Trigger Warnings: Blood, hospitals, injections, mild disturbing imagery.
Chapter 8- A Long Time
(Laurens' POV)
White light seemed to rain from above me in some sort of storm, showering me in its piercing rays- flooding through every gap in my being. Words hummed against my ears except it all felt like the were being spoke to me from miles away. Two black silhouettes of people stood out prominently against the blinding, stark white background that all fuzzed into one. My ears rang loud with buzzes until it all dropped silent and those voices became much more audible. My sight however, took longer to adjust in this environment but soon, Lafayette and Lee's persons came into my sight.
"Laurens?" Lafayette spoke soft beside me, "Are you awake?"
"No. My eyes are just open and I'm talking because I'm asleep."
Lafayette chuckled to himself and lent back in his chair, "I don't think I've heard you be sarcastic in a long time!"
I rolled my eyes with a small hint of a smile at my face.
But I held a delayed reaction. Why am I in the hospital?
"Why am I in the hospital?" I asked sitting up straighter.
Lee and Lafayette looked at each other in concern.
"Laurens..." Lee started, "do you not remember what happened? With Hamilton and practically the massacre?"
I looked down and his arms were violently shaking, the blood over flowing under his weak vice...
"They're here!" He screamed jolting me back a little bit and sending too many thoughts racing berserk in my head. "They're eating at me! I can feel it- ARGH!" He screeched digging his nails into my forearm. "It burns! Fuck! Laurens it's- it's- it's-" He screamed again...
Thousands of tiny red bugs crawling in buried inside the tissue and flesh that enwrapped this poor man... The wound began to spread wider as these tiny monsters razored across his skin stabbing in deeper towards his insides... Thousand and thousands of these creatures plastered against everything I could see on the inside of him... Hamilton's body spasmed as they scratched deeper begging me to make it stop...
He was being eaten from the inside out...
I gulped. Memories flashed in my mind, zipping by on a race car sending me a little dizzy with its loops.
"Y-yes. Now I remember..." I stuttered. Pushing back into the pillows.
Wait.
Rapids of blood streaming from his side... Tiny little razor-like creatures eating away at the flesh of his insides... His arms violently shaking... His eyes shutting closed... Hamilton's squeeze on my arm... Hamilton's blood... Hamilton's suffering... Hamilton... Hamilton... Hamilton...
"Is he okay?!" I blurted out shooting up in my position.
"Yeah, he's all good. We haven't seen him yet, but Elizler says he'll be released in two or three days. He's only just come out of surgery though." Lee spoke.
"Wait, so how long have I been passed out?"
"About three or four hours." He replied.
"Hey Laurens..." Lafayette began, "Why did you pass out? It's not like you get faint around blood or exhausted easily."
"I... I honestly don't know..."
It was true. Even if those creatures were not something I saw everyday, and their actions one of the most repulsive things I'd ever seen, I don't get effected by that stuff... Sure, the whole realisation of what just happened would tier me out, but not to the point of exhaustion.
"Hello boys. I see our patient is awake."
I chuckled as the door swung open, "Hello, Elizler."
"Hello there Laurens." She smiled sitting down in a chair the other side of me, "Are you feeling any better?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
She smiled again while tying her hair back in a low bun and checking my monitors.
"You look fine." She said and looked up towards the two other men.
"I need to speak the Laurens alone so you two budge it!" She ushered them away with a swift shake of her hand and the two walked away, Lafayette the only one to say, "Goodbye."
The door closed.
I opened my mouth to speak but she beat me instantly to it, "Look, I know you're going to ask if he's okay and, yes, he is."
"I wasn't going to ask that but thank you. I was going to ask, 'do you know what happened to him?', with all the little bugs and- wait. Do you know about the bugs?"
"Yes. We found the eggs of them and only a few which were still alive."
"What are they?"
She sighed and rubbed her hands in her eyes, "They're a mutation between a singular, extremely oversized red blood cell, your common tick and leech. Other things make up its form but the DNA is so messed up I can't find out what they are. They were originally introduced at the start of our war by the Banes and almost wiped half of our population. The General back then met up with the leader of the Banes and they signed an agreement never to use that disease again. We had to hand over at least a quarter of our military weapons... Turns out, they wanted to try it on Hamilton."
She took in a breath and removed some photos from her clipboard what seemed to look like photos of a book. "The disease is called, 'Blood Spot' due to how it only inhabits a particular spot on a persons body mostly near vital organs in the torso. Everyone is different. This bug is also a type of 'Hibernation Bug', so it can stay dormant in the host for as long as it wants to, before it activates. Also, this means that it can be a reoccurrence if not treated correctly. But it is treatable. This mutation hates its original form of a normal red blood cell- and that includes the eggs. So you have to fix whatever damage it has caused and if the victim isn't dead by then, you section off the infected area with metal plates and leave the wound open to soak in blood for the next twenty-four hours. Therefore, Hamilton is now in quarantine, but things are looking up for him. He won't get this anymore."
"What? Quarantine? Is... Is it contagious?"
"My god yes! It is extremely contagious between humans. We don't know about animals and we don't want to find out. This bug multiplies so quickly! One single bug reproduces into around 40 each minute once it awakes! And considering about 100 lay dormant, that's around 4000 a minute! Extremely contagious. Extremely infectious. That's why we've had to close the gym for a week. Everywhere Hamilton bled, needs to cleaned so thoroughly in rich blood. We can't risk another outbreak."
"E-Elizler?" I swallowed to try and keep my breath even, "Do you not realise I was drenched in his blood as well?!"
"Yes but you've been cleaned if you didn't notice. Don't worry, we washed off all the blood. Just as all the staff who got near the blood have been cleansed as well. We've had to take bloods from nearly everyone in the bace other than you, Hamilton and I. Even the General had to donate because of how much we need to clean."
"Okay but... How can Blood Spot be passed along?"
"By entering another persons system by liquid. Either by having the blood enter your body, the holders sharing the same drink, toothbrush, basically anything oral with mouth to mouth contact like kissing."
My brain took a while to process all that mixing up the options into a generator of panic.
The blood gushed back out over us both. Squirt after squirt it sprayed across my face, turning my mouth into some sort of metallic lagoon. I twisted my head to the side to spit it away however the taste still remained prominent at the tip of my tongue.
My eyes shot wide in terror and Elizler looked on at me in surprise.
"Oh my god Laurens!" She opened her mouth wide, eyes as big as saucers, "You kissed him?!"
I shot my head around to stare at her, gaping and disgusted at the same time, "What?! FUCK NO! I'm not that fucking disloyal Elizler!"
Her eyes returned back to normal and slightly ashamed with sympathy etching in them, "You can't be loyal to someone who's dead Laurens..."
I turned out of her gaze and stared down at my hair ties I was surprised were still around my wrist. Some skin beneath poked out angry and sore with lack of blood so I switched them around to my left wrist instead, feeling them gasp out for space.
"Well you have to down here..." I almost whispered.
I never needed to direct my attention back to her to feel the empathy dripping off her expression.
"Then... Then why did you react like that?" She asked and I had to look up at her.
"I- I got some of Hamilton's blood in my mouth when the bugs were eating him..."
"Shit! No wonder you were so fucking exhausted!" She exclaimed and instantly ran into the halls to call for help, shouting a load of jargon I couldn't understand.
Nurses and doctors started flooding in with protective suits on and instantly began to push the wheeled hospital bed through the halls and through a doorway which held big letters which read as,
"Theatrical Quarantine"
Elizler ran along beside me strapping on protection gear just like all the others.
"Laurens, we're going to have to put you to sleep for a little bit. I promise you'll be okay. The Blood Spot may be dormant now but it should activate soon. You won't feel anything other than an injection and we'll sort out the rest."
I nodded hesitantly focussing at the calmness in her eyes. We all pushed through a door and I felt hands pick me up to rest me on a new surface.
"Okay, I'm going to inject you now." I could see her bring up my medical file on the big screen, her hands reading along my measurements for doses and pulled out a needle with a bottle.
"Take a deep breath." She walked back over to me, placing a hand to my chest, "It'll all be over soon."
"What would they do if they found us out here?" I had giggled placing a hand on his own, leaning into him to cut out the chilled April breeze.
Over the rolling fields, the horizon decorated in towering trees. Outlining the edge of my sight, green reflected in the crystal blue sky embracing dots of clouds following each other and flocking together like sheep. They gradually trekked through the pure blanket above our heads, unfazed by anything other than the light wind. Up there, gracefully gliding with new birds on there way home from winter. Sweet melodies calling through the woods and electrifying through the bright grass, illuminated by the burning ray of the sun. I could feel it stroke the tips of my fingers and moisten them with sparks from the splashing mountain stream, speckling with the heated freckles on my arm.
I leant my head down onto his own, closed my eyes to capture every detail in the moment. Between the grass, our fingers laced together and I couldn't stop my heart from racing.
"I don't care as long as I'm with you." He whispered to me, almost like he never wanted to break the tranquility of the moment.
I felt his breathing sigh and he started to slip down until he lay, with his head resting upon my lap, gazing out over the hills.
Everything I had with me was perfect. The day was perfect. The weather was perfect. The stream, the white clouds, the sun, the grass, the breeze was perfect. He was perfect. I had complete peace in the world wrapped around me- until out if nowhere, he started to speak.
"What would you do if I disappeared tomorrow?"
His question stunned me frozen, my hand freezing, entangled in his hair.
"What sort of a question is that?"
"I just want to know. We're all going to die one day so, what would you do without me?"
"But you're not going anywhere anytime soon." I placed a hand to his cheek moving his stare to gaze in my eyes. Beautiful, ivy green lacing in with streaks of woodland brown, all glazed over like newly cut glass.
"No one can predict death, Laurens."
"But I can keep you safe."
"We're in a spy agency, Jack. I don't want you to try and keep me safe. You can't keep me safe."
"I can try."
He hid his face in my body, nuzzling into my stomach,
"So what would you do if I was gone? Would you ever try and find someone new?"
"No. Never."
"Ah, you wouldn't try and find someone but what if they found you?"
"I wouldn't let them in."
"I wouldn't mind if you saw someone new, you know. I mean, I'd have to be dead first though! You wouldn't have to live your life alone." He shifted his head to look at me and winked.
From then on, we let the wind carry out our words. He fell calm in my lap with each relaxing stroke I gave to his head. He rubbled slow, soothing circles into my thigh, pressing down harder every time I ran my fingers through his scalp. He kept sighing into me with complete bliss in his tone. Soon though, he decided he was going to straddle my lap instead, slamming a hard kiss to my lips that I had to put back an arm to stop me falling over. My spare hand ran through his hair while he tangled his arms around my neck.
The love between us pored over in a beautiful rain, dripping thick like treacle, running an adrenaline corse through our veins. However, he pushed me back too far sending us to the bedded grass with a thump.
We just drowned in a sea of laughter, taking a while to resurface back to normality. Those bright, luscious, green orbs he had pierced through me almost as warm as the suns rays on that perfect day. My own eyes, trailed up his arms as my fingers delicately tucked some of his golden hair behind his ear, stroking small lines to his cheek.
With a calmer sense, he leant down and gave a sweet kiss to my lips. His scent to me was clearer than a crystal lake: minty orange always send my mind spiralling.
He pulled off and laid down beside me, my chest resembling a cozy pillow to him.
"What if we ran off into the woods. Just me, you and the wonder of what's in the horizon?" He gripped me hand, playing with my fingers in the grass.
I breathed out heavily, to resemble some kind of a chuckle, "I'd love to."
"The wind in our hair, the sun beating on our skin everyday... And we'd just keep running. We'd find a small town in the countryside and grow old in a big house on a hill, overlooking a small apple tree orchard, blossom spraying the grounds in spring."
I tightened my grip on him while continued with a small giggle, "We'd get married. Like normal people do Up Top. We'd adopt a child and watch them grow, finding happiness within their world once again. We'd all go on walks through the orchard, picking apples and collecting wildflowers to put in a vase sitting on a wooden dining table. And we'd grow old in this hilltop house. Watching the days go by outside a large window we'd have in our backdoor. Nothing would stop us. We would never have to hide our love from the people we knew because it would be normal to live like that."
His idea spun around in my head while he stopped for a while, I knew not expecting an answer at the minute.
"Would you run with me if we could?" He finally spoke with a the tiniest hint of sadness to his tone because we couldn't run. Things like this were only meant to be thought of and not acted upon. Yet the thoughts always still nagged at me...
I didn't hesitate, "Of course. But... we can't..."
"I know... but we can also still dream."
Silence again.
"Why did you bring me up here?" I changed the subject.
"Why? Do you not like it?"
"No, no, no! I love this so much! I have never felt so calm in such a long time. I adore this."
"...then why ask?"
"Just because you seemed very determined to get me away from my desk."
He sighed, shifting so he sat up next to me.
"I wanted to speak with you..." He trailed off. Whenever someone says something like this, it is always a mixture of confusion, worry and curiosity that grasps you. Do you really want to know?
But all I said in the steadiest voice I could was, "About?"
At first, I thought he was shuffling out of discomfort until I saw him fiddle with the pocket in his jacket. I sat up abruptly giving a bit more space between us and even more once he unfolded a certificate, the corners in it slightly worn.
I knew exactly what this was. And for a moment, my heart stopped.
"I wanted to propose." He blurted looking deep into my eyes.
"You- you can't be serious... Are- are you sure about this?" I gaped, utterly baffled.
"I am. We've been together for over five years and I have never stopped loving you one bit. Look, I know it's a hard decision to make with you being the new Captain of the top squadron... But I also know we could make this work... Yes, our lives would be more at risk but I know that if we play it safe, we would be happy. You can take as much time as you need to think over this and you can also say no. I know that if you do reject the idea, it's only because do not feel it's time... You have only been Captain for two months now so I get the pressures- I do. You will also be the first Captain to ever be married, especially to their Lieutenant. I know that if you say no it's not because you love me less. I will understand completely. But we have to think about the risks a marriage has on both of us before we can make it official-"
"Yes." The word just fell out of my mouth.
"What?" He questioned looking excessively shocked. But I just took the paper away from his lose hold and slowly wrote my curvy signature on the dotted line. His eyes sparkled watching me and I could feel my heart burst from my chest.
Was this really happening?
"Yes." I answered him again and myself. Having a smile pain my lips. I shuffled closer to him, putting a hand to his cheek.
He was almost flustered with a bright red painting his face, "Wow. Are you sure you don't want to think about this before we-"
Lips on lips, I pressed farther onto him. Our breaths heavy and forceful. My tongue slid inside his mouth: warm, soft and moist. The taste of him became my own, rich and desiring. His hands began the crawl up my chest where mine cascaded at a length through his thick hair, occasionally lightly pulling at it.
I wished I could stay like this forever, wrapped in his arms underneath a sky that would never judge. But breaths became too scarce and we had to let go. The aftermath of gasps covered us both and we laughed out of breath, falling back onto the grass holding each other as close as we could.
My breaths finally returned, I giggled,
"Yes."
"How much damage did they do?"
"Well... If we hadn't been there, his airways would have been completely destroyed."
"Do you think he'll wake up soon?"
"He should. If he's still asleep by tomorrow, we'll have to wake him. His coma was forced by us, so we can attempt to shake him out of it too."
I woke again to the bright lights, hums and hazy weakness in my limbs. I attempted to look around but my neck was fixed down to something. Something large caged around it. It was heavy around the edges, but hot, tingling and sticky on the inside.
Liquid? I thought.
"Speak of the devil." A female voice slightly chuckled, "He's a awake."
Two blurry figures stood beside me- one male shaped and the other female. Within a second all memory came rushing past me and just by the long, black hair, I knew the woman was Elizler- but I still couldn't move my head to spot who the man was.
"Don't try and move your head." She crouched down next to me, "Resist talking as well."
Foolishly, I attempted to ask, "Why?", but instantly, regretted it with a sly stab of pain ushered to my throat.
Elizler raised her eyebrow, "That's why I said not to speak."
I just rolled my eyes but smiled weakly. Elizler handed me a notepad and pencil to write on (well, I presume so).
"I'm going to ask you some questions and you'll put your answers on paper, okay?"
I wrote down a "Yes."
"So, do you remember your name, age and where you are?"
"(...) Laurens
26
Liberty's Quarantine"
"Good. Now, do you remember what happened?" She asked.
"Blood Spot"
"That's right. Do you feel in pain or sore?"
"Yes. All around my throat. And what is that thing around my neck? What happened?"
"Well, around your neck is a restraining metal container filled with blood. The Blood Spot woke up in your throat but we got to it before it could do any major damage."
"When will I be released?"
"I know your throat feels bad now but, tomorrow, you will have that container removed and you should be able to talk again but, you'll also have to stay over another night just to be safe."
"Okay. How long have I been asleep?"
"Two weeks." This time it was the man of who spoke and he also bent down beside me.
It was Hamilton.
And he looked okay.
His hair was slightly messy, his cheeks were a lot more paler that his usual tan and he was in uniform again. A relief washed over me and some tensing, I didn't even know I had in my bones, just vanished. My heart rate finally stopped its rapid beating. The result was that we were both fine, and it would all be over by the end of the week...
It would all be over by the end of the week...
"Has Lee trained you?"
"Yes and Lafayette. I have my final tests in two days. Don't worry, you'll be there if all goes well." He softly chuckled and the room stopped silent, my pen stopped scratching against the paper.
"Look," Elizler began again, "I have to go. Hamilton, you can stay for no more than an hour. Understood? Laurens needs to rest. The sooner you leave, the better."
She stood up, making her way out of the door,
"Yeah, I'll only be five to ten minutes." He smiled and Elizler just rolled her eyes, leaving the room.
"So how are you?"
"Me?" He stopped for a moment, "I'm fine."
"Good. Has anymore people caught Blood Spot?"
"Only three others, but they're all being treated as we speak."
"Well... You speak. I can't."
He chuckled almost into a laugh, "Too true. Hey, are you doing alright with that?"
"I'll be fine. I would like to say I've been through worse physically but I'm not sure how bad it was."
A devilish glint shone in his eyes, "You can't say anything."
"That was low."
He just laughed as dropped the pen to cross my arms tightly.
"Sorry!" He continued to laugh.
After he finally shut up, the conversation started to become a lot calmer and more on a professional level. Talking about training and other things like that.
He got up to leave after around fifteen minutes before stopping in the door way and walking back over to me, an uncertain look on his face.
"Hey Laurens... I never got to say thanks for saving my ass back there."
"Well I mean... I did lose two week of my life and a chinch if neck as well... Makes me question if it was worth it?"
Hamilton just laughed and I smiled towards him.
"I'll see you tomorrow Laurens."
With that, he departed down the hall and soon I let my eyes shut down to sleep with one last thought,
I haven't smiled like that in a long time.
Authors Note:The rest of it was okay o guess... but the end scene was really rushed. I've got my first day at school in the morning so I really gotta go!
Leave reviews and BYE!!
-L.E-Rae _x_