Somnambula was infected with the disease. She knew it.
Having the disease was like feeling exhausted after running for hours in the hot desert sun, but with no way to recover from it. It was like slowly sinking into the sand, with each attempt to escape just pulling you further down. Down until you drowned in it.
She looked around the packed emergency room. It had been built in the palace shortly after the epidemic had infected more than half the village. Normally, it would be considered sacrilegious to create a hospice in such a sacred place without the Prince’s permission, but… well, there was no one left to ask.
Brushing away a tear, Somnambula clutched the jug of water she held in her hooves tight to her chest as medics raced about the room. A number of patients inhabited the narrow makeshift beds that were becoming filled more and more as the days went on. She would join them soon.
A nurse spread a yellowed cloth over the hollowed body of a patient. She took in the taut skin and sunken eyes, feeling numb to their death. They had once been a neighbour, a face in the village. Now, they were just a statistic. Somnambula mourned the loss of her ability to see them as more than that.
This disease felt more like a curse as time went on. Some karmic justice toward an unspoken crime. Though, Somnambula suspected she just needed to believe that there was some purpose to the horror that surrounded her.
Someone touched her shoulder gently. She looked at the smiling face of a nurse. “I can take that for you, Somnambula.”
She wordlessly hooved over the jug.
“Your help is greatly appreciated. Especially after—” the nurse bit back her response “—Well, it doesn’t matter. We are glad to have you here.”
Somnambula said nothing as she stared blankly at the nurse. She could feel the exhaustion becoming worse by the second.
“Somnambula? Is everything alright?” The nurse asked, concerned. “If you need to rest, you can. It is more important for the people to see the symbol of their hope strong than for me to have another pair of hooves to help.”
Somnambula smiled bitterly. A tear came unbidden to her eye. “Then I’m afraid that the people will soon have no hope.”
The exhaustion finally overtook her. She collapsed to the floor.