She sat on her chair, facing towards the occupied couch where Seth was lying down comfortably with his eyes closed, as Morgan carefully stitched his bite wound on the boy's left leg like it was a piece of art she was creating in her home.
Having the pants folded up to the knees in order to see the exposed injury, she noticed how grievously deep the bite was; it would most likely take days to heal up properly with proper rest, as it was more concerning than she initially thought.
Morgan's lips turned to a thin line upon inspecting the damage, her brows furrowing from how gruesome the wound is. She'll have to wait and see how long it will take for his recovery. Hopefully, it will take a week rather than a month if the infection doesn't arrive earlier.
Sighing exhaustively, she continued her work while listening to the calm environment that surrounds her within the small, quaint house of hers, with the injured boy and her two guests sleeping soundly. It has been a long time since she has accompanied someone else.
People fear her of being a magician and witch, something she was quite used to experiencing among regular humans. Given how much they mistrust her because of what she is capable of doing through the usage of magic in itself and the practice of reading forbidden spell books,
There is one thing she can't do: perform healing magics because of her unusual issue of not being able to use them for mysterious reasons. Offensive and defensive spells are fine, but anything related to restoring anyone's life energy—her body and soul—would reject such magic altogether.
It has to do with the incident she had when Morgan accidentally used a spell on an injured child as a practice test for using anything other than harming others; sadly, her spell backfired when it hit the child and caused severe illness that left the child near death.
She remembered how the child was in such a critical state, with her mother screaming and crying about losing her daughter. She thought the mother would trust a magician to save the girl. All because she herself wanted to try helping out, something that backfired and led to consequences.
So ever since then, Morgan has sworn off ever performing any healing magic altogether. Even if she tried to use it, her subconscious would always push them back in retaliation. This causes her to realize that some things shouldn't be toyed around with when performing the arts of magic.
Although she hoped that one day she could do it, as long as her desire to restore a person's life was strong enough for her to do so, A person can dream, that is for certain, for Morgan wanted to repay her sins by saving someone's life instead of killing them.
Finishing up her sewing at Seth's wound, she wiped the sweat off her forehead before tying up the string of thread with a knot at the end of the stitched laceration on the boy's leg. She'll have to let his flesh do its healing process of recovering.
When she was done, the teen's eyes slowly opened, his vision blurry of the sight around him, but then began to clear out with every second passing by. Taking a moment to collect himself, he blinks a couple of times to adjust his eyesight from the light emitting from the fireplace.
"Where...where am I?" He asked groggily while still lying down on his back, confused about where he was and what had happened to him. Looking up, his gaze locked onto hers. "Who are you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow about seeing a person he had never met.
"It's Morgan; have you forgotten me?" She smiled kindly, not trying to sound upset or scary at the teen for forgetting her. "Do you remember passing out after that monster hurt you?" Her answer finally brought clarity to the boy's memory of everything that had occurred before he fainted from exhaustion.
Groaning painfully and blinking twice, he sat upright on the couch while rubbing his eyes with the back of his right hand, still tired of everything he experienced today and mentally drained from it. However, he's alive and well, which means something.
"My cross..." A thought suddenly entered his mind as he looked left and right down at his couch, not seeing his crucifix anywhere even in his hands. "Where is it?" Panic was written all over his face when he realized he didn't have his crucifix in possession. "Where is it!?" He shouted, jumping up and off the couch.
As he stood up at a quick pace, he felt the joint pain coming from his left leg that caused him to wince, making the teen grab the area of his thigh with a grasp that almost squeezed the air out of his lungs from the sheer pain of doing so. This made him grit his teeth from the agonizing sensation while allowing his body to fall while sitting down.
Warm hands were then placed on his shoulders; her expression showed concern for what had transpired: "Relax, Seth. I placed your object in the spare bedroom," she told him reassuringly to calm down with her soft voice. "It is safe and secured in there; there is no need to worry or be frightened for it. I can give it back if you relax now," she said, smiling warmly at the teen.
Removing his grip on the injured leg, he then allowed his arms to loosen in themselves with heavy breath. "Oh," a red-colored blush crept onto cheeks and ears in embarrassment of what he had done in front of this person. "Um, I'm sorry for yelling like that," apologizing for being weird again.
Retreating her hands, she chuckled softly and shook her head in amusement. "It's okay, Seth. You do not have to force yourself to pretend to be someone else to gain acceptance or favor from anyone. Especially a complete stranger who you never met in your entire life," she reassured him of this fact. "Believe me when I say that it is better if you stick to who you want to be," her advice struck deep into him as she spoke those wise words.
Morgan watched Seth closely, studying his behavior and his emotions after he was done stitching his injured leg. It was strange to see how easy he is to read, unlike any person she had interacted with, probably due to the lack of experience he has yet to gain.
Looking up with a conflicted expression, "Can I go outside?" He asked, wanting to have a breath of fresh air from all the stuffy atmosphere of this home, "I know you took care of me, but I really need some time alone in my thoughts," speaking out his wish while giving a faint smile.
Sighing with a nod, she returned the smile with her own, "Why don't I come with you then? It's dangerous to leave you all alone outside," pointing out a good reason for having someone to occupy him. "Besides, it would be nice for us to talk more while enjoying nature around us, don't you agree?" I suggest that he come along and share a conversation outside.
For a moment, he wanted to deny her request, but seeing how far she went in saving a bunch of endangered teens in the middle of nowhere, Seth should at least give the benefit of the doubt by showing some trust to someone who had saved their lives.
"Okay," he answered with a nod, slowly standing up with caution of his balance. "Um," taking a couple of steps forward away from the couch, he realized that he couldn't properly walk with his left leg. "I can't walk properly," Seth said while feeling useless for having his injured limb incapable of carrying his weight.
Morgan approached at his side, looking down at him with sorrow. "It is because of your injury, sweetie," she kindly answered him with honesty. "That is why you can't sprint or move with your two legs." The teen turned his head away from her in shame, causing the woman to nod in response. "But don't worry about it too much. Your leg will leg in a week or two."
Week?! He can't believe how long it will take for him to fully recover. How long is she going to keep him in this place until he fully gets well? But at least he can walk, barely, as it is like dragging a peg leg from that pirate movie Seth and his adopted father once watched together.
Placing her hand on his shoulder, she gently gripped him to catch his attention. "Don't force it, Seth. Let life do its work of healing," she said those words with warmth to them, "it's not good to rush in situations like these. You'll make it worse if you keep worrying too much," great advice from her part that the boy honestly appreciated.
Frowning, the teen responded to her with agreement, "I...okay," saying it quietly while averting eye contact once more, "thanks for telling me. It does help in some way," expressing gratitude towards this woman's good intentions towards his well-being before suddenly walking away without further comments.
After a while of walking with difficulty, they managed to reach outside of her cottage, stepping through the doorway before accidentally falling by hitting a small pebble on the ground, only to be saved by Morgan's hand holding his right arm in support.
"Seth!" She yelled with concern and shock while carefully pulling the boy upwards, "Are you alright?" Wondering what happened to him as she helped him regain footing with eyes glaring directly at the floor, she said, "Please be careful next time," lecturing the teen about not watching where he is going.
Feeling ashamed of his mistake, he nodded without looking at her in the eye, "sorry," apologizing once again for acting like a total moron, "I was distracted," being honest with his answer that left her frowning in confusion at the boy's word choices.
"Let's take a seat," she said, carefully dragging him with her hand around his right arm, approaching to their left of where the wooden bench is currently placed in a good spot to see the beautiful landscape around them. "There, we'll sit for awhile," she said, plopping herself down on the seat next to the boy while keeping her hold on the boy's arm.
As the two sat, he turned his attention elsewhere by looking up in the beautiful night sky, where stars and planets are shining brightly in the vast space that spreads out infinitely in the unknown of what's beyond them. But somehow it felt like he would never know what was beyond their comprehension, something beyond their imagination.
Like an insect in comparison to giant beings of power, humans are nothing to the universe itself; they're just specks of dust, small organisms that don't stand a chance against greater forces. It was so unreal that he felt so small and insignificant.
"What's the matter, Seth?" She asked, looking down at the boy in question, who kept gazing at the night sky, "You're looking at those stars as if you're expecting them to speak to you," noticing how fixated he is on what's above them.
Turning his attention onto her, "it feels like they're calling out to me," he spoke without hiding his emotions behind, "something beyond our understanding. Something more powerful than we can ever comprehend, like an existence we cannot possibly fathom by human minds," words were spoken out from him with those feelings he feels towards everything around him.
Then his cheeks turned red from what he exclaimed: "I mean, uh..." Trying to explain his reason but failing, "Sorry, that sounds weird of me to say it like that," he finds it silly that he would voice out his thoughts to a stranger he had just met.
Morgan hummed with a smile, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them as she turned her attention to the starry sky. "Is that so?" She asked without changing her tone of voice, "Can I ask you something personally?" Hoping it won't bother him too much to speak further.
The boy nodded and said, "Sure, I don't mind," permitting her to speak out her question that she held inside of her. As long as it is appropriate and safe to do, "just don't be disappointed if my answer is...too bizarre or makes you uncomfortable." His warning to her made her chuckle in amusement.
"Do you have family?"
Her question was like a cold shower; his eyes widened upon hearing it: "What?" Blinking repeatedly in confusion about the query, she asked, "Well, its..." Family: does he have a family? He knew the answer to that, but for some reason, he wasn't sure about it.
Does he consider his friends or the old pastor family? Or is she referring to her biological parents? Both are questions he can't really provide for her, for his mind is fuzzy about having to decide that on the spot. He doesn't know, and that alone terrifies him more than anything.
"I..." Staring down at the grass beneath them, "I don't know..." His voice quivering from uncertainty, "I had one before," admitting with a sad tone of voice, "but its better if I don't remember them," closing his eyes while trying to avoid answering the question she had posed, "it hurts me more than anything, if anything."
This made Morgan sympathetic about his plight. "I'm sorry for asking," she apologized, "but do you have friends? Friends who care and understand you," trying to get him to open up a bit more without bringing up bad memories of the past.
His eyes widen from that. "Yeah!" He said with optimism while still looking down, "Billy and Guan Yu are my friends!" Smiling happily at knowing someone cares for him despite their differences of personality as "their really good people," his lips curled into a smile.
Nodding, the woman patted him on the head affectionately, "I'm glad you have someone to rely on," comforting him with a gentle touch of her palm on his dark, messy hair. "If you ever feel lonely or need to talk to someone, they're there for you." Her words came from the heart, as they were filled with sincerity.
Seth exhaled before leaning closer, resting his head on her shoulder without protest from the latter. "Yeah..." Closing his eyes from this comfort, he feels, "I guess there are people who actually care about me. Unlike myself, I can't even tell how to feel anymore," the teen shared his honest thoughts.
Morgan nodded, understanding what he was going through. "Family doesn't have to be related by blood," she stated to him, "and friends are people who will always be there for you regardless of your flaws." Her voice was full of compassion towards him. "The bond that ties them to you is also what makes family important for everyone," speaking from experience about it.
A tear then trickled down his face, his voice slightly broken. "Do you want to be my friend?" He asked shyly while closing his eyes tighter. The woman was surprised to hear his request: "I...I want more people to understand me for who I am," adding a reason to his request.
Hearing this made her heart ache with pity for the boy; she didn't respond for a minute or so. Until finally, she smiled and moved her hands on his back, hugging him with one arm wrapped around his torso while resting her head on his.
"I would love to be your friend, Seth."
