Far off from where everything else was going on, even from Fran's regret and sorrow, there was another district outside the City, dedicated to the housing of the Larges. It wasn't very big, however. The entire district may have contained a dozen homes. Within this district was a small, wooden home, that belonged to a young student from the University. In the house, however, she was in bed, but not alone. She was snoozing away and was accompanied by a friend, someone who worked with her at the school.
Helen sat on a small, wooden chair as she watched her fellow cheerleader sleeping. The poor girl had been restless all night long. She tossed and turned, sweating like a big. It had taken a great deal of effort for Helen to maintain her own consciousness and try to keep the girl from moving around too much and aggravating her injury. After many hours and the next day had arrived, though, she was calming down, laying peacefully. Her forehead was still red, though, and Helen's hand softly grazed it, pushing back the girl's crimson-red hair as the eyes were shutting tightly.
The heat from her forehead began to move into Helen's soft, tender hand as she finished grazing her. She got a frown on her face and let out a soft sigh. She knew what kind of heat this was, and it wasn't good for the girl at all. Pulling her hand back, she slowly got up from the chair and whispered down to the girl as she began to walk away. “I'll be right back, Emily. I'm gonna go get something to help you with your head.” Helen then turned and began to walk away from the bed, hoping that Emily's restlessness wouldn't return as she walked to the kitchen and looked for a cloth to make an ice-pack out of.
As she made her way to the kitchen, she stopped and took a look around. She saw a normal-looking kitchen, much like her own. A refrigerator in one corner, attached to a counter that extended halfway around the walls of the room. Above the counters were many cabinets, and on the end was a sink with two handles on it. Helen had her arms crossed for a moment, trying to think of where she kept her towels and cloths. This house was made just like every other house in the Large District, so it shouldn't be too hard to find it.
As she thought about where the towels might be, she thought about when these homes were first built. Ever since the government had started to accept Larges and tried to incorporate them back into society, in little ways, it was agreed upon that they couldn't live inside the cities and towns with the Minors. They were simply too big and they couldn't re-design every city and town in the world to accommodate for those people. After a couple months of planning, it was decided that they would build Districts for the Larges, just outside some cities. That way, they could be close to the other people, but not cause problems by living inside the same towns.
Little by little, materials were gathered until they could start building these districts. They were made, where all of the houses were identical. None of these districts were very large, but once they had designed the first home, it was easy to replicate the process and get other homes built. The governor of each state oversaw these projects in person, to make sure that the homes were built with utter care. Minors weren't the ones who built the homes, however. Not alone, anyways. The construction teams consisted of some Minors and some Larges, despite the differences many of them felt towards one another.
Before long, there were a lot of Districts being built. While they did have some trouble, from time to time, with workers getting upset with the Larges, the job was done with a fair amount of peace. The Larges who helped with the construction of these homes were the first people to move in and make sure everything was alright for their fellow Larges to live in. Helen's parents had been one of the first couples to volunteer on building and testing these homes. She had been around during the construction, when she was a little younger, and could still remember all of the issues they had, and the feeling of accomplishment her parents shared as they finished their first home.
She smiled as she continued to think of the past, still walking towards the sink, having spotted a small wash cloth hanging over it's edge. As she soaked it in cold water from the sink, she spoke to herself about what she was thinking about. “That first day, moving into that first house. I remember it like it was yesterday. We didn't have to live off the land anymore. We didn't have to sleep out in open fields. We had a place we could call home. That was the day Mom and Dad started getting along better. They stopped fighting after working together on building the house and providing them and me with a real home.”
She turned as she ended the thought, a smile on her face and wrung the cloth dry, heading back to the bedroom, where Emily was lying, sick. As she went back into the bedroom, she thought about the girl's condition. She felt like she had a fever, no doubt due to the injury in her ankle, as well as all the stress and struggling she'd gone through when her friend, Jim, had been taken from her by that girl, Fran. She sat back down and set the cloth over Emily's forehead, partially soaking her bangs. Emily's body chilled for a moment, but then stopped, her rest starting to get more peaceful before ending.
Helen smiled as she saw Emily's eyes opening up and letting out a quick cough, muttering out that same name from before, 'Jim'. Quickly putting her hands over the girl's head and chest, she whispered to her. “There's my girl. Don't worry about Jim, he's fine. You, on the other hand, have got a bit of a fever. Try to rest. I'll stay here and take care of you.”
She held the girl down until her muscles lost their tension and she laid herself back down on the bed, slowly nodding towards her friend. “T-thanks, Helen.”