The
Guardians II
“Some
say the Human species won't last a year.”
His body convulsed on the metal operating
table, his eyes rolling back and his mouth spewing yellow. He was
about to die.
“John,
John, come on, stay with me! Come on!” I said, my worn out pink
nails covered in blood.
He
had brown eyes and brown skin, but the exhausting gray in his eyes
matched the tiles of the Hospital floor.
“Stay
with me!” I practically begged. More blood followed, out of his
nose, ears, mouth. If he had enough energy, he would be coughing up
gallons of it.
“GET
ME PROVIGIL. NOW. HE NEEDS TWO DOSES.”
“Dr.
Micheals, you know the rules, we can't waste medicine on patients
unless 100% necessary.”
“100%
NECESSARY? THIS MAN WILL DIE RIGHT NOW IF YOU DON'T. NOW GO!”
The
nurse ran out the room, leaving me alone with a dying man. The
monitor, the one recording the heart beat, stopped showing a steady
rythem, instead there was non stop alarm.
No.
No. No.
“Come
on, John, come on.”
The
nurse stepped back in, and as she did, his heartbeat flattened. He
was dead.
“Dr.
Micheals, it's no use.” the nurse said. She was new, hadn't even
finished med school yet. It didn't matter, we needed all the help we
could get. “We have to call it.”
John
Carlton, 32 years old, died 2:22 PM. This was the 6th time that I
heard a heartbeat flat line today, all from the same disease.
The
problem with the virus was how fast it spread, how it had killed
hundreds only on the first day. In Asia 352 people died on the first
day, America 402, Europe 370 and Oceania 423 dead. The hard part of
reading this, is you forget they're more than just numbers. They are
brothers, sisters, mums, dads, best friends.
My
shaking legs brought me to the hazard tent, undressing the plastic
that covered me, that protected me. I entered the empty break room,
absorbing the quiet and sat down. Six. Six dead.
I
couldn't breathe.
Before
the disease, I had only seen a handful of people die. I knew all
their names, all their families, their causes of death. I was ashamed
to say that from the people that died in front of me today, I only
knew two names.
But
I knew everyone's eye colour.
At
4:03 AM, a seven year old died with blue eyes. At 6:37 AM a senior
with dark brown eyes, at 9:49, a seventeen year old boy – Jackson
Peters, the football star from the local High School—green eyes.
Another
brown eyes at 11:22, another blue eyes at 11:47. John Carlton, gray
eyes, 2:33.
“Dr.
Micheals” I need another minute. “Dr. Micheals” Please.
“Yes?”
I said smiling. Always smiling.
In
came Peach. Peach was 82 years old. Her husband had died at this
Hospital a year ago. She came to visit us often.
“You
look exhausted.” she said. I stood up and faced her. At least Peach
looked good. Her white curls were sprung to life, her cheeks were
glowing red, her smile peachy as ever.
“Well
thank you for the compliment”, I said.
“Well,
it wasn't meant to be one”, she said, staring me down.
“How
can I help you?”, I asked.
“I've
come to help you.”
“Peach,
I really don't need a make-over, we've been over this remember?”
“Don't
be absurd. Our world is being torn to shreds. Why are you thinking of
make-up?”
'I'm
not..I just assumed...” I hesitated.
“I've
been cured, Dr. Micheals, from the virus.”
“I
didn't even know you had it.” I said, surprised.
“Well,
I didn't have it for long. When the first symptoms started to arrive,
I went to visit the handsome man downstairs.”
“Patrick
from the morgue?”
“No.
No. Downstairs”, she said, as if I was the crazy one.
“How
did he heal you?”, I asked, hesitatingly.
“Well,
there was a girl who would hold your hands and all your pain would
focus on the back of your hands. It really was quite unpleasant.
Anyway, then the pain vanished. All of it. Even my back feels fine
and my asthma is gone. The asthma I have had since I was a little
girl, Dr. Micheals.
“Show
me the back of your hand, Peach.” I ordered. On the back of her
hand, was a tattoo of an infinite circle.
“Peach?
You went to a tattoo parlor?” I asked shocked.
“Don't
be silly, no, no, I went to Hell.” before I could even react to
what she had said, I heard shouting.
“ON
THE FLOOR! EVERYONE ON THE FLOOR!” a man came in, a gun in his
trembling hand, and a little boy hanging on his shoulder. “NOW!”
I
knelled down, my hands in the air, begging that Peach would do the
same. She didn't. Instead she looked at the man's dark green eyes and
asked him:
“Is
that boy alright?”
“NO!
HE'S NOT! HE NEEDS CARE RIGHT NOW! HE'S AT STAGE THREE.” the man
was shouting, but they were calls for help, not threats.
“Sir,
if you put the gun away, I can help.”
I
was lying. We hadn't been able to help anyone yet. Maybe slow down
the process, but cure, like Peach supposedly was, had never happened.
“NO!
I WILL SAY WHAT DOES AND DOESN'T HAPPEN! NOW GET UP AND HELP HIM!”,
he shouted, setting the boy on the sofa, still pointing the gun at
me.
“Okay...Okay...”,
I said, getting up, “I need to check his heart. How do you know
he's at stage three?”
“He...umh...he..he
was bleeding out of his nose...oh god...umh...he had
a....convulsion.”
“Why
didn't you bring him in sooner?”
“BECAUSE
THERE IS A NO CURE! WHATS THE POINT!”
I
stood up and faced him, our heights matching up perfectly, “Then
why bring him now?”
“Because
I'm....Because...BECAUSE I HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE. He's the only thing
I have left, please, please, help him.”
“I'll
try my best. I can't promise anything.”
“But
I can.” Peach said, her eyes filled with determination, “I was
cured. I can save your boy and I can stop you from ever being sick
too.”
“How?”
he asked, stepping closer.
“Peach!
Stop! You can't promise that!” I said.
She
stepped back, looked around the room, and grabbed the permanent
marker on the desk, then started to draw a pentagon star on the
floor.
“Peach?
What are you doing?” I asked, hesitantly.
“SSH!”
she simply said, holding a finger out to silence me. “Pass me my
purse, will you dear, please.”
The
man, the man keeping us hostage, passed the purse like a good
grandson. Peach, rumbled through it, grabbing a small wax candle and
a lighter. She lit it in the center and stepped back, grinning.
“He
will be here shortly.” she said.
“Who?
Who will be here shortly?” I asked, stepping back.
The
black ink, turned a fire red, silencing the room. I looked around,
half of me wanted to burst out laughing, officially claiming that we
had all lost it, but the other half, was dead quiet. I could not
ignore the sudden cold and emptiness I was feeling.
Suddenly,
a hand grabbed my foot. I looked down, only to glance a bit of gray
pulling me down in the floor.
The hospital room was empty now.
Points: 6987
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