19Voices. Loud, angry voices. They burn the mind, torture the brain. Burning, yelling, shouting. So many voices, no way to turn.
Warm air like the sun upon a face, fire in the heart. So much cold must get out. Wet, cold, must escape. Hard ground, too much of a draft, don't notice. She feels no cold nor pain anymore after needles in the brain, eyes.
Light burns, so bright. Huddle like a penguin in the Arctic to keep warm. Negative 78 degrees every year at the poles, must huddle during winter or die. Must huddle or freeze in cold. No food, nothing for six long months.
Tremors rake over my skin, the cold burning it. I hear much more than I should.
This…stop….what…need…cannot…think…cute…
Fragments, piercing, glass shards digging into gray brain tissue!
Too many. Burns my head, bleeds with the pain, no grip on surroundings. Cannot move, nothing to hold on to, falling into space, pure blackness…
Face is familiar, sounds are new. Hands clenched on my wrists, keep me anchored. Sounds drown out the rests, medical jargon bouncing off my brain. Too much already, won't be sent back. Wild like a tiger, take in surroundings, best way to escape…
Mumbling accursed words. Cannot hear too much yelling in my head, it hurts. Familiar dig into my mind, mumbles sound like someone I know…
"Simon?" It cracks and shatters as I speak for the first time in approximately 3 weeks, 2 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes, 37 seconds, 38, 39, 40…
"Simon, they- they talk to me and- and," can't convey meanings, lost in head, not comprehending. He understands, he doesn't comprehend. Threatens to drown me, blind me, deafen me…
Black whirling, confused, red on outskirts, ripping, can't be trusted.
Arms embrace my limp shoulders, keep me anchored to the ground before my soul flies up and away and is lost for all eternity, like dandelion seeds are lost in the wind, floating away forever unless acted upon by an unequal force, is Newton's Laws of Motion.
Shaking, cold, wet tears drench cheeks as sobs pour out.
"What the hell is this?" Amplified ten times as usual, in the mind and ears. Burns, so much pain, no privacy, no room for me, float away, pieces lost as tears. No turning home.
"This is my sister."
No help can be applied no matter what they say loud enough in my head. No one can fix a broken glass once it is shattered.
Needles in eyes! Reading brain! White, cold! Will not go in!
Soft murmurings, cajoling me, soft spoken, must coddle the newborn. Wrap in soft linens, bundle, protect from world.
She is not a newborn. Simply a new mind. No one will understand.
"River, please, sit down."
Simon. Simplewords, nothing but urge to help, cajoles broken sister. Must go in. Tears fall, soft upon skin, memories surface.
Cleaning arm, needle in hand.
Stupid.
Must not look, needles cause destruction. Catalog surroundings, first thing taught, first thing learned, look around, vision goes hazy as pinprick sharpens senses.
In and out, woozy emotion, drowsy…
"Simon!"
"Time to sleep mei-mei."
Nod, fall back against his hands, thankful for robe sheathing self, skin on skin contact too much to handle, too much to read.
Slip away…
Malice. Hate, need to destroy.
Kaywinnet Lee Frye. Stomach wound, 100 percent chance of living. She is fine, she is safe…not for long.
Treachery!
"Simon?"
"What's wrong sweetie?" She asked, all caring and sweet, ice cream on a hot day.
Must escape, must get out, too much madness, it crawls under the skin and bites into me, itching, painful, DOBSON!
Death near, gun pointed at head. Greed, death, blue hands…No!
Where is Simon?
Above, bird that flits above, waiting to strike, death blow, falling towards us, knocks into him, winded, no…must escape. Too much, too much, everything in me, too much!
Shrink behind, material object block out the shrill emotions, painful thoughts and memories, everything, everything.
Shots fired, Simon down, NO!
Grasped around arm, greed, malice fills to brim, no struggle to break free, everything too much!
Escape! Need it!
Malcolm Reynolds. Shot, calculating hands fall away, shiver, need to wipe away their touch. Simon stretches, need to comfort the broken, don't need!
She will just fall away.
Wipe the taste of him off of self, too much to tell.
It is all just too much.
Helps me, lays me down in the bed.
"Time to sleep."
"I slept for so long."
Obvious. Slept for over a week. Trapped, tiger in the cage. Tiger, tiger, burning bright…
Rapt attention, bruising on face, split lip. Pain…
Touching, confused. Got it for me. Lost everything for me…
For me.
Found broken, beyond repair.
No one can fix the broken glass once it shatters.