I justid there hoping that it was another dream but it wasn’t, my ears could still pick up the noises from the shuffling of feet to the clings of the metal dishes. With the scents, I knew that I was at a hospital from the smell of the antiseptics and the pungent odour of drug mixtures but something still didn’t add up.Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    “She is awake, thank goodness,” and then there came a much familiar voice, Kieran, I didn’t know if he was the perfect person to take up all the me for what had happened. If only he had listened and been more discrete perhaps this person wouldn’t have won.


    “ra, I’m so sorry for all that happened to you. But I’m d that you are awake maybe you can identify who did this to you and then we can finally get justice.”


    I wanted to call to him and tell him all that had happened but the words just didn’t leave my head. I couldn’t do anything to signify that I could hear him. Even if the culprit still had a familiar face that I still couldn’t remember, I could identify her amongst the maids. Her grin still lingered in my head. Maybe she was working for Ryan. I wanted to tell him to go to Ryan, he would have the answers to whatever he needed to know.


    “I’m sorry but she can’t hear you,” the other voice said.


    Why did he say that?


    I can hear him, I wished he could know that I could hear him.


    “What’s wrong with her?” He spoke again.


    “Can we talk in my office?” The voice asked.


    “No, tell me what is it? You said she would live and you would do everything to make her okay, what is all this now?”


    “I’m sorry but we couldn’t take the poison out.”


    “What poison?”


    He signed, “Is she your spouse? Perhaps your mate?” He asked.


    “Yes… I mean no… I don’t know, that’s not what is important now.”


    “I just want to know your rtionship with her so that we can document everything.”


    “Well she is a friend, her name is ra” he finally admitted.


    I could have traded a fortune to see his face as he said that. I never thought that he would admit that. Maybe perhaps, I would never see his face again.


    “Well, your friend, ra is in a very critical condition. She has been poisoned. And I don’t think that there is much that we can do.”


    “You are the best at what you do especially dealing with poisons why is this any different?”


    “This… this is not just any poison, this is the poison of the ck wolfs bane ivy, there is no cure. Right now, we don’t even know how long she had left to live.


    “Doctor, I still don’t understand all this that you are saying.”


    “The poison affects the main part in a bodywork which is the central nervous system. It brings down every part of the brain that regtes each senses. And then affects the spinal cord so the victim is paralysed. You can’t move a limb, you can’t move a muscle. The person is as good as dead.”


    Good as dead? No, it can’t end like this, not this way, not when that culprit is walking around freely. What if another person is harmed? As my thoughts rose, I heard the beeping from the machine increase a bit and the voices stopped. Instead I heard the footstep approach me for while before going back again.


    “Thatdy lying down there has a strong spirit.  No one with the poison of the ck wolfs bane ivy in their veins has survived this long.”


    “You know, she warned me about this. She told me that someone was after her life but I was too nonchnt about the whole thing. We were going to find out about this the day that she was poisoned. There must be a cure, anything at all, I’m  willing to go any length at the moment to make sure that she is fine.”


    Did Kieran just say that? Did he actually care this much for a ve girl?


    “Luckily, there is a way to contain this poison.”


    “That’s the best news I have heard in weeks. What’s this way?” He sounded relieved.


    “This poison wolf’s bane ivy is a very rare nt and so whoever poisoned your friend here really took a lot of time to n this attack.”


    “Why do you say so?”


    “Well, for a king, I think that there are things that you should have been told. Especially things about such a poison.”


    “Well don’t me me. I’m a modern king,”


    “Anyway, this nt is one of the rarest in the this part of the world. It grows amongst a wild range of other nt. You can only find just one of it in a forest. It is a shy nt and likes to be alone. All it has is a stem containing its sap which is the poison and then a leaf. If any part is detached, then the other part must go with it.”


    “I still don’t understand ”


    “There is a myth that says that if the sap of the nt which is the poison is ingested, the leaf will only die off if the victim dies but if the leaves juice is given to the victim, making the poison sap and the leaf juice to be in one body, then, the person might live. All I’m saying is that, whoever poisoned your friend, will likely be with the cure to her illness.”


    “Oh shit, this means I have to find this person.”


    “Yes, find that leaf and bring it here. We would take out the juice from it and make an antidote for your friend. That’s the only way to get the cure.”


    “Okay, then I need to get going now.”


    “But be warned, her body can only hold on for a while. If she dies, the leaf dies and there is no bringing her back. You better hurry.”


    I wasn’t dead, not yet but this wasn’t living either. Being trapped in a void where all that you’ve got are your ears and your mind left to wonder in a realm that you only exist, no one else does. You can’t feel the cosiness of your bed after the long day or have a taste of crunchy kes or a good bread. And with the good,es also the bad. Maybe this was for the best. Not having to spend the nights in Kieran’s chamber because something or someone was out there to haunt. I didn’t like what I had be. Such vulnerability, I used to be stronger bit everything including the will to fight and the zeal to ovee has been taken away from me.


    If I was to live again, then I would have just one mission, to stab whoever had done this to me directly in the heart so that they would feel the pain that I felt and the one which I was currently going through.


    I knew Kieran would find whoever was responsible for this  at whatever length or cost that he was willing to go but what I had no idea about was how fast. I had no idea if he would arrive the very moment that I would be taking myst breath. I didn’t know what void I found myself but all I knew was that the doctor was right. I didn’t have much left, my strength was failing and I felt life being dragged away from me, slowly. I was losing my edges just as if a cobra would lose its venom or the lion would lose its teeth.


    “How is she?” I heard Kieran’s voice.


    “You can go in and see her,” a female voice echoed and then I heard the creaks like a door was pulled opened and then shuffling feet on the ground. There were more noises that I could not actually ce at the time but I felt a presence closer to me after all the noises. He sat close.


    “Hey, I know you are in there. I hope that you can hear me,” he took up my hand. I couldn’t tell if they were warm like the night that he held my hands when he dragged me out of the woods. Or cold like the other day in his chambers. The numbness ruled, a feeling that I was beginning to get used to.