Disclaimer: Not mine
Run
Faye just watched him, his face contracting into frowns every now and then. Gently, her fingers descended onto his wound on his cheek. It was a strange yellow color, something not normal.
"Is he okay?" Annie asked quietly. Faye turned to her, startled. She was still there. "N-no. His wounds are a strange color. It's not normal. I'll be running tests on it." Annie nodded. She walked over to an old mahogany chair and sank into it, slowly. Annie sighed in resignation and sleepily rubbed her eyes. Sleep soon overtook her.
Faye took out a pair of tweezers and pulled a bit of the yellow substance that coated the wounds and placed it in a dish. There she sat and stared at it. Formulating a plan of 'attack' against this substance was hard. First of all, she didn't know what it was. Second of all, because she didn't know what it was, she didn't know how to treat it.
Reaching inside the bag, Faye pulled out a bottle of ferrous sulfate. It was really just iron. The medicine she was going to practice on him was obsolete. The twentieth century had brought many advances in medicine, one of them being the treatment of blood-related diseases. Iron helped in the formation of red blood cells.
Faye set the bottle down with a quiet tap onto the brown, bloodstained floor. Shadows now flitted across the floorboards; tattered curtains swayed in the slight wind. Ginger light splayed across Spike's face, highlighting his strong features and horrendous wounds. Off of the windowpane floated golden particles of dust, settling onto the floor and other such places.
Faye set about crushing the pills into a fine powder and then mixing it with water. Faye waited for it to adopt a paste-like consistency. Once it did, Faye applied it gently to the yellow substance in the dish. She waited, with baited breath.
Nothing was happening. Faye had hoped for the iron to reorder the substance into red blood cells, changing its elemental make-up. No such luck. Faye threw away the iron-coated essence, still in the dish and took some more from Spike's wound. Trial and error would have to work. Faye had no clue how to work around this substance.
Slowly but surely, Faye worked her was through the various bottles of pills and powders that decorated her bag. She went through many plates, each one discarded with the failure. Nothing seemed to be working. If it didn't do anything within twenty minutes, Faye would throw it away, to the side.
"Damn it all." Faye muttered. She swept her long violet tresses behind her ear violently and looked around. None of the chemicals alone had worked. She would have to mix and match the medicines. Faye bit her bottom lip. That was dangerous. Mixing and matching could have un-foretold consequences on the patient.
Sweeping her jade eyes around the various dishes littered around her. Nothing had changed. Nothing. Faye began to look through her bag, hurriedly. She felt a change firing rapidly through her body but she couldn't acknowledge it now. Usually, Faye would've given up by now. She would have left and gone home. But this was Spike. Her childhood friend. The boy she used to have a crush on and depend on for security. The boy who used to catch her when she fell or hold her hand when running. He was always there.
Faye dug even deeper to the bottom of the bag, finding a medicine, no…a spice. Turmeric. Its raw, gritty golden color was brilliant in the color of the setting sun. Faye poured some of the powder into a dish and added water. This was her last hope. Spike's last hope.
Turmeric was from Earth. It was used in medicine long before the twentieth century, in a place in ancient India. It was apart of Ayurvedic medicine, some of the greatest ever. Now in the twenty-second century, it was no longer used. People would more likely inject a strange fluid into their body than let a powder heal from the outside.
Faye took the golden paste and applied it to the matter in the dish. Faye sat back and waited. The sky had darkened now, leaving her with little to no light. A lamp stood nearby. With the flick of a dainty finger, Faye flicked on the switch. Immediately, the room was bathed in a warm glow.
When she returned to the matter, Faye noticed something with a smile. A brilliant smile. The yellow filth was disappearing. Slowly, yes but it was leaving.
Faye delightedly pulled out more spices and plant pieces used in Ayurvedic medicine. It was helping. Why not?
.~.
It was around two in the morning, Martian time. Faye had just finished applying turmeric paste to all of Spike's wounds. She wrapped them in gauze after placing the paste of daucus carota, or wild carrot, on his wounds.
Slowly, Faye stood up, her joints popping with the strain. Her back ached and she was dirty. This place was disgusting. Faye dragged her tired body over to Annie. She tapped Annie on the shoulder.
Annie awoke with a jerk and looked around like a crazed woman. When her eyes focused on Faye, a smile broke out.
"How is he Nurse?"
"Better. Do you want me to explain how to fix his wounds?" Annie nodded gently. With a grunt, she stood up and made her way over to the sleeping Spike.
"First you have to make a paste out of these two." Faye held up the two bottles. One of turmeric and one of wild carrot. "Then clean out his wounds with water. After that, apply this one, the wild carrot, first. Then apply this one, the turmeric. Gauze should be used to cover up the wounds. Okay?"
Annie nodded. "Is there anything else?"
"Well, his face will be stained the color of the powders for a while. But nothing time and water can't handle. It's a waiting game." Annie smiled and showed Faye to the door.
"Thank you Nurse."
"Just doing my job." Faye began to walk away before stopping and turning. Should she?
"Uh…Annie?"
"Yes?"
"Could you tell him that I said hi? Tell him my name too."
Annie smiled.
.~.
Three months had passed, during which Faye had fallen back into her rhythmic lifestyle. Her job at the hospital was as stable as ever, with the occasional syndicate job. Faye hadn't seen Spike after their last encounter and she didn't think she'd ever see him again. It was a once in a lifetime happening. Nothing would come out of it.
Her lab coat grazed her jeans as she took hurried steps towards the IC ward. One of her patients was experiencing a rapid increase in pain in their chest. It signaled only one thing. A heart attack.
Faye swept into the room, her demure yet seductive presence filling it immediately. Instantly Faye was by the side of an aging grandmother.
"Where did you feel the pain?"
The old lady pointed to her left breast, circling around the tension point. Faye nodded and began to prepare an IV.
"Was the pain sharp or dull?"
"Dull." Faye let out a sigh of relief and smiled at the elderly woman. "You're going to be fine Lorraine. I'm just going to insert an IV needle here. It's very week and it's been cultured correctly. No worries, okay?"
"Thank you Nurse." The elderly lady stated, a gentle and genuine smile appearing on her face.
"So, when are you grandchildren coming to visit? Open for the pills please."
"These pills taste horrible. They're coming tomorrow. They said they want to see grandma lying down. I'm usually up and about." A sad look overshadowed the joy in the old woman's eyes. Faye grasped her hand. "Don't lose hope." She smiled and left.
Faye left the room and turned left, flipping through the clipboard in her hands. They were the vital signs of another one of her patients. The signs weren't good. They showed signs of a impending heart attack but when they had done a surgery to remove the blockages in the arteries, they found that there were none.
Glancing up, Faye moved along only to freeze as her eyes landed on three men whose black suits contrasted harshly with the cream interior of the walls. They were standing in the corner, without moving. Faye glanced to their waist area uneasily, to confirm her beliefs. Yes. They held guns. They were playing the waiting game.
Abruptly turning the other way, Faye walked towards the other end of the hospital. She soon became immersed in the clipboard in her hands and forgot about the three black suited men.
Faye entered another room where she found a middle-aged man staring at the wall. His face was emaciated and pale, eyes practically bursting from their sockets. He was dying. All they were doing was waiting. It was a waiting game. He knew it as well.
Occasionally, he would rustle around, just to make sure he himself was still alive. It made him feel better. It made Faye feel better too.
No one knew how he was dying. He had been eating dinner one day at a restaurant in Metro, one of Venus's up and coming city's, when he felt a pain in his heart. They took him to a hospital in Metro but he had nothing. So he was sent to Mars, home, where he was progressively getting worse.
Silently, Faye gilded over to the heart monitor, pushing her hair back to see the strength in its signal. Nothing was wrong. She stood up and began to go through his papers again when she heard something.
Nothing.
There was no noise. He wasn't rustling. Faye's head shot up. He laid there, his eyes closed peacefully. Her head jerked back to the heart monitor, which still read a beating heart. Something was wrong.
Faye dropped the clipboard and began to shake the man. He wasn't opening his eyes. She placed her cheek near his lips and nose, trying to detect some sort of sign that he was breathing. None.
Faye began to scream for help. Within minutes, the whole room was filled with trained doctors and nurses, both of whom would look back and forth between the heart monitor and his body. He was dead but he wasn't.
Faye, along with others, began to inject three different sets of fluid into his body. These were meant to wash out any blockages. But the problem was, everyone knew there wasn't one.
His heart monitor read flat three minutes after Faye's scream for help.
.~.
Faye wearily entered her apartment, shutting the door with her foot. The day had been hectic and filled with even more paperwork because of the death of the man. One of the questions was asking for his cause of death. No one knew.
Shuffling slowly, Faye made her way over to the kitchen drawer where she opened it up and pulled out a cigarette. Faye brought it to her coral lips and lit it. As the poisonous smoke filled her lungs, she could feel the calming effect it had on her. She was addicted. So shoot her.
Once she was done smoking the cancer stick, Faye made her way to the kitchen where she popped out a few ingredients from the fridge. She set them on the counter and began to prepare a meal. Over the last three months, Faye had taken a few cooking classes. They had served her well. She could cook food.
Faye set about cutting up the vegetables, letting her thoughts wander to the day's events. A few tears slid down her unmarred cheek before Faye broke out into a sob. Quietly sliding to the floor, Faye let the tears fall. She couldn't save him…she couldn't save him…
Almost immediately after that thought a loud knock echoed off of her door. Troubled, Faye peered at her watch. It was three in the morning!
Faye got up off the floor and went to answer the door. Another knock resonated wildly.
"I'm coming!" Faye yelled back. Frustrated, Faye mumbled something about no time to cry.
Faye unlocked the door, opening it widely, a witty remark dancing on her lips. It fell away. A gun was pointed at her head.'
"You Faye Valentine? Syndicate Nurse?" Faye contemplated lying. It wasn't smart.
"Y-yes…"
"I'm here to kill you. Me and my buddies here have been ordered to do so by our boss."
"Your boss? Why does he want me killed?"
"You ever visited Achilles and heal some dead guy?"
'…Spike…' His name resonated through her mind.
"No."
"Yes you have, lady!" The man number two proclaimed. "He's got a gun to your head. I'd watch it if I were you. Low-life."
Faye felt livid. A low-life? She? A doctor? A low-life? No way.
"I don't heal dead people. I heal people who are alive! Say it with me now! Alive! It's called thinking. You should try it sometime!" She spat back. The moment it had left her lips, Faye knew it was a mistake.
But there was no time for regrets.
The sound of three gunshots united with a scream of horror from Faye.
.~.
Third chapter and going strong. It's going to be a short story. Ten chapters at most. Thanks for the awesome reviews!! Take the brownies!! * Hands out brownies to the reviewers *
faye-faye14- Aww! Thanks! I'm so glad someone came back! Only two people did. But that's okay! Vicious is yucky. I tried to portray him as a sick freak. As for Julia, I'm not a huge fan of Julia's either. She's too…perfect…
Blooknaburg- Thank you for reviewing both chapters! I felt loved! After I read your first review, I practically melted. And then I saw you left another review. Ah! Yes I am very bad! Did you like this ending? I like fluff agony too. It'll be here. Don't worry.
birdychick- Yay! You came back! Two people came back! Yes! Spike is extremely hotttttt. Lots of t's. ^.^ I'm so glad you liked it. I was trying to go for something original and this is what I got.
ni9htdreame12- Sorry for leaving you hanging! Hope you liked this one better…hehe...
Silver Wolf Gurl-Thanks for your encouragement. It matters so much!