Part fiction, part writing exercise, part journal.
Warnings: mentions of rollercoasters and other theme park attractions, mentions of nausea, mentions of overheating, brief mentions of vomiting.
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Theme Park
“That was disgusting,” Rex decreed, nose wrinkling at the apparent offense.
“Disgusting?” I echoed. “It’s fine if you don’t like roller-coasters, but disgusting? That seems like you’re taking it a little far.”
“No, captain’s right,” Tup told me. He was looking a little sickly. “That was worse than landing in a warzone.”
“That’s not possible.” Maybe it was, how would I know? But it certainly didn’t sound like the truth.
“It’s very possible.” Rex leaned against a wall, studying me with censure. “Aren’t you even slightly dizzy?”
“Um, no?” I shrugged. “That corkscrew at the end gets me a little bit, but I’m past all of that now.”
“You’d fit right in with Skywalker and the 501st,” Cody told me, catching up to us. He had stayed behind to browse the gift shop - his typical excuse when he wanted to scope out the candy selection.
Rex groaned, but narrowed his eyes in the next moment. “Speaking of… Where is everyone?”
“Well, Tup is there,” I explained, pointing. “Fives and Hardcase stayed back to ride the coaster again-”
“A few more times,” Cody interrupted. “They were going on ride number four when I left.”
“Sounds about right.” I couldn’t help but laugh, both at the idea of the pair of adrenaline junkies and at the horrified look on Rex’s face. “I don’t know where anyone else is. I’m going to get a soft pretzel and a bottle of water if anyone’s hungry?”
Rex shook his head and Tup only held up a hand, but Boost, Hunter, and Stone stood eagerly. Behind them, Thorn asked, “Do they have ice cream?”
“It’s a theme park in the summertime,” I told him. “I’m positive they’ll have ice cream.”
“I’m in,” Thorn agreed, leading the group. I gave a last helpless look at Rex and followed the crowd to the nearest snack booth.
When I got back, I offered Rex my unopened water bottle. “You really will feel better if you can drink some water. Just drink it slowly and let it settle between sips.”
Rex accepted the water bottle - as usual, a ghostly afterimage of the one I still held seemed to be in his hand. As I watched, he unscrewed the top and took a sip, then another. Slowly but surely, he drained half of the bottle as I alternated between drinks of water and bites of salty pretzel.
“How are you feeling now?” I asked, shortly before shoving the rest of the pretzel in my mouth.
“Not… bad, actually,” Rex admitted. He seemed suspicious about his own lack of nausea, which made me smile. “How did you know that was all it took?”
I laughed despite myself. “I worked out in this heat for years. If there’s one thing I know, it’s how to recognize the difference between being hot, having heat exhaustion, and having heatstroke. You were somewhere between the first two.”
“I’m used to the climate control systems in the armor,” he admitted.
“Jealous.” I took another drink of water and thought about it. “If I had armor that would keep me from freezing or overheating, I would never take it off.”
Beside us, Tup took a deep swig of his own water. Even as he swallowed it, his face took on a sickly look and he clapped a hand over his mouth. Before anyone could ask him about it, he rushed off to vomit on the nearest bush.
“Yeah, that’s the other possible outcome,” I admitted. “Water will either make you feel better or - if you drink it too fast - will make you throw up.”
Rex gave me a disbelieving look. “Remind me not to take advice from you anymore.”
“That’s rude!” Rex didn’t seem to care about my offense, so I finished my water and stood. “I’m going to console myself on the spinning teacups.”
Two steps toward the ride in question, I paused to watch Wrecker, Jesse, and Scorch fly past. They were spinning so quickly that all I could see was the motion blur of the car. Really, the group’s laughter was all that told me who it was.
“On second thought,” I hedged, changing directions mid-step, “I haven’t been on the swings yet.”
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Author's Note - Guess who got to go to a theme park this summer? I love rollercoasters! Others have... mixed opinions. Thanks for reading and happy Friday!
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Think imaginary friends, but they're clone troopers.
Warnings: references to medication, mentions of COVID-19.
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Sore
“Do you normally take so many pain meds in a day?” Jesse asked.
The question drew immediate attention and I made a face at Jesse. He at least had the grace to look apologetic, but the heavy silence warned that I would need to answer. "No, I try not to. I'm just really sore and I want to move without groaning."
"You haven't done anything to be sore," Trapper reminded me.
"I know, but I am," I said with a shrug. "I'm thinking it's because I helped unload that stock order. It wasn't much and the stuff wasn't very heavy, but it was different enough that it might have caused it."
"Makes sense," Jesse pitched in, encouragement in his tone. "Want me to get Kix?"
"No thanks. I'm going to take some pain medicine and see if it works for me."
The medicine worked, but only for a little while. Before long, I was just as sore as I had been and it was starting to get worrisome.
"So what's your next step?" Rex asked, easing down onto the couch beside me. I sent him a sidelong look and he gestured at the way I was rubbing my temples. "Obviously, the meds didn't work."
“Sleep, I think,” I mused slowly. My brain hurt, and it felt as if even my thoughts were dragging. “I’m really tired. I have been all day.”
I was exhausted, but not exhausted enough to miss the way the troopers looked at each other. For once, I decided not to push them about it. If nothing else, that told me how tired I really was.
Despite how exhausted I felt, sleep was slow to come and fitful once it arrived. It felt like I had only just dropped off when I surfaced again, needing to cough or scratch my face or turn over.
When I woke up with a desert in my mouth, I blearily made my way through the living room and into the kitchen to gulp some water. When I turned, Kix was there. He looked sympathetic, which was never a good sign. “How are you feeling?”
“Bad,” I told him, coughing a little as if my body had decided to prove the point. “Why are you awake?”
He shrugged. “My sleep schedule is a little weird. Medic shifts, you know?”
“Not personally,” I hedged. “But I can imagine.”
Kix nodded slowly, then inclined his head toward the countertop beside him. “This is for you.”
As soon as he pointed it out, I could see a pale box sitting there. When I went to look at it, I found a COVID test with a sticky note attached to it with my name written in neat script. I glanced at Kix, frowning. “How did you manage to find a COVID test?”
His eyebrows shot upward. “It’s not from me. Cole left it. I think he heard you coughing and got worried.”
“Ah.” That made a lot more sense, actually. I picked it up from the counter, waggling it at Kix. "Thanks for pointing it out, then. I'll take it in the morning."
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Author's Note - Looking back on the time I had COVID again, but didn't recognize it. This was a while ago, but there's a new strain that is proving to be highly contagious and the symptoms aren't fun. Take care of yourselves, friends!
Feeling the odd urge to apologize for a few non-exciting Rambles back-to-back, but this is how it goes. It was a boring few weeks. The next few are more interesting, but please remember that these are basically journaling exercises. Sometimes, life just gets a little dull for a while. Thanks for reading anyway!
