Specialist Rose

45) Welcome To Wonderland

"Are you alright Ruby?"
Marrow sat down next to me and followed my gaze to the fish pond. As far I was aware I was alright.  I must have just taken a tumble like they had said, though I don't remember it at all.
"Yeah, I'm alright- I think I must just be a little groggy." Yeah, groggy. I'm not sure why I wouldn't be okay, it had been a quiet girls day in with Arslan and Winter before Marrow left for work.

Now I remember. I had gone to put the kettle on for the 3 of us and slipped up on the blood. No, the water. There was water on the kitchen floor and I slipped over on that, not on any blood. There was no blood on the kitchen floor. I guess my face told of my brain fog as Arslan came over to my other side, grabbed my hand, smiled and said, 

"Pupils unreactive."
"What did you say?" 
"I said good thing we don't have to, Clear the way for the paramedics, we need to get her to a hospital now!"
"Sorry, say again?" 
"I said good thing we don't have to call 999."

Yeah, of course she said that. I think my hearing's acting up from that bump on the head. I don't usually have to ask anyone to repeat the same thing twice. Marrow put one arm around me and his other on my stomach.  
"Are you sure you don't want me to call the doctor? Just to make sure our baby girl is okay?"
"Our baby girl!"
I'm not sure why this was such a shock to me. I should be shocked that my first thought wasn't weather or not she was okay. But it shouldn't have been a shock that I was pregnant, just yesterday I woke up Marrow to drive us to the good Mistrilian takeout place on the other side of the island. Everyone's eyes widened and they went tense making me realize how panicked my voice had sounded.

"Yea, no, she's fine. Um, just baby brain- managed to slip my mind that I'm pregnant, just baby brain."
"You sound okay. Good thing too- wouldn't want you to cancel family day out with your mum and sister."
"Day out? It's late, shouldn't we be going to bed?"
"Ruby we only just, Wake up Ruby, please- for me, wake up."
"I'm sorry?"
"Ruby it's morning, we only just woke up."
"No I was having a girls afternoon with Winter and Arslan."
I turned my head around to see a blank space where Arslan had been. Wait, no she wasn't, of course she wasn't- Arslan was on a mission with Reese in Argus. Yeah she was on a mission, as was Winter.
"Oh, suppose that was just a head bump dream I had." 
"Are you sure you want to go out today? I can call off work and stay home if you'd like?"
"No, no. I'm fine, go to work." 

~~~3rd POV~~~

Before Ruby had even finished her sentence she blinked and Marrow was gone, and a quick glance at the clock told her it was 9am already. Ruby got up on shaky legs and took a moment to catch her balance for the ground felt tilted slightly. For no reason other than her unsettled gut telling her to, Ruby decided to look around and started with the kitchen. 

Ruby followed her feet into the next room and was somehow both surprised and not, to see the kitchen tiles were a similar shade of red to the sofa, save for a patch near the kitchen counter that seemed to be a deeper hue. There were some dirty dishes in the sink and though Ruby walked forward to get them cleaned up she found herself walking out the back door instead walking through the backdoor grabbing a blister-pack of paracetamol on the way out, a shattered plate laying unnoticed. Her headache was persistent and it was making everything sound static-y and everything was just too bright. 

Ruby took two of the paracetamol and kneeled and the edge of the fish pond staring into the undisturbed water. She frowned slightly upon seeing no fish in the supposed fish pond. She frowned more seeing her reflection. It was like staring at a stranger you've seen before or someone you knew in a dream. Familiar but so foreign- though that did describe the day she had been having. 'Was it day?' she wondered as she caught the suns reflection in the fish pond looked up and saw it directly overhead as though it were midday already. She probably would have kept staring into the sky and wondering why she could see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day, but her scroll vibrating caught her off guard and she almost fell into the pond. 


~~~RUBY POV~~~


"Hello?" I answered into my scroll that was thankfully not waterlogged as I narrowly avoided falling headfirst into the water. I must still be tired as I'm not usually caught off guard so easily. 
"Ruby?!" A voice I identified to be Violet's shouted down the line.
"Y-yeah? Who else would answer my scroll?"
"Ruby! Thank god, I've been trying to reach you for 2 days!" Odd, I hadn't received a call from anyone recently.
"Sorry, my scroll must have been on silent- what's wrong why do you sound so worried?"
"All my salt bowls turned Red!" I nearly felt the urge to facepalm and I would've if I didn't respect her beliefs as much as I do.
"And does that mean something bad?"
"Of course it's bad! Salt doesn't just turn red, gem!"
"Okay, I'm sorry. Is there any other cause for concern? That salt could just be old you know." I tried to placate, or at least get something more than red salt out of her.

"You tell me if there is cause for concern!"
"Violet what are you talking about?"
"Ruby, I have a Quartz Crystal that I have bound to every one of my friends, yours turned 3/4 black and cracked!" Ah, now I can see why she was trying to call me so desperately. Though I admit it is odd it was probably nothing so all I have to do is calm her down.
"Violet, it is probably nothing, you realize this right?"
"It's not nothing- according to my book a crystal cracking should mean that you are dead! The clear crystal turned black and you don't find that strange?"
"No I don't. It could just be the heat." I was getting really frustrated trying to clam her down.
"NO! It's not heat! Something's happened and you are in danger of death if we don't fix it! Please listen to me!" I don't know why I was getting so angry. But all I knew was that this had gone far enough.

"Vi, what's it going to take to convince you that I am in fact perfectly safe, and your crystal is just defective?" I tried to keep my cool and just wanted this conversation to be over, every time Violet spoke the side of my head hurt twice as much as though someone had smacked it with Nora's hammer.
"Okay. Two years ago I gave you a clear quartz crystal bound to you just like the one I have in front of me. Go fish it out of your junk drawer and if it hasn't turned 3/4 black and cracked then I'll accept that my crystal is defective."

I tried not to sigh. They were just crystals, not worth this much hassle. I speed walked into the house and located my junk drawer. Lo and behold I found a crystal that was mostly black and had a bit of a crack in it.
"Well..?" Violet said expectantly through the phone. 
"Yes, it is mostly black and cracked a bit. But that's probably from being in a drawer for 2 years."
"No! Crystals don't just do that. You are in danger and we have to move fast because the crack is getting bigger, whatever is happening we are running out of time!" I admit I was slightly freaked when I looked down and saw the crack was slightly bigger.
"Violet it's okay."
"No! No it's not, something is obviously wrong, we got to-"
"Enough! Violet- nothing is wrong! I have my mum, I have my husband, my sister, my uncle and my dad. I live in a gorgeous house and I have a baby on the way. There is nothing wrong; my life is perfect and I'm not in any danger!" There was an oddly long pause of me taking a few deep breaths before Violet spoke again. 

"No you're not." Violet said with a hint of confusion. 
"What now? Not what?"
"Not pregnant."
"Excuse me?"
"Ruby... you miscarried years ago and have failed to conceive again since."
"Ok here's the deal. You can have your superstitions about how I'm in danger but you make a single comment about my baby and you will not like me very much." I don't know why I was so fiercely defensive but really Violet was just being silly.
"Ruby, you're not pregnant."
"Yes, Violet, I am."
"No Ruby, I'm sorry but you're not!"
"Yes I am!" I had no idea when the tears started but now they flowed freely.
"Ruby, please. You can't live in a delusion."
"If this were a delusion you wouldn't be in it!" I know it was hurtful to say but I so badly wanted her to stop. Every word felt like they burned my brain like it was rejecting hearing them. 

The dial tone came through my scroll and to that I did actually facepalm, she really just hung up on me. I clicked call on her contact not wanting to leave things on that note. But instead of hearing ringing I was met with an automated call operator,

"I'm sorry, but the number you have dialled does not exist, please check you have the right number." 

~~~3RD POV~~~

Ruby was confused, and a little bit freaked out (not that she would admit that being at times as stubborn as Yang). But she dropped her scroll as she let out a horrified gasp as Ruby looked down to see the crystal in her hand turn completely black and develop a longer crack. Ruby stared at it, completely transfixed, denying it though it had happened in front of her. 

Her trance was broken as she heard keys in the front door and she hurried to get up, only pausing to look out the window at the lone moon- it was midnight. Marrow came in through the door and was met with an agitated Ruby, he lowered his arms which had been waiting to catch his pregnant wife when she jumped on him. Instead he started forward and asked what was the matter, being shocked at Ruby taking a step away from him with each step he took towards her.
"Where were you? It's the middle of the night what kept you out so late?"
"I went fishing with your dad."
"Oh, okay- just call next time." Ruby took a step forward seemingly happy with that answer before a flash of recognition crossed her widened silver eyes.
"What did you say?"
"I said, I went hunting with your father."
"No, no you didn't."
"I went hunting with your dad Ruby what else do you want me to say?" Ruby's breathing rate increased and Marrow took another step forward only for Ruby to stumble backwards and fall over narrowly missing the kitchen counter. Another flash of realization crossed her face as she held her hand up to the side of her head that had hurt all day. She rushed to her feet and turned to the window, looking at the fish pond through it. 
"No, no I heard you- you said fishing. You hate fish, I hate fish and nobody hates fish more than my dad!" Ruby grabbed his hand to drag Marrow through the backdoor to the pond. 
"You went fishing with my dad, I have a fish pond with no fish in it and we have a red kitchen!"
"Gem, honey, you're going to have to tell me what's going on- you're starting to worry me." 
"Think about it Marrow come on really think! Why do we call it a fish pond if there are no fish in it?" Marrow took a long shot guess to answer what he could only assume was a question asked by the crazy pregnant lady hormones in his wife.
"Because there are supposed to be fish in the pond..?"
"Exactly! Because in the real world, there are fish in this pond!"
"What?"

"This isn't real."

Finally another chapter! Sorry it took so long. First month of final year is really giving me a reality check.
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See you later, love Lizzi