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Chapter 10: Well Enough Alone
"I'm fine in the fire
I feed on the friction
I'm right where I should be
Don't try and fix me."
-"Fix Me" by 10 Years
Connor walked towards the Main Operations Room.
So close.
He wasn't mad about the fact that Sarah had accidentally touched his messed up hand so much as he was that she had touched his hand. She didn't know him, didn't know why he hated the ARC or anything. Yet, she was willing to be nice to him and try to hold his hand and tug him to some staff meeting in the Main Operations Room.
His hand was starting to bother him again. The itch was beginning to become unbearable; but he did his best to ignore it as he entered to the Main Operations Room.
Sarah walked behind Connor, keeping her distance.
She hadn't meant to grab his injured hand. She could still feel the soft bandages against her fingertips.
Sarah's plan was to cheer Connor up by getting him excited about the reveal and include him since he wasn't exactly on friendly terms with the others at the moment.
Connor had seemed so interested and excited about the Matrix earlier; but perhaps there was something behind the door he was staring at before she'd found him.
Sarah saw Connor enter the Main Operations Room and she waited a few moments before taking a deep breath and entering the room.
Everyone was carrying light conversation, when Connor entered the room and the chatter died down.
"Don't let my presence interrupt you." Connor glared. "By all means, do continue."
"Where's Sarah?" Cutter asked looking around.
"Right here." Sarah forced a smile as she entered the room.
"What's the big news, Nick?" Jenny asked, leaning next to a desk by Stephen.
"After a couple of sleepless nights and some help from Dr. Page. I think that we may have made our first prediction for when the next anomaly will open up." Cutter explained.
"Predicted?" Stephen asked.
"That Matrix is a—"
"Timeline." Connor cut Nick off. "Isn't that right, Professor?"
Cutter stared at Connor for a second before continuing.
"It's a timeline of anomalies; but it's nowhere near complete."
"Then, how do you know an anomaly is going to open soon?" Becker inquired, looking up from the reports he was reading.
"I think the better question is when?" Stephen asked, shooting a look to Becker.
"Sometime in the next few days." Sarah answered.
Connor started scratching at his hand again, not glancing down to avert attention. His throat felt like it was drying up and his breathing seemed somewhat labored.
He suddenly found himself having issues paying attention to what everyone was saying.
"We'll need someone to go and check out the sight where the anomaly will presumably appear." Cutter spoke.
"Is that what the ADD is for? To alert us when an anomaly appears?" Stephen asked.
Connor couldn't take it anymore. He felt like he the walls were closing in.
He quickly sauntered out of the Main Operations Room toward an outside balcony.
"Maybe I just need some fresh air." He muttered to himself as he rushed down the hall.
"What's wrongwith Temple?" Becker raised an eyebrow.
"Probably just needs his space." Stephen suggested.
"No, I don't think that's it." Sarah interjected. "He was scratching at his hand before he stormed out."
"He—he had a gash earlier today, an accident, but the medic had a look at it and took care of it." Jenny explained.
"I'll go check on him." Sarah volunteered.
"Let him go. He's probably headed back out to the medical bay." Cutter said hesitantly.
"I'm going anyway." Sarah said before leaving the room to find Connor.
Cutter looked back to the others, who waited for some sort of response.
"We'll continue this later." He said before leaving as well.
Connor stood on the balcony taking deep, gaping breaths of air. None of it really helping much. He scratched at the bandage before giving up and tearing off the bandages and tossing them in the nearby trash bin.
His hand was beat red, swollen, and covered in hives everywhere.
"Great." He cursed under his breath.
Sarah moved quickly down the hallway looking for Connor. She ran into a soldier, who explained that he'd seen Connor heading toward one of the balconies just down the hall to the right.
As she turned the Connor, she saw Connor coughing and scratching at his hand and dashed towards him.
Connor was so occupied with his hand that he hadn't noticed Sarah Page enter through the glass doors onto the balcony overlooking the parking lot.
"Are you allergic to any medications?" Sarah asked, stepping towards him.
"Possibly." Connor muttered, looking up.
"I think you are. That's a pretty bad allergic reaction on your right hand." She pointed out.
"It not my fault that the damn medic didn't check my file before Jenny forced him to stitch up my hand." Connor growled, scratching at his hand.
"You're not exactly helping yourself by scratching." Sarah said as she grabbed his left hand and pulled it away.
Connor struggled against her.
"You need to get to the medical bay before it gets worse and you're hospitalized." Sarah cautioned, not letting his hand go.
"I'll do it later." He struggled, managing to get his hand free.
"You're going to go right now." Sarah replied sternly, catching his hand in both of hers.
"Stop acting like such a kid." Sarah ordered, dragging Connor down the hallway.
"You don't know me. Why does it even matter?" Connor asked coldly, now allowing Sarah to drag him toward the medical bay.
"Because you're injured and in need of medical attention."
"I've been injured before. I'll live."
"If you're allergic enough and keep scratching you might not."
"Great! Then, maybe I'll finally be rid of the ARC!" Connor shouted.
Sarah stopped and turned to slap him.
"You shouldn't talk like that." Sarah spoke softly.
"I don't need anyone to look out for me. I can do it well enough on my own." Connor stated, anger seeping into his voice.
"Yeah, you do, Connor. Now, I'm asking you nicely, please go in there and tell them what's wrong."
"Or else what?"
"Or I'll call security." Sarah threatened.
"You're just like them, do you know that?" Connor glared before turning and entering the medical bay, leaving a stunned Sarah in his wake.
More on Cutter, Jenny, and Stephen next chap!
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