think this is high enough.”

“Yes, I agree,” said Dug.

The man came down the ladder and stopped just above Dug. “We'll finish today,” he said.

Dug nodded and looked around him. His mind was still on Su-thor, her wracking cough and whistling breath.

  “Is everything okay, sir?”

Dug gazed at him. “Everything is fine.”

“Do you need any help inside the house? Cleaning or fixing things? As you can see we are very good at any kind of labor you might have”

“Yes, maybe,” said Dug.

“How is Sosi?” asked the man and Dug looked at him quickly. “Sosi?”

“Yes, he is your brother, right?”

“Yes,” said Dug. The man suddenly had his full attention.

“He is a very special person,” said the man.

“You think?”

“Of course. Everybody thinks so. He suffered for us.”

Dug wanted to turn around and go back into the house, but a Naanite expressing empathy for Sosi was so strange to him. Suddenly he thought he could use this to build some empathy.

“Yes, he is such a giving person, my brother Sosi,” he said forcing a smile to his face.

“I haven't seen him in long time. I understand he is out.”

“Yes, he is not here. He left to go into the mountains,” said Dug. He wondered if it was possible that people in Naan didn't know Sosi was gone. They surely knew about the search missions.

“So he left to think?” asked the man.

“Yes, something like that. It was hard for him, the thing with… the plague. I assume you know how hard he tried to find a cure for it.”

“Yes, of course,” said the man.

"I hope he is well out there alone in the mountains."

“And what about Su-thor. Did she go with him?”

“No,” said Dug and looked back at the house. “She is sick,” he said. “She has caught the plague." He looked back at the man. "You see, we are susceptible to this plague as well.” he saw the stunned look on the man’s face and a good feeling went through him. “This plague doesn't discriminate between old and new Naanites,” he said. Dug liked the sound of that. The connection between old and new Naanites sounded humble from one side but connecting from the other.

“Yes, the cursed sinners plague,” said the man. “Is she is in the hospital?”

“No, she is here. In the house.”

“Great, then she'll probably get better soon.”

“I hope so. She didn't want to stay in the hospital. You know, she worked there for a long time. She took care of sick people when the last wave of the plague struck. Still she didn't want to take up one of their beds and preferred to come home.”

“What a remarkable woman,” said the man. “So how is she?”

“I hope she'll be fine. I just visited her. She was fine in the beginning, but after few moments she started to cough.”

“Yes, this plague is like a ghost. Sometime it goes away for a while and you feel good, but then it returns like a storm.”

“Interesting image.”

“I speak from experience. You probably noticed the scar on my face.” He came quickly down a few steps. “It's so deep you cannot miss it."

Dug eyes opened wide when he saw the deep scar.

"The plague caused an inflammation in my nervous system and the doctors needed to remove a tumor from my face. They said it had nothing to do with the plague but I’ve never believed that.”

“I am glad to see you are strong enough to do what you do."

"I hope she'll survive and come out of it unscathed," said the man.

"We all do, but her hand has not been functioning for quite some time. I can only hope it will be the only thing she'll lose.”

Two days later Daio walked to the entrance door holding a cup of tea. He took few steps into the front yard, stopped and looked ahead. Su-thor sat in her wheelchair, at the edge of the yard, facing the trees, as if she expected someone. He didn't walk to her. From here he could look at her and think about her. He couldn't face her anymore. The searches for Sosi were still on. He never gave anyone the feeling he was giving up, but he also had doubts Sosi was alive.

People make hard decisions in life. No one knew that better than him. But he also knew that sometimes decisions are like steps in a long staircase. If you slip, the only way to go is down. This was how he felt about her. He hoped she would survive. That fate would intervene and somehow stop the deterioration. Even then, she would surely lose her hand.

“How is she?” asked Dug coming up behind him.

“The same.”