Chapter Eight

Six

"We found a cure!" Marina exclaims. If it weren't for the throbbing and chest-aching pain emanating from my shoulder, I would be jumping up and down like her.

"You hear that, Six?" John asks, "You're going to be cured!" I manage a small smile and was about to reply when blood comes out of my mouth.

"Hurry up Marina! Heal her!" John yells, holding my hair out of the way as I vomit on the sheets. I don't want John to see me all fragile and pale. I know that being like this is torturing him. That's why as much as possible, I suppress the pain, the blood, the screams and the tears because every single one of them are like knives cutting across John's heart.

"I need your Healing Stone," Marina says, rubbing my back as I vomit some more. My nose is burning, and I can feel the warm liquid come out of it. I can't breathe. I can't see past the tears in my eyes that are threatening to spill. "But the Healing Stone doesn't work on Six…" John whispers hoarsely. I can already imagine the look of horror on his face at the sight of me.

"They don't work alone. With my Legacy plus the combined power of our Healing Stones, it will maximize my ability to heal people, even Six," Marina says, leaving the bed and rummaging for our Chests.

"Do you need all of them?" John asks.

"Yes. The other stones are already in the living room and ready to use."

Something heavy makes the mattress near my foot sink. Eventually, my retching stops. John heaves a relieved sigh and says, "I'll follow you down in a minute." Marina nods and exits the room. John reaches for our Chests, careful not to touch the blood. "I'm sorry you had to see that," I whisper. John doesn't look at me, but I can see a hint of a tear at the corner of his eye. He unlocks his Chest before answering, "I promised to be with you in good times and in bad. I don't regret the fact that it pains me to see you suffering, but I have to be here. There isn't another place in this world I'd rather be." Cheesy, I think to myself. After he takes out the familiar black stone, he brushes the tears that had spill from my eyes and says, "It's now or never." With that he slips his arms from under me and carries me down to the living room.

Before we enter the living room, I hide my face in John's shirt. I don't want the others to see me with a bloody mouth and nose. In the living room, four Healing Stones are hovering in midair enclosed in silver light. In their midst is Marina. In the circle of stones, a space remains for John's stone. "Crayton, are you sure about this?" Cole and Sam ask in unison.

"Positive. I've seen this done once before to a patient at the hospital where my wife works. Because, like Marina, she was one of the Healers, or Lorics with the ability to heal," Crayton replies. John sets me down on the couch and sits near my foot with my good hand interlocked with his. Sam and Cole lean against the wall behind the couch. Meredith and Nine sit on the other sofa, with little Ella between them, her fingers crossed. Malcolm isn't in the room. Maybe he's in the kitchen. "Six, do you want to take a shot or not? Um…this procedure will…sting a little," Crayton says. By sting he means hurt. I nod, and he says, "The sedative will take a few seconds to take effect. That will give Marina enough time to draw power from the Healing Stones; speaking of which, where is yours?"

"I don't have one," I reply. I look at John before I feel the needle puncture my good forearm. "It'll be over soon, Six, I promise," John says, kissing my hand. "Six, countdown from ten," Crayton instructs, so I close my eyes and start counting in my head; ten, nine, eight…

What if it doesn't work?

Seven, six…

What if Marina exerts too much energy? Will she die?

Five, four…

I didn't even reach the number three yet when I lose consciousness, but not before I see a bright silver light from behind my eyelids.

"John, calm yourself. Six isn't dead," Malcolm says.

"She should be awake by now," I hear John mutter to himself. I can hear his footsteps echoing from the floor. "You said Six will be awake within the hour."

"Dude, chill. It's been like, twenty minutes, not ten years. She's like a computer. She has to reboot first," Sam says.

"Nerd."

"I know, right?"

"Shut up. I think she's awake," Cole says. Everything goes silent. And I open my eyes.

The feeling…is unbelievable. After the amount of pain I felt the past two and a half days, I can say that I'm very new to this feeling. I can flex and move my fingers. I can twist my wrist. I can bend my elbow with ease. I feel strong again. I sit up slowly and take a gander at my shoulder.

The green skin John told me about is gone, replaced by a faint pink patch of skin. The lines that crisscrossed all over my arm disappeared too. A huge grin spreads across my face. I swing my legs over the edge of the sofa, and John says, "How do you feel, Six?"

"Better than fine," I say, wriggling my toes. I stand up with ease, but before I go outside and exercise my power, I pull Marina into a tight embrace. "Thank you so much," I whisper, the tears in my eyes returning, but out of joy, not out of pain. "No problem," she replies. We separate, and I make a beeline for the door that leads outside. There, I run around in circles like an idiot, flowers with fragrant scents growing in my wake. I stop and cause the wind to blow harshly. Oh, how I miss this feeling! A drop of water lands on the tip of my nose, and before I knew it there was heavy downpour. I smile to myself, and something wraps around my torso from behind. John swings me around, our laughter filling the air. The others have joined in too. Marina, Ella and Cole are chasing each other. Meredith, Nine and Sam are singing a horrible version of what I think is "Endlessly" by The Cab. They just sound like drunken addicts that the words are slurred and not understandable. The Chimæras, with their shaggiest coats, are running around. Only Crayton and Malcolm remain inside.

I've never felt so happy in my entire life. John stops spinning me, and turns me around so that I can stare in his grayish blue eyes. His head bends towards mine, but I simply kiss him on the cheek and disappear. "Aw, come on!" John exclaims. From his left, I tackle him and reappear. We roll and roll on the muddy lawn. John stops rolling and holds my hands above my head. "Pinned you," he whispers, a smile on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You should enjoy it while it lasts; this won't happen very often," I say. John's lips crash into mine. I missed the warmth of his lips so much it sent a shiver down the entire length of my body. It's just that, during the days of suffering, I always felt cold. But right now, whatever heat I needed, John gave me that, even from just a simple kiss.

John pulls away, and the rain stops. His hair is soaking wet and his grip on my wrists slackened. With my muddy fingers, I dab at the end of John's nose. He becomes cross-eyed just trying to look at it, and I chuckle at his face. I push him off me and try to get away, but he gets me back with a mud ball. John throws it at my face, but he misses, throwing it at Cole instead. And that is what started the mud fight.

Afterwards, we are all muddy and dirty. But that did not end my fun. "I'll race you to the bathroom!" I yell, and once again, John and I run as fast as we can to reach the bathroom.

Crayton had us cleaning up everyone's mud mess. "You start after dinner," he says.

"But Six started it," John whimpers.

"Uh, it was your fault you followed me," I counter, elbowing him near the ribs. So, that's how I find myself sprawled on the newly cleaned floor with his lips pressed hard against mine.

The day turns out to be pretty happy for me. But the following day, when Crayton turn the TV on, the reporter says, "Several reports from doctors in Manhattan and Ohio have said that a disease has attacked the people of said towns. Symptoms are unknown, but they say that this disease is characterized by green, moldy skin, high fever, paleness, frequent vomiting and something that relates to varicose veins. Doctors are trying to find a cure for this unwanted disease. Recently, there had been already two deaths since Monday…"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Cole asks.

"What's happening?" Sam asks.

"Don't you see?" Nine says, "They're ready to make this planet their own."