Chapter 77 - Change
Khan's mental barrier shook when Luke's words reached his ears. Cora's kiss vanished from his thoughts as he jumped off his simple bed and ran to his friend.
Luke quickly led Khan toward one of the large medical tents built near the center of the camp. The soldiers didn't usually let anyone inside, but they moved away when they saw the boy with connections to the noble families and the famous kid who had created the signal for the army.
The two boys walked among the various beds containing injured recruits. Only those in severe conditions or deep need of rest could occupy those spots, so the scene was quite grim.
Khan ignored the severed limbs, bleeding bandages, and infected injuries that reached his eyes while searching for his friend. A familiar figure eventually appeared in his vision, and his mental barrier couldn't help but shake again.
Martha was sleeping in a bed near the end of the large tent. The soldiers with specializations in medical fields were still tending her injuries, so Khan could witness the entirety of her wretched state.
Large patches of burnt skin and missing flesh filled the entirety of Martha's right side. Even her face had turned into a mess of charred flesh.
Luke halted his steps when he saw Khan slowly walking toward Martha. The doctors had to undress the girl to apply many lotions and bandages to cover the burnt flesh, so they didn't notice the boy walking around them and approaching Martha's intact side.
Khan remained silent while the doctors patched Martha up and covered her with special blankets that radiated a warm orange glow. He completely ignored the ability of that item, but his mind barely produced thoughts in that situation.
"Can I?" Khan asked once the doctors straightened their position and heaved a helpless sigh.
Khan's sudden appearance startled them a bit, and concerns about his actual reasons even appeared in their minds. After all, the boy could have been in front of the naked girl for despicable motives. Yet, the evident sadness in his eyes made them drop their guard.
"Make sure not to touch the bandages," One of the doctors said. "Are you a relative?"
"No," Khan whispered as his hesitant hand slowly touched Martha's hair. "I'm just a friend."
The two soldiers exchanged a glance after witnessing that sad scene. They could sense the care in Khan's actions even with the mental barrier suppressing most of his emotions.
"She has been awake for a while after the crash," One of the doctors explained once she couldn't stand to watch Khan's helpless expression anymore. "She has managed to stabilize her condition before falling into a coma. They found her near the wreckage of her vehicle with her mouth pointed toward the sky."
Khan nodded as his hand reached Martha's intact cheek. She felt soft and warm, but he didn't manage to appreciate those sensations with the overwhelming sadness trying to fill every corner of his mind. Even the naked scenes from before had barely managed to enter his vision since he could only focus on her injuries.
"Will she wake up?" Khan asked, and the doctors didn't fail to notice how he didn't mention anything about her appearance.
"It's very likely," The other doctor announced. "Her coma is only a defensive measure of her body, but she should wake up once the damage retreats and nutrients flow again. It might take her a while to heal completely, but she is out of danger now that we found her."
"We'll move her to the space station in less than an hour," The first doctor continued. "You can remain here if you don't hinder our work."
"Thank you," Khan simply replied without moving his eyes from Martha.
The doctors didn't know what else to say to improve Khan's mood, but they didn't have time to waste there either. The soldiers continued to bring injured and half-dead recruits to the camp, so they had to deal with their patients quickly in order to have enough room for everyone.
The duo left Khan alone, and Luke showed a complicated expression before turning to leave the medical tent. Cries of pain and loud orders resounded inside the structure, but Khan barely heard anything while his attention remained on his friend.
'Thank you for not dying,' Khan sighed in his mind.
Everything about the situation was awful, but Martha was alive. That was the only positive aspect of the rebellion. Both of them had survived.
'What should I do now?' Khan thought as if asking Martha. 'We didn't even get the chance to talk.'
The promise to talk about their relationship became a sweet memory in Khan's mind. Looking at Martha in her current condition made him realize how important she had become in his life.
Martha had been a wonderful friend for almost six months. She had allowed him to get Lieutenant Dyester's training, and she had always helped him when his ignorance or doubts tried to affect his actions.
Moreover, Martha had never asked anything in return. She was nothing more than a young girl, but her maturity and cheerfulness had been one of the pillars on which Khan had founded his life in Ylaco's training camp.
The two of them had rarely gotten chances to see each other outside the lessons in the last period due to their packed schedules, but they had managed to grow closer on Onia. They had clearly liked each other for a while, but it had taken them six months to conclude that they couldn't remain simple friends, even if the army didn't give them much free time.
Khan almost heard Martha's replies in his mind. He could imagine her telling him to focus on his training and his goal to become an ambassador.
Khan then imagined how fun it would be to tease her about Cora. Martha would definitely pretend not to care about the event, and Khan would have to work hard to find her real feelings.
'I really wanted to see you jealous,' Khan eventually sighed again.
The hideous injuries didn't manage to ruin his mental image of the girl. Khan barely cared about them after everything that he had gone through. He only wanted to hear her voice and almost always correct ideas again since part of him felt utterly lost.
'I would have found a way to buy condoms for you,' Khan couldn't help but smile when he thought that.
Martha's angry face even appeared in his mind when he imagined her reaction. He knew it would have been fun to experience those moments with her, but the world didn't seem to like the idea of the two of them ending together. Actually, part of Khan started to believe that he was the issue in the matter.
'Maybe I attract problems,' Khan thought. 'What are the chances of experiencing the Second Impact and Istrone's second rebellion in a single life?'
Martha would scold him if she knew about those thoughts. She would remind him of how the world could simply be unfair at times. Having suffered once didn't save anyone from future traumas.
Khan eventually took Martha's hand in his grasp and waited in silence. His mind continued to be a mess, but only his memories of the girl managed to seep past the mental barrier.
The hour went by in an instant. Not even the meditations could make time flow so quickly. Khan didn't seem able to grow tired of staring at her, but the doctors eventually took her away and moved her toward a spaceship.
Luke neared Khan when he noticed him staring at the spaceship disappearing in the sky. George and the other friends limited themselves to gaze at him from their tents. Khan had taken care of them in the jungle, but they didn't know how to do the same for him.
The rain started to fall again by the time Luke patted his shoulder, but Khan barely felt that interaction. Seeing the spaceship leave made him feel as if part of him had ultimately vanished. That departure seemed to deliver a killing blow to the boy-Khan that his mental barriers kept away from his brain.
"She'll wake up in no time," Luke said while trying to cheer Khan up. "Not even the Kred can make that girl stay put."
"I'm not worried about her," Khan honestly revealed without adding anything else.
Luke showed a confused expression, but he didn't find the time to say anything since Khan quickly turned to go back into his tent. George and the others wanted to show their support when looking at that scene, but they felt that Khan wanted to remain alone for the time being, so they didn't move.
Khan had spoken the truth before. He wasn't worried about Martha. She would definitely wake up one day, and everything would be almost the same in her mind. However, Khan didn't know what could change inside him in that period. He wasn't even sure if she could recognize him right now.
Most of those worries were paranoias enhanced by his sorrow and unstable mental state. His raging emotions were about to burst past the barrier, but he didn't let it fall. It even appeared sturdier after the time he spent with Martha.
Khan entered his tent and sat cross-legged on his bed. He didn't want to think anymore. His attention quickly moved on the mana in his brain before starting the eighth mental exercise.
Needless to say, Khan finally completed the exercise and moved to the ninth. He only had three lessons left to master left before the Wave spell.