The Serum

Part 15

AN: To H (again) because I'm stealing another part of her life to make up for the fact I'm a teetotaller lol. What fun.

"Just couldn't stay away could you darlin'." Eliza opened her eyes cautiously to find herself in a hospital bed; the same nurse stood over her as before.

"Hello again." She said through a hoarse throat.

"I'm glad you're awake, there's a right raucous going on outside over you."

"Me?"

"You feel up to seeing your friends? I think it might be better before they start resorting to violence."

"Yeah." She replied, struggling upright as the nurse went out of the door. The voices she didn't realise she had been hearing increased in volume as the nurse held the door open to call them in. "Adam!" Eliza called as her mentor walked in, followed by Brennan and then Granger and Davies.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm OK, what am I doing here?"

"These men wouldn't let Emma and Brennan bring you back with them, and now you're here the hospital won't release you to me." He replied with obvious antagonism.

"That wasn't exactly what I meant."

"You passed out after you got the feral subdued." Granger offered. The word feral seemed foreign out of his mouth. They didn't fit together. "That'll teach you to drink and then play hero."

"I think it probably has something to do with the return of your mutation as well." Adam added, looking decidedly shifty talking about 'it' in company. "You're over stressing your body as it's trying to return to its feral state. But I can't try to counteract that until I can take you back and at the moment your friends here won't let me do that."

"I'm OK, Adam. Honest. Are the others OK?"

"Jaylynn got sent home to sleep it off, your other friend disappeared off"

"Jesse's fine," Adam interrupted. "The head wound wasn't as bad as it looked. Emma's looking after him."

"Where's Nikki?" She began to panic as Adam and Granger exchanged 'a look'. "Talk to me guys."

"Maybe that's something to talk about later." Adam suggested, refusing to look her in the eye.

"There's no problem Ella. It's just not something to be discussing here." Granger added. Still frowning she nodded.

"OK, but you're going to tell me as soon as you can, right?"
"Of course."

"You whispering about anything interesting?" The nurse whispered, appearing beside them and making them all jump. She laughed. "OK, well. You're good to go when you're ready, but we need you back in two days for a check up because there's something odd going on with your blood sugar. It might just be the after affects of what ever you were doing to pass out like that, we just need to make sure."

"Thanks." Eliza said.

"You're welcome, but I don't want to see you in this ward again, understood?" She grinned and, with a wave, headed over to another patient.

"OK Ella, it looks like you're going home with these guys." Granger said. "That you did what you did it might have thrown off your something or other. Anyway, Adam wants to go with him for a scan." Eliza suppressed her laughter at Granger's inarticulate attempt to take control of the situation.

"OK Granger, I'll do that." She agreed, taking the clothes that Brennan offered her and getting out of the bed, standing slowly to pre-empt any dizziness she might feel. Finding herself clear-headed she headed into the ladies room to get changed out of the scrubs she had found herself in on waking.

Adam had set off for the hospital before the rest of Mutant X had returned with Nikki and, because Brennan had returned in the helix, they were travelling back to Sanctuary separately, Eliza with Adam in the car and Brennan on his own in the helix. Eliza and Adam had sat in comfortable silence for most of the journey before Adam folded and broke it.

"You didn't used to drink." He teased.

"Alcohol made everything too loud and too bright when I was feral. I discovered it by accident actually. A friend's vodka and coke got mixed up with my coke and it all went from there. I don't know, it's nice to leave things behind for a while. I guess I'll have to give that up again." She sighed.

"So you get drunk often?"

"Adam, it's been a long time since I've been young enough for you to lecture me on my drinking habits." They laughed together and fell back into silence. This time it was Eliza who broke it. "What happened to Nikki, Adam?" He sighed and wished he didn't have to explain this.

"She took her own life." Eliza's startled gasp was enough to signify that that wasn't what she had expected. "They weren't fast enough or strong enough to stop her. She pushed off the sedative and got the Helix doors open. She jumped Shalimar"

"Will you STOP calling me that." She replied viciously, just wanting him to stop for a moment, let her think. Adam sat silent, concentrating on the road in front of them. She rubbed at her head for a moment, trying to settle that information with her mind. She had known Nikki since they were kids, trained with her grown up with her And now she was dead. And there was no doubt in her mind that she was at least partly to blame.

"It wasn't your" Adam began, before he was interrupted.

"Stop!" She paused, her voice breaking, not knowing quite what she wanted him to stop doing. She scrubbed at threatening tears, hysterical laughter bubbling beneath the surface. "Do you even know why she went like that? Why she lost it?" She managed eventually.

"I think it has been happening for a long time, Sh Eliza. But I guess we'll never truly know the reason behind it. Maybe it was always the way it was going to be. Maybe I was justified in choosing you to stay on for Mutant X."

"God Adam, don't talk like that." She sobbed. "She was a friend, OK? No matter how messed up she was. She didn't deserve to end like that."