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Zack: I’ll get you some water… *sighs and heads into the kitchen, pouring a glass of water that has been boiled and cooled from the stove. He carries it back into her and offers it to her, frowning* You’re feeling alright though, right? Apart from the cough? *reaches out to put a hand on her forehead*
Maria: *has a fever that is developing, but the woman shakes her head, unaware of her forming sickness* No, sir.. My foot hurts and my arm burns… My lungs burn and so does my throat.. *coughs once more* But all of that is the devil causing me pain.
Zack: *grits his teeth* There’s no such thing. Now be quiet and take this. *offers the glass to her* You’re just getting sick, nothing more. Just lie down and sleep it off. You’ve nearly exhausted my medicine supplies, so I can’t really offer you anything useful for it.
Maria: *Softly speaks* You are lying. The devil exists. The bible tells of him several times and he shall punish the wicked and smite them.. That is why I suffer. *she looks at the glass then slowly takes it and sips from it* Thank you anyway for your kindness. But I am cursed… *sniffles a bit then loudly coughs once more*
Zack: Relax your diaphragm when you cough, otherwise you’ll hurt your throat more. But just lie back and relax, alright? I’ll do my best to help you… *grabs up a small pot and heads out of the house to find some lemons and honey*
Maria: *Stares at Zack in confusion once more* What is a diaphram, sir..? *She speaks so softly that it would be completley understandable that Zack did not hear her. So, she nods and decides to accept the treatment that he’s given her so far. The woman leans back on the bed and tries to relax. However, she frequently coughs and has started scratching the area where she was bit the day before*
Zack: *is gone for nearly an hour as he steals honey from a beekeeper’s house, stealing a jar of the already collected stuff rather than stealing a honeycomb. He was not game enough to fight several hundred bees anyway. He snares four lemons from a tree on the same property and brings them back to the house, heading into the kitchen so he can boil up some water and melt his honey and lemon juice into it. When he has finished it, he lets it cool a bit before he carries a cup of it into Maria, being quiet incase she has fallen asleep*
Maria: *is still awake and idly scratching at the spider bite when Zack returns. She has her attention on the window, so she doesn’t even seem to notice that he’s returned at all. Also, her scratching has reopened the wound on the bite as well as enlarge it*
Zack: *sets the glass down on the table and growls as he moves over to her* What the heck are you doing? Stop that! *pulls her arm away from the bite wound* Do you want to make it infected? I cleaned that up already and bandaged it so it would heal… how is it supposed to do that if you’re going to pick at it?
Maria: *yells as Zack pulls at her arm and whimpers* It hurts and itches… It is poisoned by the devil himself. I know it. *tries to pull her hand away from Zack, but she is rather weak and her attempts are rather pathetic*
Zack: *holds her arm firmly as he takes the old bandages off, kicking the medical box over to himself so he can redress the wound. He does it up quite a bit tighter than before and scowls* Don’t touch this again. I’m getting fed up of telling you to leave your injuries alone. I’m fast running out of supplies too, and if you just keep wrecking them, you’ll waste them even more.
Maria: *Winces at the pain caused by the tight bandage, but doesn’t say anything. Instead she lowers her head and sniffles* It is cursed by the devil… I am cursed..
Zack: *sighs at her* Would you like it if I take you to the small church about fifty miles north of here? If you’re so worried about being cursed by a ‘devil’, perhaps they’d be able to bless you there. What do you say?
Maria: *whimpers and lowers her head before shaking it* No, he’ll come if I leave. I know it. I don’t want to meet him again… Want to stay here..
Zack: Well great… what do you want me to do to prove you’re not cursed? I’m tired of hearing about it. You’re not cursed, I don’t know how to prove it to you. *grunts* And wouldn’t it make more sense to leave if you know ‘he’s’ going to come?
Maria: *lowers her head and begins to pray to god. She is no longer paying attention to Zack* Eternal father, I bseach your kindness. Deliver me from the evil that has lain in my soul. Bring me to your kingdom and end my trial. I no longer have the stregnth to do your work. Please, bring me to your kingdom. *she continues to rant on, indicating that she believes that she cannot be saved from the devil except through death*
Zack: *sighs and leaves Maria to her own devices, thinking that she can’t harm herself if she is just talking to the air. He heads back into the main room and slumps down on a chair, miserable, feeling rather useless and homesick*
For the next couple of weeks, Maria continued to cough and deteriorate. In addition, her two wounds would regularly form puss since her immune system was already weakened by the lack of nutrients in her body. However, the most damaged and obviously malfunctioning part of her body was her mind. She’d pray quite regularly, asking for deliverance from her suffering, but the words would be jumbled together and not very coherent.
Furthermore, the woman hardly ever slept. When she did sleep, she’d be tormented by the demons in her mind and overdramatacized visualizations of the events that she had lived through so far in her dreams. So, she’d regularly wake up screaming. Because of this lack of sleep and her failing health, the woman would regularly experience tremors and hallucinations during her waking hours.
For today, just under a month prior to the last point that we had actively watched the pair, Maria was lying on her back staring at the ceiling. She’s running a high fever and nearing death with each single breath. She whimpers as thoughts of demons and sufferring cross her mind.
“Bring me… to the light.. of the shepard.” She loudly coughs and closes her eyes.
Elsewhere, just outside of the town, a small yet clearly well built ship pulls up to the dock. Teresa had decided to take an adventure down the river on her own, so she steps out of the ship and looks around before asking a few of the locals if they had seen a man with silver hair. Eventually, she comes up to Maria and Zack’s house and knocks on the door. “Hello?”
Zack had been busy with trying to make Maria comfortable. He did his best to clean her wounds and give her painkillers, but soon those supplies had been depleted completely from his already low portable medical kit. He had even paid for a real doctor to come and look at her, but that doctor had said she was just in poor health and that there was nothing he could do.
He dabbed her forehead with a damp cloth every so often, made sure she was warm, comfortable, and then retreated to the kitchen area to get away from her. He felt bad about his outbursts to her, yet her screaming and suffering worried him. He hated listening to her yell. He thought a few times about just helping to end her suffering, but he promised himself many years ago that he would never deliberately take the life of another under any circumstances.He sat up properly as he heard the knock at the door. He wondered who it could possibly be, then got up to answer. He frowned as he opened the door to the familiar face.
“Hello there,” He replied. “What are you doing here?”Teresa: *holds her hand up as if to still Zack’s fears for a moment* Be calm, I am not here to cause you trouble. Nor is my brother with me… Infact, my brother has been exiled for his behavior and is more than likely dead by now. *she looks up at Zack’s face* I just came here under the rouse of wanting to have a small cruise up and down the river. I want to see my nephew or niece. May I come in?
Zack: *deeply frowns* Ah, it’s not a good idea… your niece isn’t here. And Maria is really sick, she’s going to die any day now. *lowers his head* The mother put her in a weaved basket and sent her off down the river months ago. She’s probably dead by now. I tried going after her, but there were crocodiles in the river, and I couldn’t get her out…
Teresa: *deeply frowns at the news then slowly shakes her head* I see. I shall sail down the river then and see if I can find any signs of the child. Perhaps with luck, someone from a settlement down-river found her. *she reaches out to rest her right hand on Zack’s left shoulder* Do not trouble yourself with not going after her. I do not blame you.
Zack: *frowns at Teresa* Can you help me? *glances back into the house* Maria is suffering so much… but I can’t bring myself to end her life for her. She suffers so much and she’s clearly wasting away, but it would be nice for her if it would just end. Then perhaps she’ll see that God she keeps speaking of. *sighs, resting his head against the doorframe* I would just be happier knowing the baby girl is safe.
Teresa: *tilts her head at Zack’s comments then slowly shakes her head* Are you asking me to kill the woman? I am not certain what you want me to do to help. *glances around the room* Do you have something warm to drink?
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