The wooden door groaned open, its hinges squeaking. Stooping under the doorframe, Percy waved him to follow. Careful not to bump his crutches into the timber, Caspian entered the room with tempered expectations. His mouth fell ajar as he took in the room.
“Haha not bad right,” Percy chuckle seeing his expression. “We do well for ourselves.”
Caspian couldn’t deny what he said, the room was nice. At least the size of his old place, an enormous four-poster bed took up one side of the room. Covering the floor was another rug, this one depicting a night sky in all its glory. Lining the walls were ornate wooden cupboards, with gleaming brass fixtures. Like every other room he had seen, multiple paintings adorned its walls.
“This is incredible Percy, it’s so large. You’re sure I can stay here?” he asked, trying to take the splendour in. There was more money in the room than he had earned in his entire life.
“Of course Caspian, you are quite welcome to it,” Percy smiled softly. “We will give you accommodation for as long as you work with us, it’s only fair after all. Long swaths of the year are spent outside of the city. Having your own place would be an unnecessary expense.”
“Even so, this is too much. I can take a smaller room,” he said looking down.
“Nonsense Caspian, it really is no trouble trust me. We have more rooms than we know what to do with. Besides, you are one of us now, and we take care of our own,” Percy said placing a hand on his shoulder. “Remember that.”
Caspian felt happiness bubbling up inside of him at the gesture. “Thank you, Percy,” he said half smiling, half serious. Clacking over to the bed, he leaned against the frame, taking a deep breath.
“I’ll leave you to it then,” Percy said, his towering frame stepping through the threshold once more. “If you need anything, come find me,” his voice sounded as he walked away. Soon his footsteps were gone, leaving Caspian alone.
“What a place,” he thought, the rustic homely smell of an uninhabited room dancing on his senses. Hopping over to the bed, he pushed down on it, his hand sinking into the soft bedding. Grinning, he turned to it and fell backwards. The quilts rippled as he knocked into them, the mattress swaddling him like a newborn. It felt like he was lying atop a cloud.
Crawling on all fours, he felt like he couldn’t see the edge of the bed. Clambering to the head of it, he planted his face straight into the pillows. The soft linen caressed him, his skin almost melting into the fabric. “This is heaven,” he thought shivering with bliss.
The moments slipped by as he let himself relax. The tranquillity and silence made his mind wander, as had been common of late. “What am I going to do now?” he wondered. Everything was so surreal like he was in a dream fashion perfectly for him. Pinching himself just to check, he confirmed that this was indeed real life. After so many months of tireless effort, it almost felt too easy. In just two days, he had gone from lusting after a dream, to having it.
“You earned it,” he reminded himself. “Just like the rest of them, you earned your spot.” Convincing himself of the fact, he rolled onto his side. A large mirror was fixed to a desk, reflecting the entire room. Caspian looked into his eyes, his blonde hair messed up. He looked worn out. Touching the bandage on his arm, a frown contorted his face.
“How the hell am I going to shower with these on? Can I get them wet?” He didn’t know, and neither the nurse nor the doctor had mentioned it. He didn’t want to end up doing the wrong thing and hurting himself more. Possible solutions whizzed by, until something Duke had said popped into his mind. “He said Sofia was their medic right, surely she’ll know. I’ll just ask her before it gets too late,” he thought, his body sinking deeper into the bed.
“Not right now though, this bed is much too comfy.” Like that he lay there, just closing his eyes for a moment as he fully enjoyed himself. Opportunities like this were rare after all. Without realising it, his consciousness faded off as sleep sank its teeth into him.
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The dim evening light filtered into the room, rousing Caspian from a peaceful slumber. Peeking one eye open, he looked around the unfamiliar room to get his bearings. “Right, expedition base. My new room.” Sitting up, he let loose a long yawn. “Man, what time is it?” he wondered, his hand searching the floor for his satchel. Feeling the worn fabric, he lifted it and rummaged around.
He pulled out his watch, lightly caressing the back of it. There had once been something engraved on it, but time had worn it away, leaving only the faint remains of letters. Flipping it over he checked the time, 5:42.
Stretching he dragged himself out of the bed with great difficulty, each movement causing him to sink into the plush mattress. Finally reaching the edge of the quagmire, it dipped causing him to fall to the floor.
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“Oww!” he muttered rubbing his elbow. Pulling himself to his feet, he hopped in front of the mirror to check himself out. The worn face looking back told him everything he needed to know. His partly cracked lips parted to reveal a grin, thick bags accentuating each eye. “I look like I’ve gone five rounds,” he chuckled. “Now what did I have to do? Oh yeah, go see Sofia.”
Slotting the crutches comfortably under his arms, peered out into the hallway looking both ways. All was silent, the dim lighting filling the space with shadows. Going left, he retraced his steps eventually arriving back in the room from earlier. Victoria was sitting in one of the large chairs her head in a book, the sheer size of it seeming to swallow her up.
“Victoria,” he called out softly, trying not to surprise her. Her glasses poked above the pages, eyes relaxing a tad when she saw who it was.
“Oh hey Caspian,” she said, lowering her book. “Were, were you just asleep?” she asked.
“Um, yeah I was. How did you know?” he said.
Smiling a little she pointed up at her hair. “Bed hair,” she said giggling. “You look like you’ve been electrocuted.”
Running a hand through it, he tried to pat it down. “Is that better?” he asked after a few goes.
“Not really,” she smiled. “To the left,” she supplied, pointing to her head.
Reaching up he tried to find what she was talking about before she spoke up again. “You’re other left.”
“Oh haha,” Caspian laughed, swapping sides.
“You got it,” Victoria said nodding.
“You wouldn’t happen to know where Sofia is would you?” he asked. “I need to ask her about something.”
“Sofia, I think she said she’d be in her office,” Victoria replied, thinking. “What do you need to ask her?” After a moment, realisation dawned on her. “Oh for your injuries, sorry.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Caspian said waving the apology off. “Do you know where her office is?” he asked hopeful.
Nodding her head, she relayed the direction to him. Carefully marking them down in his mind, he repeated them a few times to make sure he remembered. “Thanks a bunch, Victoria,” he said, before turning to follow them.
“It’s ok,” she said quietly, Caspian already too far to hear. Looking slightly disappointed she returned to her book, sinking slightly deeper into the chair.
His crutches clicked as he made his way through the halls, he followed the directions he had been given. More of the building revealed itself to him as he travelled, passing large rooms whose purpose he could only guess at. A constant was the art that adorned the walls, all incredibly vivid depictions of landscapes and people. Even the odd bowl of fruit, each piece meticulously placed on the canvas. He couldn’t fathom the amount of treasures that called this place their home.
Coming across a door that had the initials SM on it. “This must be it,” he thought. No one else’s first name started with an S. Rapping his knuckle on the door, the sound of movement could be heard on the other side. After a few moments, it cracked open, before swinging open fully.
“Caspian, what’s up?” Sofia asked, Behind her, he could see a wide array of equipment spread all over the place. A lot of it looked medical.
“Hi Sofia, I was just wondering, you’re a doctor right?” he asked swaying slightly.
“Sure am,” she said proudly. “Why what's the matter, you got some more stuff wrong with ya?” she asked, examining him. He felt like he was unravelling under her scrutinizing gaze.
“No no,” he said shaking his head. “Nothing like that. I just wanted to know if I could shower with my bandages on,” he said. Pulling the sleeve on his shirt up, he showed one-off. “I don’t want to make it worse.”
Raising an eyebrow, she thought for a moment. “You can shower, just avoid getting em too wet. A little water won't kill ya,” she said, smiling. “Anythin else, I am busy ya know?”
“Just one more, where exactly are the showers? This place is kind of big, and I don’t know where anything is,” he said rolling his sleeve back down.
“Jeez. Yeah, it’s a few doors down from the sitting room,” she said, shooing him away. “I gotta get back to work Caspian, I’ll see ya later.” The door closed on him, the footsteps receding.
“Those directions suck,” he thought, heading back the way he came. “At least I can shower. Just don’t let it get too wet right.” What too wet meant, he didn’t really know. Obviously, it could get a little wet, but Sofia’s description had been too vague. “I’ll just try to keep it dry,” he decided. He could claim innocence if things went poorly.
Following her directions was a lot harder, a lot of doors were only a few doors down from the sitting room. Fiddling with the handles, he found that a majority of them were locked. The others were empty, save for a few bookshelves or the odd box and crate. Eventually, he opened one, a tile floor inside. “Bingo,” he thought, stepping inside.
The black and white checked floor gleamed as if it had just been polished, a large mirror set in one of the walls. Caspian couldn’t help but be amazed at the sheer size of the bathroom. “It’s as big as my home,” he thought, running a hand over the countertop. Granite, cool to the touch. Taking up one side of the room was the shower, adorned with brass fixtures.
Closing the door behind him, he made sure to lock it. Leaning the crutches up against the counter, he hopped towards the shower intent on checking it out. A rack of unused towels sat near it, as well as a series of cleaning products. “Shampoo, Conditioner. Damn, they got the good stuff,” he murmured looking at the bottles.
Checking the shower, he turned on the hot water faucet. Water started to gush out, so he turned up the cold trying to get an even mix. Quickly stripping off his clothes, he folded them neatly and grabbed the soaps.
Caspian tentatively touched the water, adjusting the taps by adding a little more cold. Making sure to position his leg and arm out of its flow, he stepped under. Relief flooded through him as the lukewarm water cascaded off of his head, trickling down his face.