06: HOSPITAL VISITS

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AFTER HER VISIT TO THE ZOO, Euphrosyne went back to the hospital. She had tried convincing her father that she was fine and that staying wasn't necessary. He didn't listen.

Helios wasn't exactly talkative at the moment, being more distracted by his notes. She assumed it was probably something for Dr. Gaul. So, with nothing else to do, Euphrosyne spend her time making different bracelets. 

She was planning on giving them to her wounded classmates. Each bracelet had different beads along with a different charm, one that reminded her of the classmate it was made for. 

Luckily, not many of the students were in the hospital. The ones that were, were already awake by now. Or most of them, atleast. Felix was still fighting for his life. Euphrosyne wrote him an apology letter about the tripping. Hopefully he wouldn't be too angry when he woke up.

Felix had been the first one Euphrosyne visited, even though that decision wasn't very practical. While Euphro, along with her other classmates, had all been resting in a big, shared room, Felix was placed in one of the private rooms. None of their wounds had been lethal, unlike his.

When she walked down the hallway, back to her own room, her eyes wandered to the names of the other hospitalized people. None of the names had caught her attention. That was until she reached the end of the hallway.

Dovecote, Clemensia.

Euphrosyne knew the girl wasn't doing well, from what her father had told her earlier. With the lie of Clemensia having the flu spreading around, she doubted she was allowed to visit her. I mean, who would be lying in a hospital for having the flu? It would all seem to sketchy. Euphrosyne was determined, however. She looked around the hallway, looking for any staff that could possibly stop her. When no one was in sight, she gave the door a knock before slowly opening it.

There sat Clemensia, staring at the TV screen. The tribute interviews were playing. Right now, the boy from 10 was on the screen, meaning Reaper and Dill would be next. Or atleast, they would've been had Reaper not declined her request earlier. She had asked him if he wanted to do the interviews. He refused. That was about all she was expecting, to be honest. With how protective he was over Dill, Euphrosyne highly doubted he'd let her participate. Luckily, with the amount of donations he already had, she wouldn't have to worry about not being able to send them food and water in the arena.

"Euphro." Clemensia was now staring at her. She didn't look like herself. She had a ravaged face, golden peeling brown skin and yellow coloured eyes. It was quite a disguting sight, but Euphrosyne chose to hide her grossed out expression. "You're here."

"Clemmie, are you okay?" Euphrosyne walked closer, sitting down at the end of the hospital bed. "I was already worried when you weren't there earlier. You know, in the arena."

"I would've been if it weren't for that thing calling itself Dr. Gaul." She rolled her eyes, scratching at her neck. 

"Yeah, my dad told me what happened." 

"Mr. Deimos." Clemmie nodded. "I appreciate him trying to stop her. Not that it helped much."

"I don't think there's much you can do when it comes to Gaul." Euphro stated. She knew for a fact that she was correct about that statement. Her father didn't like to talk about his job, but his body language said enough. Sometimes, he'd come home, not speaking for an entire evening. It made her wonder just what exactly Dr. Gaul made him do.

The other girl nodded in agreement. "You know, out of all people, I wasn't expecting you to be the first one to visit me. I mean, not even my own parents came to visit, can you believe it?"

Euphro frowned at this. She couldn't ever imagine being in this situation. If it had been her, her father would've gone to visit her anyways, wether they allowed him or not. But then again, if Dr. Gaul was ever the cause of her being in the hospital, he would've killed her with his bare hands.

"I'm not sure if they're allowed to visit." Euphro told her classmate. 

"Why wouldn't they be?" She glared.

"Everyone thinks that you have the flu-"

"The flu?" Clemensia scoffed, cutting her off. "I wish." There was a beat of silence before she spoke again. "How come you're here if no one's allowed to visit? Is it because you already know the whole 'flu thing' is bullshit?"

Euphrosyne shook her head. "No, I just made sure no one was around to see me come in."

The other girl  raised her eyebrows. "Atleast you care enough. I don't see why, though. We aren't exactly close."

"Maybe not, but you're still my classmate. I care about you, close or not." Euphro handed out a bracelet. The one she made for Clemensia was made out of red beads, a lipstick shaped charm finishing it. "Here, I made this one for you."

Clemensia inspected the bracelet for a second before looking back at Euphrosyne. "You were always a sweet one, handing out jewelry to whoever would take it. Even the ones who don't deserve it."

"The ones who don't deserve it?" She asked with a small laugh. "What, like, Arachne?"

"Especially Arachne." Clemmie said. "She's dead now anyways, so it doesn't really matter."

Euphrosyne's eyes widened a little at her blunt and unbothered tone as she nodded a little. "Right." 

Clemensia glanced at the other bracelets in her hand, then at the scarf wrapped around her wrist. "That's a pretty little thing. Where'd you get it?"

She looked at the blue scarf. "Reaper gave it to me."

"Reaper, that's your tribute, right?" Euphro nodded in return as the raven-haired girl hummed. "He seems quite fond of you, then."

She hoped so. After the conversation they had before, she could proudly say that Reaper cared about her, in some way, atleast. 

"My tribute doesn't like me all that much. Barely said a word to me." Clemmie rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I mean, I can understand why. It's just incredibly frustrating."

"And now our final tribute."

Clemensia's eyes wandered back to the TV screen, Euphrosyne following her actions.

"I first met this lady in the zoo, not too long ago."

"Coryo's tribute." The girl glared with a huff. "I can't believe him, honestly." She muttered to herself. 

Euphro was about to ask what she meant by that, but the interview of Lucy Gray was distracting her. Lucy Gray had a guitar along with an incredibly beautiful voice that made her wish she could sing like that. "I like her dress."

"Why?" Clemmie eyed her up and down. "It's ugly."

"It's not ugly." Euphro frowned. "It's unique."

"It's sooner than later that I'm six feet under. It's sooner than later that you'll be alone. So who will you turn to tomorrow, I wonder. For when the bell rings. Lover, you're on your own."

"Well, that took a dark turn."

Clemensia hummed. "That one sure likes making big impressions, doesn't she? First the snake, then the interview at the zoo, now this."

"The snake thing was pretty funny." Euphrosyne chuckled. "I wonder why she did it."

Her classmate shrugged in return.

"I know the soul that you struggled to save. Too bad I'm the bet that you lost in the Reaping. Now what will you do when I go to my grave?"

Clemmie let out a laugh. "That sure made my day." Euphrosyne couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. "Anyways, I think I'm going to bed now. So, you know, bye."

Euphro stood up, dusting off her clothes. "I'll come visit you again later and let you know about your tribute."

"Thank you." She nodded. "I do appreciate you visiting me." Clemensia looked at the bracelet before slipping it onto her wrist.

"Anytime." Euphrosyne smiled, giving her a small wave before turning to leave. "Bye, Clemmie. I hope you'll feel better soon."

A little while after Euphrosyne's visit to Clemensia, she visited her other classmates. Now, Coryo was next. Save the best for last, I guess. Coryo's bed, however, was empty. Tigris and Sejanus stood somewhere near it, seemingly talking about something.

"Sejanus!" Euphro called, walking towards the pair. She glanced at the blonde girl, sticking out her hand for the girl to shake. "You must be Tigris."

"That's me." She smiled, shaking her hand. "You're Euphrosyne, right?"

"Euphro for short." She grinned before looking back at her best friend. "I was planning on visiting Coryo, but he's not here."

"You just missed him." Sejanus answered.

"Ah, crap."Euphrosyne whispered, holding out the bracelet made for Coriolanus. The bracelet was made out of round, white beads, making it look like little snowballs. The charm she chose for him was a snake. "Could one of you give this to him, please?"

"Sure." Tigris smiled, taking the bracelet. "This is really pretty. Did you make it yourself?"

"Yes, I did." She stated proudly. "Would you like me to make you one aswell?"

"Oh, you don't have to-"

"Please, I think she might explode if she doesn't." Sejanus mocked his friend with a laugh.

"Shut up, Sejanus." Euphro rolled her eyes, giving him a shove to the shoulder. "But, yeah, he's right."

"Euphro!" A voice called her. Her father. "Stop creeping around, you need to rest."

Euphrosyne let out a long sigh. "Protective dads, am I right?" She shook her head. "It was nice meeting you, Tigris." She smiled before waving them both off. "See you tomorrow!"

"When I said you could hand out the bracelets I didn't mean 'go chat with the first person you see'". Helios scolded.

"Dad, I'm fine." She dismissed him. "I don't even have any wounds."

He pushed her forward, towards her own hospital bed. "Wounded or not, you still need to rest, young lady." 

"Alright, alright, I'm going." As soon as she sat down, her father was no longer paying attention to her, being too distracted by his notebook instead. Euphrosyne could probably walk away and he wouldn't notice.

"Don't even think about it." Helios mumbled, not taking his eyes off his notes. 

"Think about what?"

"Escaping."

Euphrosyne spluttered for a moment. "I wasn't-"

"Yes, you were." He looked up at his daughter. "I've known you your entire life, sunshine. Don't think I don't know what's going on in that small brain of yours."

She shot her father an offended look. "My brain isn't small." 

Helios hadn't bothered replying, going straight back to writing. Euphro leaned over a little, trying to catch a glimpse of her father's notebook. All she saw was his messy handwriting along with some scribbles and sketches.

"I'm brainstorming for a project." He said when he noticed Euphro's curiosity. "Dr. Gaul wanted some new designs for mutts."

"What is she doing with those mutts anyways?" She scoffed, slumping back into the hospital bed. "Is it just for her to stare at them or something?"

Helios let out a laugh. "I wouldn't be surprised." He tapped his pen against the hard cover of the notebook. "She keeps most of our creations in the laboratory, but I don't think she's ever done anything with them."

Euphrosyne shivered. "She scares me."

"I think that's her goal."

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i have a coral fic and an arachne fic sitting in my drafts and im contemplating wether i should post them or not🏃‍♀️