Feverish Nightmares

[dr. ludvig von bakken]

"I think perhaps that vas vhat Poe was trying to do. Perhaps he vas trying to paint a picture of vhat maddness one vould face having to go through that. Though, I must admit that the very thought of such a fate befalling one of us scares me."

"As for this Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather, I have not read this one yet. Vould you happen to know the name of this piece?" He chuckled thinking about the description. "I am thinking that a good satire could do vell to lift the spirits."

[vivian jane thornfield]

Vivian wished not to think such things rigth now and she did not answer. However it was clear that she feared too. As the silencce deepened she bit her lip a bit and mumbeled "We just have to trust that such a thing wont happen." Her voice was very low, whisperlike.

"It's called The system of doctor Tarr and professor Fether." Vivian smiled a bit. "Would younlike me to read it for you?" Vivian Knew that one of her attributes was reading out loud. She had the skill to make the story alive.

[dr. ludvig von bakken]

He felt a mix of pain from his leg surge through him at the same time that Vivian offered to read some of Edgar Allen Poe's works to him. There was a slight wince of pain, one that he endured. His leg was throbbing and would continue to throb for days, perhaps even weeks. He swallowed the pain and put on his best smile.

"I think that would be lovely," he said. It was completely legitimate. It actually sounded extremely romantic to him. "I would love to hear you read that to me."

The pain gone, he smiled up at Vivian feeling his cheeks warm from the love he felt for her.

[vivian jane thornfield]

Vivian smiled and got up brushing of the dust from her skirts. She quickly walked over to the bench she had been sitting and picked up a volume of Poe's satires she had loaned from the school library. After picking up the tattered paper back sh brushed her haair behind her neck and walked back to the good doctors bed.

With a small grin to her face she opened the small table lamp next to it. Then she carefully sat down to the floor again and smiled. She had always liked reading short stories to someone and had been told that she had a talent for it. She took some deep breaths and opened the book. Sligth noise of scattering pages filled the air.

After a few moments she found the story she was looking for. A feeling of homeliness came over her. This was a familiar story, yes indeed.

"During the autumn of 18--, while on a tour through the extreme southern provinces of France, my route led me within a few miles of a certain Maison de Sante or private mad-house, about which I had heard much in Paris from my medical friends. As I had never visited a place of the kind, I thought the opportunity too good to be lost; and so proposed to my travelling companion (a gentleman with whom I had made casual acquaintance a few days before) that we should turn aside, for an hour or so, and look through the establishment."
Her voice was lively and soft rising and lowering as the story went on. When it got to the parts she found most amusing it was a great struggle to keep her chuckles down.

Vivian couldn't say how much time she had used reading the story when she realized that the end of it was near.
"... The latter was pumped on them daily. At length, one escaping through a sewer, gave freedom to all the rest." She finally read the last few lines of the story

"Have you enjoyed the story, dear?" Vivian asked closing the book and smiling to Ludvig.

(OOC: The full story can be read here.)

[dr. ludvig von bakken]

Ludvig reclined back and let the soothing sound of Vivian's voice relax him. He let the words of the story carry him. He could see, as he listened where the story was going. It was intreging that he had heard similar stories like this before, but never had he actually read this piece. How many times had someone taken the premise behind this story of Edgar Allen Poe and repackaged it.

When Vivian finished the story, he let his smile show. It was strong feeling he picked up from the story. He was able to look past the pain and admire the moment. "It vas a lovely story. Though I have not heard it before. I must admit that I have seen similar since. I saw that he vas a fool from the beginning. To pick up on the fact that something vas off and not realize what had happened... utter foolishness."

He smiled at Vivian. "It vas a great story, I thank you for sharing it. It has aged vell. Psychology has advanced, or so I vould be told by Ricard. But, the core story, it fits very vell. And it makes me vonder, could it be that ve are not really the teachers and the students of this school. It does make us vonder."

[vivian jane thornfield]

Vivian smiled too. "Yes indeed. Who know, maybe we are characters in some weird storylike game." Her voice was filled with laughter. The circumstances migth of been grim but smehow sshe chose to not to notice it.

She had no idea what the time was and was starting to feel a tad tired. She gave a small yawn. This had been a tough day. She knew that her nerves were making her function on adrenaline all day. It was starting to seem that she was finally relaxing. And it was making her a bit sleepy. Vivian lifted her hand and rubbed her forehead. She had to stay up for a little while longer.

After a moment of silence she decided to ask something. "Ludvig? I remember seeing a cage in your.. chambers. Do you own a bird?" She had been wondering about this for weeks, months even.

[dr. ludvig von bakken]

With his own tiredness weighing on him, Ludvig took a moment to piece together what Vivian had asked. A cage? What cage did she speak of? And then, he pinned it all together. He had misunderstood what room Vivian was speaking of. She was talking about in his room. It was a foolish mistake to have made.

"I vas given an unusual gift by someone I saved in Bolivia. That cage is the gift, except, there is more to it than that. This man, he claimed it possesses a spirit inside. If the story is to be believed, it is that of a bird that once perished. I 'feed' this spirit dying flowers. It makes them vilt faster from feeding. Sometimes, at night, I can see almost the faintest outlines of this spirit. It has never fully appeared before me."

He grinned. "This might sound a bit crazy, and I'm sorry if you think so. But you could say that I have a pet ghost. Though I'm not always convinced it is read."

[vivian jane thornfield]

"If I wouldn't believe in ghost I'd probably would think you are crazy. It is indeed fortunate that my grandfathers home was infested by them." Vivian chuckled tiredly, remembering the old manor she had spend her holidays as a child. It was kind of nice during the day but nigths could be wild. "I don't hink there was a room that wasn't haunted." The last word turned into a yawn.

She rested her head against the bed, seemingly studying the intricate stain work of her nurse apron. Her fingers were playing with the end of her braid. Vivians hed was filed with small tired thougths of the next day, She was certain that she had not finished any of them by the time they flew away. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again quckly. Usually this gave her some energy but this time her eyes wanted desperatly to stay closed.

[dr. ludvig von bakken]

He watched as Vivian fought off the sleep that surrounded her. While dealing with injury was a tiring process, he could only imagine what she must have gone through. When Ludvig had been working endless to fix Vivian's problem, he had not slept. But this was different. She had been doing more than attempting to fix Ludvig's problem. She had been fighting to help him survive. He knew how tiring hospital work could be. But medical work on someone you loved, that must be overpowering.

"Vivian, my dear. You have had perhaps one of the longest and borst days of your life. You look utterly exhausted."

He considered how dead the entire halls had been the last few weeks. "Climb up next to me, and let yourself drift off. You vill thank yourself in the morning for doing so."

[vivian jane thornfield]

Vivian blushed when she heard Ludvig suggestion. It had been so long since they had slept next to each other. A large part of her wished to do so again but a small voice reminded her of the risks it brougth up. Not only they could be caugth but considering Ludvig's lleg injure she could hurt him.

Her head was going hazy again. "I admit that I am veyr much tired.. And also very glad that you asked me to join you. But isn't there a chance that I hurt you if I do as you ask of me?" Her voice was tired and yet somehow a bit happy. She raised her head a bit to look at him. "I migth be a bit of a restless sleeper tonight."