Chapter thirteen
"What the heck just happened?!" Lance cried in pure shock and horror.
"Relax Lance, he collapsed." Pidge said, trying to sound calm. "He's probably just overly stressed." She reached over Shiro and pulled his right arm over and draped it across his abdomen. She straightened his neck and legs, then took a pulse on his wrist. She was slowly beginning to notice a slight blurr in her vision as well; but she thought that was just from crying earlier, and took no notice of it. She checked with her gauntlet to see if what she had felt was actually right.
"He's developing a fever?!" Pidge realized, still holding his wrist, while glancing up at the others.
"You don't look so good yourself, Pidge." Allura commented. "Are feeling alright?"
"Yes Princess, I'm fine." The Green Paladin insisted. "We need to figure out what's wrong with Shiro... and fast." She tried to get a grip on his upper body, under his arms, but he was simply too heavy for her. Lance and Hunk, without a word, worked together to get Shiro up.
In another room, next to Keith's, they laid Shiro down. The Green Paladin unzipped his black shirt to expose the white tank top he wore underneath. She, then, began attaching sensors at key points on his chest, which got readings instantly.
"So... What did happen back there?" Hunk spoke up, breaking the deafening silence.
"As I said, he passed out." Pidge repeated, continuing to work.
"I know, but- why?" The Yellow Paladin went on.
"I don't know!!" The Green Paladin whipped around in frustration, only to feel a wave of light-headedness wash over her. She stumbled back a couple paces and steadied herself against the table.
"Pidge! A-" Allura cried, reaching a hand toward her.
"I'm fine!" Pidge cut her off, holding her head in her left hand and gesturing with the other. "I'll be fine." She turned back to Shiro.
"I'm not sure you are," Allura observed, "maybe you should-"
"No!" Pidge pushed away Allura's hand with her left forearm, not looking up. "I'm not gonna leave things like this." Allura stepped back again, and shot a concerned look as Coran and the others, but Pidge continued to work.
"This doesn't make sense!" She breathed after awhile. "He's getting sick... but what's causing it?" Looking up at his face, she noticed something about the bandage on his brow. Quickly peeling it back to expose the wound, her breath caught in her throat in a gasp. The team looked to see what she saw, and gasped as well. Shiro's gash had swollen up and purple bruise-like veins extended off of it, The redness of infection was spread throughout it.
"How did this happen?!" Coran breathed.
"He got this gash when we took out those Galra physicians to rescue Keith." Pidge sighed.
"But why is it so irritated?" Hunk asked, shifting forward to see a little more clearly.
"I...don't know. We just have to..." another dizzy spell hit her, when she jumped down from the stool she stood on.
"Woah, Pidge! Are you alright?!" Lance cried, rushing to stop her fall.
"Yeah. I'm- fine!" The girl transferred her weight off of the Blue Paladin, and onto her own two feet. She still felt a little woozy after the shock of jumping down. Beads of sweat were beginning to appear on her brow, same as it had for Shiro. She, too, was beginning to feel a little distant. She sat down on the stool and leaned against the table. She pulled up a screen on her gauntlet.
"His fever is spiking..." She breathed through her blurred, light-headed delirium. "Something is infecting... the wound.. making him sick."
"I don't think he's the only one." Lance commented, kneeling next to her on one knee. His concerned expression burning into hers. Her pale skin looked paler than before, and there was a distinct hollowness to her eyes.
"I'm fine," Pidge repeated, her voice rasping from the dryness of her throat. "We need to help Shiro and Keith." Her voice weakened further as she spoke.
"Oh...I'm not so sure you're able to right now." Coran observed from a short distance.
"Coran's right, you need to get some rest so we can figure out what's wrong with both of you." Lance agreed, taking Pidge into his arms. Carrying her in a bridal position, her left arm draped over his right shoulder. The sick girl leaned over to rest her head on him, as he carried her into, yet, another room. Once she was settled into bed to rest, he returned to Shiro's room a little while later to find the others still working on him.
"Ok, Pidge is resting." The Blue Paladin reported. "Have we figured out what's wrong with Shiro?"
"Not yet." Allura sighed. "But it seems to have infected Pidge as well, so we must all be very careful."
"One thing's for sure..." Hunk commented watch the screen. "Shiro's in a lot worse shape than Pidge right now."
"His heart rate is so irregular. What does that mean?" Lance asked, watching the inexplicably odd pulsations on the screen next to their leader. The Princess quickly left the room, then returned shortly after.
"Put these on." She handed each of them a bracelet. They looked much like watches, but without the clock part. The circle in the middle had a flat surface that looked like a screen, with shapes like buttons or icons. "These will keep track of our vitals, in case one of us starts to get sick too." Allura continued.
Each of them snapped them on, when an alarm sounded out in another room. They ran out to the main room with the pods, the team glanced around.
"There!" Allura pointed. "It's coming from Keith's room!" The four of them sprinted into the room.
"What, is, happening right now!?!" Hunk cried, noticing the same irregular pulses on the screen.
"Keith seems to be infected as well." Allura observed.
"So Pidge, Shiro, and Keith are sick, and the rest of us are fine." Lance stated. "Could something on the Galra ship have infected them?"
"Perhaps." Allura replied thoughtfully. "But what?"
"Could they have all been exposed to some kinda of experimental gas poison?" Coran suggested.
"Yes." The hoarse voice of the Green Paladin caused everyone to whip around. She had dragged herself all the way there, and was leaning against the door post; her arm dangling listlessly from her body.
"Pidge!" Coran cried in surprise.
"What are you doing up?!" Lance asked, coming to her side.
"I know- what's causing- this." Pidge gasped, gingerly walking forward, supported by Lance. "The med techs-... they wore masks... to protect them... from a sleeper agent gas..."
"But then why are you all so sick if it was just a sleeper agent?" Allura asked.
"Because... the sleeper agent... is more... complex... and has... a toxic... side effect..." Pidge breaths remained labored, but came harder the more she talked.
"You need to stop talking and go back and rest." Hunk decided. Lance nodded and began to turn her back toward her room.
"No!.." the girl refused, stopping him. "Gotta... help... Keith!... And... Shiro!"
"Ok, but at least rest while you're helping." Lance carefully set her down in the floor, and leaned her against the door post and the wall; nestling her into the corner. Coran followed; gently draping a blanket over her.
"We need to... reverse... the infection... before we...*cough* Become septic..." The Green Paladin strained to keep her voice clear enough for them to understand her.
"Ok, but what needs to happen to do that?" Hunk wondered.
"Need... my computer..." Pidge responded, attempting to get up again. Lance knelt down and laid her back again, he patted her shoulder gently and ran off to get it. When she received it from the breathless Blue Paladin, she tried to quickly type down all the information she knew. Her blurred, split vision obscured some of her ability to see straight, and read through what she wrote. But, somehow, the team could decipher what she meant to say.
"Ok, we understand what needs to be done." Allura stayed after reading everything. "Now, please, go back and rest."
"*Sigh* fine." The girl finally gave in. Lance came picked her up like a bride again, and carried her back to bed. Meanwhile, Hunk and Coran were assisting Allura in creating the necessary treatment for their sick friends. As the Princess of Altea worked, she couldn't help but look at Keith and wonder: how can we survive this with Zarkon concstanty after is?!
Heu guys!! Sooo sorry I haven't posted in a little while. Been busy, kinda juggling four or five fanfics right now and I've gotten stuck on all of them like a million times!!! But here it is; the next chapter. I still don't know when I'm going to end this story. But I hope you enjoy this next chapter. And I'm will get chapter fourteen done as soon as I can. Thx!!!