Alexander slowly opened his eyes, immediately seeing the grey screen of a helmet over them. But when he tried lifting his arms to take the helmet off, two things happened in quick succession.
The first thing that happened was him noticing that his arms felt like they weighed a ton and were sore.
'It figures. I've been lying on here unmoving for a few days.'
But immediately following these thoughts, a violent burning sensation coming from his back assaulted his mind.
"Argh! What the fuck!"
The nurse at the entrance of the room, stationed there for when he woke up, heard the scream and rushed into the room.
"Mister Leduc, please don't move. You need to stay as still as possible. I will inject some pain meds so the burning sensation goes away."
She expertly grabbed a syringe from the cabinet near the bed, taking the plastic cap off in a swift motion. She then pricked the needle into the designated insert spot on the IV tubes.
As she emptied the contents of the syringe inside the tubes, Alexandre kept gritting his teeth as the burning sensation on his back slowly faded away. He could also feel his mind become foggy, but he maintained enough conscious thought to be functional.
"What happened? Why am I bandaged everywhere?" he asked, his mouth feeling like it was full of cotton balls.
The nurse went to the hallway, signalling someone further down the hall, before coming back into the room.
"Mr. Leduc, I have called over Mr Boudreau. He has some things to discuss with you. He asked me not to discuss your injuries without him present. So, if you don't mind, I will wait for him."
Alex turned his head toward the ceiling. The pain medication had taken away the burning sensation, but he could still feel a prickling going up and down his back.
It felt like some bugs were crawling under his skin, taking small bites at his muscles under it. It was very unpleasant.
A few minutes went by, as Alex stared at the ceiling while the nurse checked a few electronic charts on the side of his bed. She took a few notes, tapping around on her electronic tablet.
Heavy footsteps started echoing in the hall, with the sound of high-end shoes hitting the tiles resonating. Not a moment later, Jack Boudreau entered the room.
"Good afternoon, Alexander. I hope you enjoyed the last few days inside the game. And I hope your mind isn't too affected by the pain medication, because we have a lot to discuss."
"I'm fine. The siege went well, if that is what you were asking. As for me, I'm more worried about the state of my body than that of my mind. What happened?"
"Ahh, yes. I was hoping you could enlighten me on the matter, actually."
"What do you mean? How could I tell you about the burns on my body? I was unconscious and inside New Eden. Surely you would know more about it than me."
Mr. Boudreau's eyebrows furrowed together.
"Alexander. Your body temperature suddenly spiked and your back and Ms. Deveille's suddenly started burning up peculiarly. We do not know what happened."
Alexander panicked at the mention of Kary being injured too. His body jerked upward, sending a pang of intense pain to his brain.
But he growled and endured it.
"Where is Kary? How is she? Why didn't you tell me she was injured before this?"
The nurse stepped forward, trying to push him down on the bed. But, albeit his drugged state, and his injuries, the nurse could not even budge him.
It was like trying to push down a brick wall.
"Mr. Leduc, please lie back down! You are going to worsen your injuries!"
Jack chuckled at the nurse's vain attempts.
"Calm down, Romeo. Listen to the nurse and lie down before you change your injuries from burns to open wounds. Ms. Deveille is fine."
Hearing the old man say that Kary was fine, Alex calmed down, dropping his back down on the bed.
The nurse lifted his sides gently, trying to find out if he had torn up the heavily burned skin of his back. Seeing no blood through the bandages, she sighed in relief, giving Alexander a stern look.
"You need to be more careful, young man. Your burns would have sent anyone to the intensive care unit. It is a miracle your body is healing up so fast already. Don't make me sedate you!"
Mr. Boudreau chuckled again.
"Nurse Jane, threats have little effect on this young man. And I doubt we have anything strong enough to sedate him if he doesn't want to go down. Can you leave us alone for a moment?"
The nurse looked at Alexander with wide eyes for a second, before nodding her head to her boss. She left the room, closing the door behind her.
Jack pulled a chair closer to the bed before unbuttoning his vest and sitting down.
"I didn't want her to hear what we were going to discuss next. Now that we are alone, please tell me what happened in New Eden while you were there."
Understanding the question, Alex became serious instantly. The fewer people heard what he was about to say, the better, for now.
Astaroth took a deep breath before recounting the entire ordeal. He didn't have to talk much about the siege itself, since Jack's grandson had talked about it at length ever since he had logged out.
Explaining the situation about the markings in the game, it became clear what had caused the burns on his body on this side too. Jack assured him that Kary was fine.
"Ms. Deveille is healing faster than you are. It is astounding."
Astaroth could guess why. Her fire element affinity probably was already taking away the burning sensation and the residual heat from the wounds, allowing her body to heal faster.
But his mind lingered on the effects it could have on his body here. These markings weren't just burns, after all.
Finishing his tale to the old man, Jack frowned again.
"You say you met Solomon? The great sage Solomon? I thought he was a legend from this side. Why would he be in New Eden?"
Alex shrugged his shoulders, having no answer to that question. Jack brought his hand to his chin, looking at Alexander pensively for a moment.
"Hmm. Well, I will leave you to rest and heal, for now. When your wounds aren't at risk of worsening, you can go see your sweetheart. But first, heal up. We have more to discuss later."
Getting up to leave, he looked at Alexander one last time, and the latter nodded at him.
Being left alone, Alexander felt sleepy suddenly. So he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
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