The breeze blew through the open window into the ward, the coolness blowing over Harke Ezarith's weary face. The blanket covering him was messy and wrinkled at his feet, as the boy had turned around many times in his fitful sleep. Sweat dripped down his brow, and breathing was heavy. One who looked at him would summarize that the boy was having a nightmare, nothing more.
Beside him was a small couch, dark blue, not that anyone would notice that little detail in the dim moonlight. Upon the couch was a man fast asleep, head on an armrest. Reverus Ezarith had brought his son for a check at the hospital, and the doctor had passed the usual tests. Scans were made, tests were run, the whole gauntlet. All returned negatives, quite to his relief. Tip-top shape, except maybe for that little wound. Nothing serious, the doctor said. A cold pack should do everything he could.
Nonetheless, he had insisted that Harke spend some time at the hospital. Putting on a face of authority, he got what he wanted. Harke was in a hospital bed. He wanted to protest about it at first, but one piercing glance from those brown eyes told him otherwise. At least he wasn't disconnected, as a laptop was sitting on the table next to the bed, along with his PET. Eternalis was also getting some shut-eye. The encounter with the Momograve's purple fog effect had damaged his processes more than he had realized earlier. He was exhausted anyway, to say the least.
Do.
Eyes sprang open with a sudden jolt, Harke sat up in his bed. He stared blankly ahead at the whitewashed wall in front of him, his head shaken a little from side to side to clear up the blur of sleep. Blinking hard, he hesitated for a second before yanking the laptop from his side off the charger cable and onto his lap. Finger hammering the power button like a warhead, he watched the portable boot up, the screen's light reflected on his face.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Harke looked over the screen at his father, but Reverus simply turned to his side, and murmured something in his sleep. He let out a sigh of relief, and continued his typing. Line after line of text scrolled by as the Return key was hit repeatedly. Streams of information came directly from his head, his eyes focused on the screen. After a few minutes, the screen went blank, and the computer placed on the side table.
---
The next day, Harke stood at the entrance to the Hospital, leaving the alcohol-saturated world behind him. His father had left him for some work back at the Science Labs. He wasn't empty-handed, though, as a heavy bag of supplies hung over his shoulder, ready for the day. Among its contents were adequate food and drink, a change of clothes, the laptop, his PET, and sunscreen. Harke eyed the nearby beach, and a smile crossed his face as he strolled down the path.