The double doors were lighter than they looked, and Zoe easily pushed them open. Pausing for
a few seconds as her eyes slowly began to adjust to the lack of light filtering into the room, Zoe then
looked at the rest of the SSX crew. Seeing her look of uncertainty, Atomika, Elise and Psymon gestured
for her to enter the darkened room, and Zoe nodded, heartened by the encouraging gestures of her
friends.
Slowly, trying to feel her way into the room one step at a time, Zoe walked into the centre of the
dim room. She didn't see, feel or hear anything, and that was what scared her. Feeling a hand on her
shoulder, Zoe nearly jumped out of her skin until she heard the distinctive clicking of Psymon's tongue
stud against his teeth.
Whispering, Zoe leaned into Psymon's chest, gaining strength as she let the big Canadian
support her much-reduced weight. "So, care to spill the beans?"
"No. Just wait a few minutes and you'll see what's up." He then disappeared into the shadows,
leaving Zoe alone. Zoe didn't like that very much, but then noticed that the room was slowly getting
lighter. A half-dozen red lights blinked to existence as she watched, and Zoe had a strange idea that she
was about to be interviewed by several news consortiums at once. Mentally, she cursed, but when the
lights turned on, Zoe gasped in complete surprise.
Instead of a news crew waiting to pounce, there were six small objects on a table, each of them
backlit by the red lights. Zoe slowly walked over to the table, feeling short of breath, as she picked up
and looked at each object. The first thing she picked up was a baseball card. She noticed that the card
was sealed in a plastic envelope, and when she read the card's title, she knew why. "Okay. Who got me
the rookie card of Babe Ruth?"
Everyone was grinning from ear to ear, and Zoe just chuckled. She then pointed at the most
likely culprit. "Okay, Atomika. Next year, don't look through the official dossier that the league has
on each of us, 'kay? I mean, even though Elise still sleeps with her teddy bear, and Moby has a secret
love of NASCAR, those things shouldn't just be revealed to everyone."
Everyone stopped, turning their gazes towards Moby and Elise, who were both blushing bright
red. Elise spoke first. "Whatever gets you through the night."
Moby, however was much less enthusiastic about Zoe's statement, as Luther had looked at him,
smiling. When Luther smiled, something either horribly wrong or just plain horrible was going to
happen. "Hey! What was that for Zo? It's not like I blabbed about yer collection of porcelain dolls."
It was Zoe's turn to blush, as everyone turned back to look at her. "What? We're all allowed
to collect things. Anyhow, thank you very much Atomika. I'll treasure this for as long as I live."
Atomika nodded, privately wondering how long that actually would be. Zoe turned back to the
table, picking up the second present in the row. Turning over the small package, she didn't even try to
shake it as she felt the lack of weight inside the neatly wrapped box. Instead she slashed the tape open
with her right thumbnail, and carefully pulled the wrapping paper off of the tiny velvet container.
Slowly, Zoe opened the small case, and instantly looked up, tears swimming in her eyes.
"They- they're beautiful." Zoe fished a piece of paper out of the tiny box, and read the short note
on it to herself, before she walked over to Kaori, pulling the shorter boarder into a one-armed hug. Then,
with Kaori's help, Zoe put the earrings on. The first one was a stud, which was placed in her left earlobe.
The small stud was a diamond solitaire, glimmering in the light and accenting Zoe's slim face. The
second earring was a more conventional ring of expensive metal, though it had a series of tiny rubies
running around the edge. Everyone applauded Kaori's choice, and even Psymon had minimal
difficulties in nodding his approval of the diminutive boarder's choice in jewelry.
Zoe posed for a few minutes, taking a thirty-second crash course from Elise on how to best
model the fashion accessories. She then turned to the third of the half-dozen presents. Neatly wrapped,
and with a small card taped to the package saying that it was from Brodi, Zoe smiled at the tall Buddhist
as she deftly unwrapped his gift. As she looked at the cover of the book he had given her, Zoe's mouth
swiftly turned into an 'O' of surprise, followed by a quirked smile. "So, is it required reading Brodi?"
Zoe then turned to book around to the rest of the group, which resulted in Brodi sinking into an
ocean of embarrassment. The book's cover stated; "Kama Sutra, Revised Edition: How to Implement
Advanced Sexual Techniques Without Laughing." Psymon took one look at the cover, smiled, and
wiggled his eyebrows at Zoe, who blushed at the nonverbal insinuation he had made.
Zoe let the ribbing continue for another twenty minutes, leaning against the edge of the table as
her breath caught in her chest, leaving her sore for a minute. Mac noticed the expression on Zoe's face
as she pressed her hand against the right side of her chest, and stopped his ribbing of the now-furiously
blushing Buddhist and turned to Zoe. Leaning against the table next to her, Mac smiled. "How you
holding up Zo?"
Zoe shrugged, keeping her hand pressed against her ribcage. "Dunno. Doctors keep saying that
I'm getting better, but I keep feeling worse. Maybe they want to keep the truth from me, or maybe it's
just the damn chemo working me over with a nail-studded baseball bat."
Mac grinned. "I won't say anything about your appearance then. By the way, why don't we
deflect some of the attention Brodi's getting? I mean, I like the public roasting 'an all, but I think he's
suffered enough."
Zoe smiled, but the smile suddenly disappeared. All the colour in her face also disappeared, as
if drained from her, and she began to cough, doubling over from the pain that was shooting through
every inch of her body. Mac noticed instantly and shouted for some help, then tried to steady Zoe as she
nearly collapsed. Zoe didn't even feel the dull impact of her knees hitting the carpeted floor, her mind
having focussed on the agony in her chest as she coughed, blood spattering over her lips. Then
everything went dark.
a few seconds as her eyes slowly began to adjust to the lack of light filtering into the room, Zoe then
looked at the rest of the SSX crew. Seeing her look of uncertainty, Atomika, Elise and Psymon gestured
for her to enter the darkened room, and Zoe nodded, heartened by the encouraging gestures of her
friends.
Slowly, trying to feel her way into the room one step at a time, Zoe walked into the centre of the
dim room. She didn't see, feel or hear anything, and that was what scared her. Feeling a hand on her
shoulder, Zoe nearly jumped out of her skin until she heard the distinctive clicking of Psymon's tongue
stud against his teeth.
Whispering, Zoe leaned into Psymon's chest, gaining strength as she let the big Canadian
support her much-reduced weight. "So, care to spill the beans?"
"No. Just wait a few minutes and you'll see what's up." He then disappeared into the shadows,
leaving Zoe alone. Zoe didn't like that very much, but then noticed that the room was slowly getting
lighter. A half-dozen red lights blinked to existence as she watched, and Zoe had a strange idea that she
was about to be interviewed by several news consortiums at once. Mentally, she cursed, but when the
lights turned on, Zoe gasped in complete surprise.
Instead of a news crew waiting to pounce, there were six small objects on a table, each of them
backlit by the red lights. Zoe slowly walked over to the table, feeling short of breath, as she picked up
and looked at each object. The first thing she picked up was a baseball card. She noticed that the card
was sealed in a plastic envelope, and when she read the card's title, she knew why. "Okay. Who got me
the rookie card of Babe Ruth?"
Everyone was grinning from ear to ear, and Zoe just chuckled. She then pointed at the most
likely culprit. "Okay, Atomika. Next year, don't look through the official dossier that the league has
on each of us, 'kay? I mean, even though Elise still sleeps with her teddy bear, and Moby has a secret
love of NASCAR, those things shouldn't just be revealed to everyone."
Everyone stopped, turning their gazes towards Moby and Elise, who were both blushing bright
red. Elise spoke first. "Whatever gets you through the night."
Moby, however was much less enthusiastic about Zoe's statement, as Luther had looked at him,
smiling. When Luther smiled, something either horribly wrong or just plain horrible was going to
happen. "Hey! What was that for Zo? It's not like I blabbed about yer collection of porcelain dolls."
It was Zoe's turn to blush, as everyone turned back to look at her. "What? We're all allowed
to collect things. Anyhow, thank you very much Atomika. I'll treasure this for as long as I live."
Atomika nodded, privately wondering how long that actually would be. Zoe turned back to the
table, picking up the second present in the row. Turning over the small package, she didn't even try to
shake it as she felt the lack of weight inside the neatly wrapped box. Instead she slashed the tape open
with her right thumbnail, and carefully pulled the wrapping paper off of the tiny velvet container.
Slowly, Zoe opened the small case, and instantly looked up, tears swimming in her eyes.
"They- they're beautiful." Zoe fished a piece of paper out of the tiny box, and read the short note
on it to herself, before she walked over to Kaori, pulling the shorter boarder into a one-armed hug. Then,
with Kaori's help, Zoe put the earrings on. The first one was a stud, which was placed in her left earlobe.
The small stud was a diamond solitaire, glimmering in the light and accenting Zoe's slim face. The
second earring was a more conventional ring of expensive metal, though it had a series of tiny rubies
running around the edge. Everyone applauded Kaori's choice, and even Psymon had minimal
difficulties in nodding his approval of the diminutive boarder's choice in jewelry.
Zoe posed for a few minutes, taking a thirty-second crash course from Elise on how to best
model the fashion accessories. She then turned to the third of the half-dozen presents. Neatly wrapped,
and with a small card taped to the package saying that it was from Brodi, Zoe smiled at the tall Buddhist
as she deftly unwrapped his gift. As she looked at the cover of the book he had given her, Zoe's mouth
swiftly turned into an 'O' of surprise, followed by a quirked smile. "So, is it required reading Brodi?"
Zoe then turned to book around to the rest of the group, which resulted in Brodi sinking into an
ocean of embarrassment. The book's cover stated; "Kama Sutra, Revised Edition: How to Implement
Advanced Sexual Techniques Without Laughing." Psymon took one look at the cover, smiled, and
wiggled his eyebrows at Zoe, who blushed at the nonverbal insinuation he had made.
Zoe let the ribbing continue for another twenty minutes, leaning against the edge of the table as
her breath caught in her chest, leaving her sore for a minute. Mac noticed the expression on Zoe's face
as she pressed her hand against the right side of her chest, and stopped his ribbing of the now-furiously
blushing Buddhist and turned to Zoe. Leaning against the table next to her, Mac smiled. "How you
holding up Zo?"
Zoe shrugged, keeping her hand pressed against her ribcage. "Dunno. Doctors keep saying that
I'm getting better, but I keep feeling worse. Maybe they want to keep the truth from me, or maybe it's
just the damn chemo working me over with a nail-studded baseball bat."
Mac grinned. "I won't say anything about your appearance then. By the way, why don't we
deflect some of the attention Brodi's getting? I mean, I like the public roasting 'an all, but I think he's
suffered enough."
Zoe smiled, but the smile suddenly disappeared. All the colour in her face also disappeared, as
if drained from her, and she began to cough, doubling over from the pain that was shooting through
every inch of her body. Mac noticed instantly and shouted for some help, then tried to steady Zoe as she
nearly collapsed. Zoe didn't even feel the dull impact of her knees hitting the carpeted floor, her mind
having focussed on the agony in her chest as she coughed, blood spattering over her lips. Then
everything went dark.
