Really, I AM Dying! (pt. 5)

The woman had been sitting in the same spot all night. She hadn't even gotten up to get a cup of coffee or go to the bathroom or anything.
Manny Ramirez (yes, like the baseball player, he told everyone), who worked the ticket counter, was worried. He hoped she wasn't dead--they'd had a guy die while waiting for his bus once, and the cops asked too many questions. Especially since the guy had been sitting there for three hours before anyone noticed he was dead.
Manny approached the woman cautiously. "Hey," he said. "Lady. You o--"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" the woman screamed.

"O--okay." Well, at least she wasn't dead.
Then Manny looked at her and noticed she was covered in some kind of rash. Every inch of exposed skin bore purplish-red spots, like some weird plague . . .

He lunged for the phone and dialed 911.

Within two hours, there were four police cars, two ambulances, and a battalion of paramedics on the scene. The bus station had been shut down and cordoned off, and all the passengers were being screened.

Mystique coughed. "Where am I?" she asked.
An EMT was standing over her. "You're in the bus terminal," he said. "Do you remember how you got here?"
She shook her head. The last thing she remembered was . . . getting out of the car, in front of her house.
"What's your name?"
She said the first thing that came to mind. "Raven Darkholme."

"Okay, Raven, we're gonna take you to the hospital now, to get checked out."
"No . . ." she moaned. She had to go . . . where? Then she remembered. Mississippi. To see her baby. She hadn't seen her little girl in almost a year now . . .

"Raven? "the EMT repeated.

She looked at him without seeming to really see him.
"I have to go see Marie," she said. "I haven't seen her in so long."
"And Marie is?"
"My little girl. I left her with Irene when I went to Germany. She's probably forgotten all about me . . ."

Mystique was clearly not herself.

"Okay, we'll take you to see your little girl. But first you have to come with us to the hospital--"
"NO!"

She jumped to her feet . . . though she didn't stay there long. She was far too weak to stand.

The EMTs caught her. "Get her onto a stretcher," the first EMT said. "We've got to get her to a hospital right away."
"I'll say," said his partner. "She is one sick lady."

Back at the Institute, things were getting tense.
"I should have gone with them," Jean kept muttering to herself.
"Now, Jean . . ."

"I should be there!" she insisted.
"You'd just be sick yourself."
"It's better than just sitting here and doing nothing!"

Jean? Kitty's voice questioned inside her head.

What is it?
You wouldn't want to be here right now, anyway. It's, like, everybody's on each other's nerves!

Is it really that bad?

Are you kidding?

Never mind.

Oh, she added. How's Scott?
He and Lance are, like, driving each other crazy! Somehow they ended up in the same room.
Not a smart idea.
Well, it's not as if we have a lot of beds here. Everyone has to double up.

Uh oh.

Don't worry, I'm with Rogue.

Good. Keep me posted.

Wanda came rushing in. "There's something you have to see on TV!"
Jean turned her attention to the girl without breaking mental contact with Kitty. "What is it?"
"Just come see!"

Jean followed Wanda . . .

It was a news bulletin.
"An unidentified woman has been hospitalized . . ."

"Oh God." Wanda gasped. "That's Mystique."

"How can you tell?"

"Because she's wearing my jacket."

"Which hospital? What's her condition? Did they say whether or not it's--"

"Shhhhh!"

"Doctors are still unsure at this time what the mysterious illness is, though they have ruled out smallpox and Ebola as possible causes. We'll have more on this story as it develops."

"Oh God." the whole room seemed to say in unison.

"We have to go get her, before they find out she's a mutant," said Magneto.

Kitty? Are you watching this?
Yeah. At least we know what happened to Mystique. Is she gonna die?

We...we don't know yet.

Xavier got on the phone to the hospital . . .

 . . . while Magneto raced to Mystique's side.

"Let me in," he said. "I'm her husband."