#just bea

Greg had blown up his lab. Again. Bottles of chemicals were shattered, the fume hoods were cracked, and large amounts of organometallic solvents were driven into the hapless Demoman’s exposed skin. In short, it was the sort of accident that required all of Roddy’s attention, all of his time, and numerous cups of strong tea.

So when Bea started complaining about how she felt feverish and achy, she was hardly first priority. Roddy took her temperature (101.1) chided her to be more aware of her enhanced pain tolerance, told her to get to bed. He was too preoccupied with Greg to even accompany Bea to her room, just handing the pyro a large water glass and telling her to fill it up on the way.

In the seven hours since, Bea had gotten steadily worse. She’d started to shiver, a pressure headache was building behind her ocular implant, and the ache in her neck had seeped into her bones. And she’d drunk all the water.

Bea licked at her dry lips. The headache would just get worse if she was dehydrated, but damn, she didn’t want to move, much less walk to the kitchen. She almost wanted to wait for Roddy, to ask him for a refill, but the medic hadn’t checked on her once. What were the chances he was coming now?  

No choice but to get her own water. Bea sat and pulled back the covers, and the moderately warm air hit her like ice. Her teeth were chattering in an instant, so she pulled the comforter off the bed and wrapped it around herself. It helped. A little.

The walk to the kitchen had never seemed so long, and by the time Bea got there, she was tired. Her legs were wobbling, and the next thing she knew, she’d sat down at the kitchen table. Anything to get a little break. Bea pulled the blanket more tightly around her shoulders.

She’d forgotten her bandana, she realized suddenly. She was sitting in public, bare-headed, with nothing between the world in her scars. Goddamnit.

Forget the bandana. Nobody had seen her so far. Besides, she was here to get water, and she could do that, bandana or not. The faucet was right there. Go get some water. But Bea’s limbs wouldn’t move.