SoSuWriMo 402
A ghostly appearance had settled over the Marino matron. The shine of her ebony coat had disappeared, now looking more like dull coal. She had not been eating much, and had been sleeping even less. Her two healer daughters tried to convince her to focus a bit more on her own health, but how could she possibly do that? How could she even think of her own welfare when one of her babies was stuck in an unending sleep and another had fled the pack lands out of guilt into the cold and unforgiving winter? Even when Cambria had been recovering from her exposure to the ex-Commander's drugs Savina had not felt so wretched and lost. Two of her children needed help and she could not give it to either one of them. Her impotence stung at her conscience constantly, providing her no solace or moment of rest. Even when she did fall asleep from sheer exhaustion, when her body simply could not stay awake any longer, it was not a peaceful sleep. It was filled with horrible possibilities that tortured her mind and heart.
Savina sat in a chair by Artemis' bedside, watching her sleeping daughter with dulled emerald eyes. She had sent Cambria and Amata away to get some much needed sleep. There was really nothing they could do to help their little sister, and the Italian woman would not sleep anyway, so there was no need to keep them awake when she could watch over the comatose girl by herself. Gently she held her daughter's hand in both of hers, her slim fingers softly rubbing the silver fur. The familiar sting of tears reached her eyes and she did nothing to try and stop them from running down her face. The fur of her cheeks were now constantly stained with the salt tears, her body only able to stop them from coming when there was no moisture left for her eyes to expel. Softly, barely a whisper, the woman said, "I'm sorry." Savina did not really think this was her fault, or anyone else's, but it was impossible not to be sorry when her lively daughter was trapped in such an unnatural slumber. She wanted to see the life in Artemis' face again, to see the light in her eyes. Would she ever open those blue oculars again? Savina's bottom lip trembled, fearing that the answer may be no.
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