Maria knew whenever her spells were coming on. When her heart began to race and when her lungs couldn't get any air in. Then everything around her started ringing and beeping and his eyes rolled back in her head.

She couldn't see or hear anything else around him. But she knew doctors would be rushing in to fix things. Fix her and make everything better for one more day. Then the next day would go all the same.

Every day was the same.

Waking up and trembling until the doctors came in and fixed things. Medication and vitals checked. Her breathing mask refilled with fresh oxygen. Then food she had to choke down- always dry and flavorless. And finally, the best part of her day. Her little brother, Shadow.

They'd let her stick by him during his tests, or let her stand behind glass while he trained. After that, it was classes and the next meal.

Throughout the day, Maria still shook.

Shadow would notice and try to hold her hand. Try his best to comfort her. Maybe because Shadow didn't know what else to do. But he still wanted to help, wanted to be a good brother. And he was... but that didn't stop the shaking.

Maria hated the shaking most of all. Out of all the symptoms, it was the worst in her eyes. The racing heart and struggling lungs could be handled, could be stopped by the doctors and their needles.

She wasn't really scared of death. Shadow gave her something to focus on. And she could focus on her cure. With that, she could think about going to Earth one day.

But that shaking was perpetual. Incurable and infuriating. And they weren't sure if it could be stopped even when she was cured from NIDS.

With muscles too weak to hold herself up some days, and bones that felt ready to break at any minute, she could only shake.

Maria hated shaking.