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--donation bonus (day #4, post 5/5)--
“I fell down the stairs!” he blurted.

“Holy crap, seriously?!” Micah came closer, sizing him up and down. “Is that why you’ve been missing school? Did you break anything? Did you go to the hospital?”

“N-no... I’m okay. Just some... really bad bruising...”

“Wow, dude. Need me to carry your bag for you?”

He tightened his grip on the straps. “Th-that’s alright... I’d rather hold onto it.”

“Alright, well... come sit with us again at lunch, okay? We were worried when you didn’t show up to school the past couple days. Sheryl thought she might’ve scared you off or something.”

“Ah... yeah, okay...”

They walked to class together, and Hector was glad when he could sink into his chair in the corner of the room and just listen to the teacher talk. It was difficult to understand, having fallen so far behind on his homework, but he welcomed the comfortable normality of it. And the chair. Not having to walk anymore was amazing. He rubbed his chest and closed his eyes, trying not to groan.

‘By the way,’ said Garovel, ‘are you feeling alright? In your head, that is. Not your body.’

Hector threw him a look. ‘Excuse me...?’

‘You’re not feeling light-headed or disoriented at all? No inexplicable confusion or anything?’

‘No... why?’

‘No reason.’

‘Garovel...’

The reaper hesitated. ‘When I’m close to death, it will begin to affect you. Your consciousness will begin to... well... tear itself from your body. Perhaps even destroying itself in the process.’

‘Ah... and disorientation is a warning sign?’

‘Yeah. I suppose I wasn’t as wounded as I thought. You’d be feeling some lingering effects, if I was.’