Author's Note: Thanks for the continued support. Please keep reviewing.
Chapter 26: Pain
Mike woke up the next morning. Morning light was streaming through a small rectangular window above his bed. The only window in the room; far too small for any of them to get through. There was a small curtain they never really closed, wanting to keep tabs on the sunrises and sunsets. Rose was still asleep on his chest and Micky and Ginny were both asleep in nearby beds. Mike sat there for a while trying to let the others sleep in a little. A good sleep was long overdue for each of them. The stress finally overtook their worry and it was the first time they'd all really slept through the night. After nearly half an hour, Micky began groaning a little. Mike woke up Rose so he could get up and tend to Micky.
"Try not to move too much, Micky," Mike said walking over to his friend. Rose was sitting on the edge of the bed, but she was alert just in case she needed to leap into action again. But Micky seemed far more coherent today. Ginny woke up at the sound of Mike's voice and slowly pulled herself out of bed.
"The light," Micky groaned throwing his arm over his eyes. "Burns. Head." Rose jumped up, wincing in pain slightly and lowered the curtain for the window. The room was shrouded in darkness now. It took a moment for Mike's eyes to adjust, but since there was never any other light aside from a small lamp in the bathroom, it wasn't too hard.
"Is that better?" Mike asked. Micky lowered his arm and nodded.
"My head is pounding," Micky said.
"That's to be expected," Rose said coming over.
"What happened?" Micky asked.
"What do you remember?" Mike asked nervously. He hoped Micky didn't remember attacking them.
"I don't really know," Micky said. "Everything's kinda fuzzy."
"Your father poisoned you," Ginny said calmly walking over to them.
"Robert," Micky said forcefully. "Not my father."
"Robert," Mike affirmed. "Robert poisoned you. Something called ergot."
"Is that why I feel like my brain is leaking out my ears?" Micky asked.
"Yes," Rose said. "It's making you hallucinate and have muscular spasms."
"Ok, now why am I naked?" Micky asked.
"Well, part of the problem with the poison is that it can cause seizures," Rose started cautiously. "And…well…"
"Please don't tell me I wet myself," Micky groaned.
"It's not like you could really help it," Mike said. "Don't be embarrassed."
"I guess I gotta say thanks for not letting me sit in that," Micky sighed.
"Your clothes should be dry soon," Ginny said.
"Umm…who cleaned me?" Micky asked blushing a little.
"We all helped," Mike said. He didn't want to tell Micky that Ginny couldn't because she was too sick due to being pregnant and Rose had to nurse her. "It's ok. Like I said, nothing to be embarrassed about."
"You said I've been hallucinating," Micky asked clearly wanting to change the subject. "What exactly am I gonna see? Fairies?"
"Not quite," Rose said. Mike could tell she was trying to choose her words very carefully. "It's different for different people, but I think you'll be hallucinating things more down to Earth. You could hallucinate Robert being in here and attacking one of us, for instance."
"I think I did," Micky said. "I think I did see Robert. I thought it was a nightmare. I attacked him. So did I just attack thin air?"
"Micky, we should discuss this at a later time," Ginny said. "You really need to just rest. Too much stress is not good for you."
"What happened?" Micky asked.
"Nothing," Mike said. Micky turned to look at him and his face got a little pale.
"What happened to your neck?" Micky asked. Mike hadn't really looked, but he assumed with the force Micky had applied to his neck that it was likely pretty bruised. "Did Robert do that to you?"
"In a way," Mike said. Technically it was the truth. He blamed Robert for what Micky did, not Micky himself. However, it looked like Micky already knew the answer to his question, even as he asked it.
"I…I did that, didn't I?" Micky asked looking down at his own hands. "I remember thinking Robert was in here…hurting Ginny. I tried to stop him. I choked him. But he wasn't really here. And I felt actual flesh under my hands….not air…"
"Micky, you need to rest," Mike said.
"I rested all night," Micky countered.
"I'm fine," Mike said.
"Why'd I stop?" Micky asked.
"I stopped you," Rose said softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't have a choice. I knew you'd want me to if you were in your right mind."
"But you weren't," Mike said. He couldn't pretend nothing happened anymore. All he could do was try to reassure Micky that it wasn't his fault. "I could see it in your face, you weren't thinking right. You thought I was Robert. I don't blame you for what you did. I'd have done the same thing to Robert. These drugs make you think things that aren't true. See things that aren't there."
"Why didn't you tie me up?" Micky asked.
"We thought about it," Rose said quietly. "But after your seizure, we didn't want you restrained in case it happened again. You'd have been worse off."
"You aren't accountable for your actions right now," Ginny said. "He's trying to mess with your head. And you really do need to rest. Even if you don't sleep right now, you need to rest your mind."
"How long does this stuff stay in my system?" Micky asked. "I'm assuming it's not lethal. Robert wouldn't want to kill me."
"We aren't really sure," Rose answered. "Most people are infected through ingestion. It's like LSD. He cut you and introduced it directly into your bloodstream. It could go either way at this point."
"All the more reason for you to not stress about it," Ginny said. "Just relax."
"I don't know that I can right now," Micky answered. "I feel like I got hit by a dump truck. I got an elephant sitting on my chest and another on my legs."
"Maybe if you sit up you can breathe a little better," Mike said moving to help Micky sit up a little better. Rose walked over to the bathroom, presumably to check on Micky's clothes. "How's that?"
"Better," Micky answered. "But it still hurts a lot."
"I checked on your clothes," Rose said walking out of the bathroom with a glass of water in her hands. She handed Micky the glass of water and sat on the edge of the bed. "They're still damp; give them another couple hours. But you need to keep your fluids up. Drink this."
"Thank you," Micky said taking a sip. He groaned and twisted his face in pain.
"You ok?" Mike asked.
"It hurts to swallow," Micky said. "It hurts to breathe, it hurts to think, it hurts to everything."
"I'm sorry, Micky," Rose said. "You really need to stay hydrated though. It's really important with this poison."
"I know," Micky said forcing himself to take another sip. Again, he winced in pain.
"Just try and take it easy," Mike said.
"Yeah, sure," Micky said with a slight huff. Mike knew given the situation they all found themselves in that relaxing was next to impossible. But Micky had to at least try. "Sorry, Mike."
"For what?" Mike asked.
"Hurting you," Micky answered. "Did I hurt anyone else?"
"Not seriously," Rose admitted.
"Sorry," Micky mumbled.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Mike said. "What happened wasn't your fault. Not even close to being your fault. No one blames you. We blame your fath-Robert. We blame Robert."
"Doesn't really make things any easier, does it?" Micky asked, though Mike knew he didn't expect an answer. A moment of uncomfortable silence later, they heard the locks on the door opening.
"Oh what fresh hell is this?" Rose asked moving to stand in front of Micky. When the door opened a moment later, someone entered that none of them were expecting.
"Meg?" Mike asked. "What the hell do you want?"
"I suppose I deserve that warm reception," she answered. She had long, curly blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and piercing blue eyes. She was young; not much older than Mike. At one time Mike would have said she was beautiful. Not anymore. She held a bag in one hand and stood firmly in front of the door. Mike stood next to Rose in front of Micky, shielding him further.
"You suppose?" Rose scoffed. "That's rich."
"Yes, I lied to you, but I had to," Meg answered. "I was under Robert's control and guidance. I never thought he'd take anything this far."
"Right," Rose said. "You're still one of them though, aren't you? You wouldn't be here if you weren't."
"Yes, I am, but you have to understand, all they want is peace," Meg said.
"You call this peace?" Mike asked.
"No," Meg said. "Robert has taken things too far. I'm sorry for all this. I really am. But what he is doesn't represent what we want. We want people to get along. I wish I could help you see that."
"You can't have peace by turning people into puppets and pulling on their strings," Rose snapped. "That's not peace, that's domination. Control."
"Not puppets," Meg said.
"That's what that device does," Ginny said. "It takes people's free will away. It allows you to control them. Robert would control every aspect of their lives. Robert would decide whether you had steak or chicken for dinner."
"When used to its full capacity, yes," Meg said. "But all we want it for is to make the world a better place. Violence and hatred are inherent in the human race. We want to use the artifact to suppress that. No more murder, no more war. Everyone would live in peace with each other. That's all we want. I wish you could understand that and help us."
"No," Rose said. "You'd make choices for mankind. Say it was in our best interest. You already are. You'd make us have chicken because steak will raise our cholesterol and you would get your fucking jollies out of the amount of control you have over us. You can't like and sugar coat any of it. We aren't helping you turn men into puppets. Slaves."
"Look, I didn't come down here to get into a philosophical debate with you," Meg said getting a little angry.
"Why the hell did you come down here?" Mike asked.
"To help," Meg answered.
"Right," Rose said skeptically.
"I did," Meg answered. "I know what Robert did to Micky and I want to help. I brought some medicine."
"You sure it's not more poison?" Rose asked.
"It's morphine," Meg said. "I promise."
"We're supposed to believe you now?" Rose asked. "After you spent years lying to us?"
"I only lied to you about my alliances," Meg said walking toward them and taking a small bottle and needle out of the bag she was holding. "I never lied about how I felt about each of you. I really do care for you. Look, the bottle hasn't been tampered with and the label clearly says morphine." Meg handed Mike the bottle and needle to inspect. He looked at it and it did appear to be as she said.
"I'm not going to let you give him anything," Rose said.
"Shouldn't that be his decision?" Meg said. "He hasn't said anything."
"Trying not to bash your face in," Micky said softly. Mike could tell he was trying to hide pain behind his words. And not just emotional pain.
"Fine," Meg said. "Do what you want. I'll leave this with you. I just wanted to help."
"If you really want to help, you'll get us the hell out of here," Mike said.
"I wish I could," Meg said. "I really do. But it took some convincing just to let me come down here. He doesn't know about the morphine as it is. Maybe you should just try to see things from our point of view and help us."
"Never," Rose snapped.
"I always cared about you," Meg said reaching out to touch Mike's arm softly. Mike pulled away in disgust.
"Don't touch me," Mike said. Meg looked at him for another moment, then turned to leave.
"Who was that?" Ginny asked once Meg had left and locked the door behind her.
"Robert's niece," Rose said. "At least that's what he told us. She'd come stay with us when her parents were away on missions. They never got into details. Guess the missions were more along the lines of Templars, not Assassins."
"I remember you mentioning her," Ginny said. "Only other member of Robert's family you ever met."
"He always said his parents were dead," Micky said wincing in pain. "And his sister, Meg's mother, was always just too busy. Not sure I believe any of that now."
"Micky, maybe you should think about taking some of this," Mike said. "It looks legit. I can't see any signs of tampering or anything."
"You sure?" Rose asked.
"Pretty sure," Mike said. "No holes in the bottle and the label looks clean. Doesn't appear to be anything wrong with it."
"Maybe you should," Ginny said to Micky. "I can tell you're in a lot of pain."
"Can't really make me worse, can it?" Micky said.
"It could kill you if it's not morphine," Rose said.
"Robert doesn't want to kill Micky," Mike said. "For what it's worth, I think she was telling the truth."
"Of course you do," Rose snapped. "She always had a thing for you."
"That's not fair," Mike said.
"Don't fight," Micky said wincing in pain. "She said it was up to me and if Mike thinks it hasn't been tampered with, I'm willing to believe him. Right now I can't even think straight I'm in so much pain. I can't even breathe."
"It'll help you relax," Ginny said.
"Then give it to me," Micky said.
"You sure?" Mike asked. Micky nodded and moved over to Micky's side. He carefully unscrewed the cap on the bottle and took the protective cap off the needle. Mike dipped the needle into the bottle and withdrew a small amount.
"This is gonna hurt," Mike said moving to find a suitable spot on Micky's arm.
"With the amount of pain I'm in, that isn't even gonna register," Micky said. Mike felt terrible at the thought. He couldn't even imagine what Micky was going through. He didn't even want to imagine it. Instead he would do everything he could to make Micky feel better. Micky held his arm firm as Mike injected him with the medicine. Within a few moments, Mike saw Micky's whole body begin to relax and very quickly he was asleep again.
