Life's not fair

There I was, standing by Matilda’s bedside. In my hand was the elixir those bastards granted us. In the end, I chose silence over my sworn oath. I don’t know how, but somehow I’ll have my vengeance for today. For now though…

“Matilda, please wake up.”

I held her cheek softly as I poured the elixir down her throat, some part of me hoped she’d start moving immediately or try to cough it up. At least I’d know then that it worked, but instead she laid there in a dead like sleep. I got back on my feet and gave her some space, in my view was my subordinate, she was still fighting for her life. That’s when the denial hit, what if we were fooled? What if the elixir was actually poison? What if this was all a ploy to punish us for getting close to the truth? It felt like my head was tearing, I held it as if it were about to burst. I already made a deal with the devil, if that deal was for naught, I’d be made a fool. I was on the verge of a panic attack, until I heard it. The sound of coughing, when I looked back at Matilda her skin’s color had returned. Her body’s malnourished state also changed, soon she looked like a princess with a bandage wrapped around their head. Matilda’s eyes began to quiver and slowly open, it worked Matilda was awake! I ran back over to see her, right as she started speaking.

“W-where am I?”

“Matilda, thank the gods! You’re finally awake!”

Upon hearing my voice Matilda turned her head to see me, and her face froze. Is something wrong?

“Uh, Matil-”

“-away…”

“Huh?”

“Get Away From Me!”

Matilda started using her pillow as a shield, I was confused. Why was she treating me like a monster? Soon doctors started flooding the room, the sight of this nearly drove Matilda into shock. After I was forced to leave, apparently they had to have her heavily sedated. At least that was what I was told by her doctor later, however there was a bigger problem than that.

“She’s suffering from memory loss!?!”

“Yes, most likely due to her head trauma. Considering the miracle of her waking out of the coma, it makes sense there’d be some tragedy.”

Memory loss? Don’t tell me, Matilda, did you forget all about me? I went to visit her again later, they removed most of the bandages from her head. She smiled upon seeing me, and gave me a greeting.

“Oh, hello there, my apologies for frightening you the other day.”

“Don’t worry about that Matilda, I’m just happy you woke up.”

Matilda looked at me nervously, I was smiling again but I tried to keep it tame this time. Did I look like a villain again?

“Sorry Miss, but you keep speaking to me with familiarity. Do you know me by chance?”

I felt sick at that moment, my worst nightmare came to life. She forgot all about me, but how much did she forget? I decided to question her, she remembered everything about her life. Everything except what she did in this town.

“After I got off the caravan to get here, my memory turns to bits and pieces. I remember getting a bunch of stall goods, crying about something, and busting a door down with a ton of guards behind me.”

So she has context, but she’s missing the topic surrounded by it. She forgot spending time with me, how I slapped her, or how she risked her life to save me. She’s the same ol’ Matilda, but she’s not my Matilda. I couldn’t help but start crying, Matilda saw this and started apologizing.

“Sorry, I must’ve caused you trouble, I’m such a dummy. How could I stress out my superior, I’m so sorry.”

This girl, even though I’m at fault, she’s still the one apologizing. I’m such a bitch.

“Idiot, stop saying stuff like that!”

I ran and held her, she started crying and kept apologizing. I cried and did the same things, just two women crying in each other's arms.

****

A few weeks later, we had returned to base and I was promoted to vice captain. Matilda would be promoted to cadet a month later, but she wasn’t the same. I tried to behave the way I did when we first met, but Matilda seemed afraid of me. She kept her distance, and tried not to talk to me. Those idiot squad mates of ours didn’t make things any better. However, that all changed a the other day when she finally accepted me. Ha! Take that gods, we were truly meant to be star crossed lovers!

“Hohohoho-*Cough*”

That was a pretty bad cough, I guess it’s time to get out of the bath. Was what I initially thought, until I found myself in a coughing fit. Eventually I coughed up a little blood, I couldn’t help but give a sad smile at how cruel life is. I stood up out of the portable tub I used, and looked down at my frail body. My condition was starting to get to me, and we mobilized before I could get my next medicine supply. Without my vitality medicine, my debilitation gets worse. Not to mention, I used my last pill a few days ago.

“Matilda, you fickle girl, you accepted my love too late.”

I got out the tube and dried myself off, it took time to dry my face. It kept getting wet for some reason.