“It’s all in my head…”
Arkay was definitely feeling a bit better, but not as well as he’d hoped. The medics, the curious, foreign beings that they were, had found nothing wrong with him. Galyn had just somewhat left Arkay at the little hospital, in the care of the mechanical nurses and doctors, citing “sanitation and caution”, so it had all been rather weird. Everyone had been calm and patient with Arkay, but Arkay hadn’t really… gotten any answers.
The chest pains Arkay had felt, the medics… didn’t tell him what caused it. They ran tons of tests, including some rather painful ones involving a swap deep into the nostrils. But they hadn’t found anything suspicious. His “central pumping systems” (i.e. his heart) were fine, the only problem they had found was a slight elevation in the pressure. And they’d given him medication for that.
As Retvik and Litvir were waiting outside on the pavement, waiting for Arkay to exit the hospital, things had definitely seemed better. Or maybe Arkay was just glad to leave? Being alone in a place filled with strangers, even professional ones, had made Arkay very uneasy, and returning back to the perceived safety of the Thantir Two had perked Arkay’s mood up greatly.
But it’d been about forty hours now and Arkay wasn’t feeling amazing. He felt anxious and worried. And every time he felt anxious and worried, he felt a tightening in his chest. However, this feeling would completely go away whenever he wasn’t anxious and worried. As long as Arkay was distracted, he was fine.
The problem was, Arkay was almost always anxious. And now he was anxious for many other reasons. The medics had requested that he return on a certain date, to get extra tests done. Just simple blood tests. Nothing too stressful. But they would determine if there was any genuine damage or not.
Until then, Arkay had been instructed to take things easy. Stay calm and stay rested. Take the medication he’d been given. He was struggling to do even that. The medication wasn’t a problem. A couple of tablets. Resting though wasn’t easy. Every little pain he felt, every little creak and stomach ache, it was all producing panic in Arkay’s mind.
“Are you alright, Arkay?”
Galyn had popped in a few times, to check that Arkay was alright. He’d been very kind and caring towards Arkay. Arkay almost felt as if he didn’t deserve it.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Arkay was lying. He wasn’t fine. If anything, he was sure he was reverting to mortal ways. Stomach aches, gassiness, exhaustion and more. But just like the pains he’d had in his chest, as long as he was distracted, they wouldn’t be there.
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Just… anxious. Trying not to be.”
Galyn nodded, then left Arkay to his own devices. Arkay sighed, appreciating the peace and quiet, but also dreading it. Especially since there was some new pain, a pain in the other side of his chest.
With a sigh, Arkay got up and grabbed a glass of water and the temporary medication he’d been given. Thankfully, at least, the medication did actually help. Once he’d quickly gulped it down though, Arkay went back to worrying.
He couldn’t help it. But it really did seem to mostly be all in his head…