The Canker in the Heart of the Rose

"Dr. Najmi? Tell me what you saw!" Antares didn't like the look on her doctor's face. He was staring at her as though he had just learned that she was a survivor of the Roswell crash. Irritated and a little freaked out, she snapped her fingers sharply in front of his face. Najmi blinked and drew back in surprise.

"Ah, yes, well, ahem," he said, obviously stalling.

"Doctor…" Antares said in a warning tone. Dr. Najmi sighed.

"Very well," he said. "It seems you were right about something being implanted into you to change your metabolism."

"Yeah, no shit," muttered Darry under his breath.

"In your case," Najmi continued, having not heard Darry, "it's a mutagenic pathogen. I'm very glad your mother convinced me to see you tonight, otherwise the damage may have elevated to an irreversible level."

"What damage?" demanded Antares warily.

"The pathogen has apparently been growing and developing for some time," explained the doctor. "It has come to its resting place where it is now thriving and preparing to multiply: it has settled on your heart." Antares gasped, horrified. Darry held her close, equally horrified.

"And what exactly does that mean?" Antares asked shakily when she recovered a bit.

"It means that we have to remove it immediately before it burrows into your heart and embeds itself in the heart lining permanently." Najmi received no response, as expected. "I've never seen anything like this before, but I know that it's not benign. I understand you're afraid, but you have to try and understand that I will do all that I can. But I have to try and remove this thing as soon as possible, maybe even tonight, before it does any more damage to your system." Antares just stared at him, looking uncomprehending. Finally, she nodded slowly and looked at her mother. Mira nodded as well. "Good. If I move some other appointments around, I'll be able to do this surgery tonight. Don't worry, Ana. I'm going to fix you right up." Antares didn't even attempt to smile.

"Just get this thing out of me," she said quietly. "You have no idea what this is, what it's doing, what it will do. Just get it out and destroy it." Najmi nodded, but he still looked concerned.

"There's just one thing," he said hesitantly. "This operation is very risky, especially since you're so young."

"I don't care," said Antares flatly. "Even if something happens, as long as that thing is out of me it's better. I'm stronger than most people; I can handle any risks." Dr. Najmi was clearly reluctant, but he nodded.

"Then let's get you ready," he said with a sigh.

An hour and a half later…
"Ana, are you sure about this?"

"Darry, what else can we do? I can't let this thing take over me. I will not become a monster like the Creeper." Antares now sat up in a hospital bed, dressed in an itchy and uncomfortable hospital gown, half-covered with a blanket, and hooked up to a heart monitor and white-blood-cell-counter thing. Darry leaned on the bed's frame next to her. Mira came in with them, gazing sadly at her daughter. Antares noticed and smiled gently. "I'll be OK Mom. I promise."

Mira sighed. "Ana, baby, I don't like this. It's so risky, and what if it doesn't work? Or what if something goes wrong?"

"It will work," said Antares confidently, but Darry could see the fear in her eyes. He kissed her cheek, right in front of her mother, and took her hand.

"You'll be all right," he said. "I know it. I've seen your strength. You showed it to me when you stopped the Creeper from beating me. You leant it to me when we ran into the night in a last-ditch effort to get away from the monster. It's there. Trust in it." Antares smiled and kissed Darry on the nose.

"I trust in you," she said. "I trust in us. I will see you again. I know it." The three amused themselves for a while playing Hangman, Tic-Tac-Toe, and other games you play on a scrap of paper someone dug out of their pocket. Antares discreetly took a small piece and wrote on it herself without the others noticing, closing it up in her hand as Dr. Najmi came in.

"We're ready," he said heavily. He put up the gates on the side of the bed and took hold of the back. Antares kissed her mother and Darry both before she was wheeled away.

Antares sighed as she watched the rooms go past. Dr. Najmi noticed her apprehension and patted her shoulder.

"You're gonna be fine," he assured her. Antares's mouth quirked downward a little, but she didn't respond. The doctor wheeled her into the O.R. and signaled to the nurses to hook her up to even more machines while he lowered the bed so it was flat. When she was all hooked up and ready, one of the nurses put a mask over her nose and mouth.

"This'll take affect pretty quick, sweetie," she said gently. "Just relax and let yourself drift off. You'll wake up with your mom and your cute boyfriend. What's his name, anyway?"

All the while when she had been speaking, Antares had been breathing the anesthetic fumes in. The room went blurry and she felt dizzy. Smiling, she murmured, "Darry," before drifting off into "La-La Land", as her family physician called it (and when asked, he claimed that yes, it was a technical term).

"There's nothing to do now but hope," said Dr. Najmi. "Well, here goes."

Darry paced furiously up and down the hospital room reserved for Antares for nearly an hour before Mira gently pulled him to a seat. "You're wearing a rut in the floor," she informed him. "Ana will be fine. You'll see. They'll bring her out any minute now. Just wait, and don't think about it. We'll all be going home before you know it." She smiled encouragingly at Darry, and he tried to smile back. He could see the worry in Mira's eyes, but he didn't say so. Another hour passed, and another. Darry dozed on and off and Mira knitted. Finally Dr. Najmi came out, the nurses wheeling Antares. Their expressions were grim. Mira and Darry jumped up.

"Well?" asked Mira earnestly. "How is she?"

"Frankly, I'm confounded," said Dr. Najmi wearily. "The operation was a success, but now she's withdrawn into herself. She's in a coma." Mira gave a wail and rushed to her daughter's side. "I have no idea why. The anesthetic should have worn off nearly an hour ago. I did a brain scan, and it seems that she's battling something in her mind, a hallucination or something." Darry's eyes widened in horror.

"The Creeper," he whispered, but no one heard him. Antares jerked slightly, her face contracted in consternation and fear. She jerked a few more times and was still. Her heart rate, which had accelerated when she had been jerking around, settled back to normal.

"Darry," said Dr. Najmi gently. Darry looked at him helplessly. "This was in Ana's hand when we wheeled her out. It's for you." He gave Darry the piece of paper Antares had written on. Puzzled and curious, Darry opened it. It read thus:

'A'maelamin (my beloved)
If you're reading this, then something has gone wrong. I was afraid of this before, but I didn't tell you so as not to worry you. What I never told you about the Creeper's dining habits was that some times I didn't feel weakened by his feeding on me. That is because he fed me with his own soul. Remarkable that he even has one, isn't it? His soul has been nourishing the pathogen he implanted in me, and it has established a malignant link between us, both mental and spiritual. If I am right, then I will be in a coma-like state trying to fight him off in my mind. However, I know I am not strong enough. Not alone. Darry, no doctor can help me now. You are my last hope. Buried three feet down in the sand, to the right of the third post from the water's edge on the left side of the boardwalk at the far end of the beach is a metal safe-box. In it is everything you'll need. I'm counting on you, aratoamin (my champion). You're the only one who can help me.

With all the Love I possess,
Antares

Darry stared at the note for a moment, uncomprehending. Suddenly it hit him. Antares was introverted into her own mind battling off the Creeper, and he had to help her! Shoving the note in his pocket, he turned quickly to Mira.

"Mrs. Starr, I have to go back to the house," he said quickly. Mira just stared at him. "I know how this sounds, but Antares is withdrawn into her mind fighting off the Creeper himself, and she can't last much longer. In her note she told me where to find something that'll help me save her, but I have to go back to the house and get it. Please, Mrs. Starr. For Ana." Mira stared at him a little more, then her gaze softened and she nodded, handing him her car keys. "Thank you Mrs. Starr." He looked at Antares for a moment before looking back to Mira. "I don't care what it take to keep her strong, but do it. Hold her hand, talk to her, tell her I'm on my way, anything. But don't you let her lose this battle before I get back!"