Ok, so I tried to update sooner, but for some reason my account wasn't working. I could log in, send messages, read other ficts, but I couldn't update. Sorry for the great delay.
Running
It was cold and Ryan's head hurt. He couldn't see anything because it was so dark. He looked out into the distance. Someone was walking towards him with a glowing light behind him. Ryan walked towards them. Then he recognized the man. "Jesse," he said to himself.
Ryan ran towards his friend, his heart pounding. Jesse ran towards him but stopped just short of him. Then the pounding in his chest stopped. Ryan placed his hand on his chest and felt the silence inside him. There was no heart beat anymore. Ryan could see pain in Jesse's eyes. He walked towards Jesse but he blocked him.
"No!" Jesse said, "Go back!"
"Jesse, what's wrong with you?" Ryan asked defensively.
"Go back! Go back now!"
"Jesse, let me through!"
"No Ryan, it's not your time! Go back!"
"Please Jesse, you don't understand!"
"No, I do understand, Ryan," Jesse said, his eyes burning into Ryan's. "I've been watching you this whole time. You're sick, you're in pain, you want it to end, but it's not your time! You need to go back!"
"Jesse, leave me alone!" Ryan tried to push past him but Jesse grabbed his arm and dragged him back. "Jesse, let me go!"
"Is that what you told Jessica?!" Ryan froze at Jesse's words. He looked at his friend and could see anger and pain burning in Jesse's eyes. "She's going to kill herself, Ryan. When she finds out you're dead she's going to take her own life! Go back and live! Not just for you, but for Jessica and Oliver! She needs you, Ryan! Don't let her go like this. Please Ryan, we both love her."
Ryan looked at Jesse stunned. "She's really going to kill herself?"
"Yes, but if you go back now you can save her." Jesse explained, "Go back and live for her and for you. You'll be in pain for awhile but everything's going to get better. You're going to make it through this. I promise, Ryan, you're going to live. I'll help you through this, that's what friends are for."
Ryan smiled at Jesse and hugged him. "Thank you, Jesse."
"You need to go now though," Jesse said, "They're pronouncing you dead right now."
Ryan looked at him confused. "How long have I been dead?"
"About three minutes. Now go!"
"Where do I go?" Ryan asked as he started back peddling.
"That way!" Jesse yelled, pointing behind Ryan. "Just keep running! It's going to suck but just keep running!"
"Thanks Jesse!" Ryan yelled as he turned and ran. A thought came to mind and he stopped and looked back at Jesse. "Who's Oliver?"
"Just keep going! They've already unhooked all the IVs and monitors! You're on your way to the morgue!"
"Oh shit!" Ryan exclaimed, "Tell me later!"
"Will do buddy!" Jesse yelled with a smile.
Ryan ran. He ran as fast as he could. He felt the warmth leave the room and his head started to pound again. His body itched and his skin felt like it was on fire as the pounding in his chest restarted with a thud. He wanted to stop but he remembered what Jesse had said. He had to keep going. He had to go back for Jessica.
The burning wouldn't stop. He couldn't move. Ryan gasped for air and his eyes shot open. He couldn't see anything, his vision was blurred. He tried to grasp handfuls of the sheets but there was nothing there. He clawed at thick plastic surrounding him and screamed. At least he thought he was screaming. He heard voices and clattering noises. His voice stuck out though. He could hear him screaming even through the glass. He was pounding his fist against the glass and screaming.
"He's alive! Someone get in here, damn it! He's alive!"
Horatio cried huge heaving sobs. He looked through the window at the orange body bag before he could no longer stand it and had to look away. He was gone. The only man his daughter had ever loved and had brought her true happiness was gone. He hadn't felt this kind of grief since the death of his wife.
Horatio looked back at the body bag. He thought it was the tears obscuring his vision but when he saw the bag move again he knew he was right. Horatio rubbed the tears away and watched as the bag continued to move, like something was trying to get out.
"He's alive!" Horatio yelled. He looked up and down the halls to see CDC workers walking around. He slammed his fist against the glass to get their attention and screamed as loud as he could. "Someone get in here, damn it! He's alive!"
No one responded. Horatio watched as the body bag began thrashing about. No one was coming. Horatio did the only thing he could.
Horatio threw the door to Ryan's room open and rushed to the bed. He unzipped the body bag and tore it apart. Ryan gasped loudly and sat up, heaving in gulps of air. His entire body was shaking as Horatio held him in his arms and cried.
Eric watched in shock as the body bag began moving. He watched Horatio open the door, exposing everyone to the live virus. He tore the bag open and Ryan sat up breathing and shaking.
"Jessica, I'm going to call you back," he quietly said.
"Eric, what's going on?" Jessica hysterical voice yelled.
"Ryan's alive," Eric barely muttered.
"Alive? I thought you said he was dead!"
"I don't know how but he's alive, Jess. I need to call you back. I'm sorry, I'll call you as soon as I know something."
Eric hung his phone up and continued to stare. He pressed the sleeve of his jacket over his mouth and nose and watched as doctors in haz mat suits rushed in. They slammed the door and pulled Horatio away, escorting him out of the room as he continued to struggle. They began hooking Ryan back up to monitors and pulled an oxygen mask over his face. They took samples and stats and checked his vitals.
Eric stood there stunned. He hardly noticed the CDC worker in the biohazard suit as he began escorting Eric down the hall. He said something to Eric but Eric didn't hear it; he was too astonished by what he had just witnessed.
"He's alive," he whispered to himself, "I can't believe it, he's alive."
Horatio sat on his stupid hospital bed, in the stupid CDC hospital wing, in stupid quarantine, again. The stupid CDC workers stuck him back in quarantine just because he ran into Ryan's room to save him from suffocating inside the airtight body bag. It just didn't seem fair.
A CDC nurse walked in with a tray of food for him. Horatio stared at the cup of green jello and sighed. "Can't I have pudding?" he asked her as he picked up his fork to pick at the turkey she brought him. "I hate green jello."
"Sorry, Lieutenant," the nurse said, "But jello is easier for your body to digest."
"I don't believe that bullshit," Horatio said. "I think jello's probably harder on your body because it's processed and made from non-natural ingredients."
"I think pudding is the same way," the nurse said as she began taking down Horatio's stats.
"At least it's tastier," Horatio said. He picked up the cup of jello and examined it. He reached out and dropped it into the biohazard container next to his bed. "Nasty jello," he muttered.
Ryan looked around the room. His body was no longer burning but his head still pounded and his skin itched like crazy. Another nurse came in and began taking his stats again. She looked at him confused as she swabbed his throat.
"Your throat's inflamed," she commented, "Does it hurt?"
"Yeah," Ryan crocked out, "Really bad."
"Well it almost looks like strep so I'm sending in a cloture," she said. "Are you hungry?" Ryan sat there for a moment thinking. He felt tired and weak but couldn't figure out if he was hungry. "How about I bring you some soup?" the nurse inquired, "You could probably use some food right now."
Ryan nodded his head as his eyes lolled shut. "Can I sleep for a little while first?" he asked, "I'm really tired."
The nurse smiled and lowered his bed back down and gently covered him with the blanket. He momentarily expected her to kiss his forehead before he remembered it wasn't Jessica. He suddenly missed her again and wished he could talk to her again and tell her he had died but came back for her.
"I don't know how it happened, Jess," Eric explained as he chomped on his lunch in his hospital room. "He died, right there, in that bed, and then he was suddenly alive again."
"Are you sure he was dead?" Jessica's small voice sounded on the other end of the phone.
"Well I'm not sure but I think the doctor that pronounced him and had him bagged was pretty certain he was dead."
"They pronounced him dead?" Jessica quietly asked.
"Yeah, like wrote it in his file and pulled the plug and everything," Eric explained as he shoveled green jello into his mouth. "I mean they were getting ready to take his body to the morgue for an autopsy. He was in the bag, nothing hooked up to him, no monitors or IV. He was dead, Jessica. He was just plain dead."
Jessica was silent for a moment. Eric listened to her small sobs as she continued to cry. "He's alive," she practically whispered.
Eric smiled and wished more than anything he could hug her at that moment. "Yeah Jess, he's alive."