The Future of Eden

Chapter 13

(Rowan's pov)

The world seems to slow down. I watch as two men carry Lachlan up and over the hill in a stretcher, followed by the other healers present. My vision is blurry, there's a piercing ringing in my ears. Mom holds me while Lark takes my hand. Mira is crying in Carnelian's arms. Angel leans into Ash. Rook was allowed to go with him to the infirmary. Five days. I've been here for five days. After everything that has happened, I might lose Lachlan before he even knows I'm alive. I'm completely numb as Mom takes me back to the treehouse. I expect to not be able to sleep that night, but when I finally close my eyes, the emotional exhaustion knocks me out.

That morning I wake up late to Mira pacing in the living room. When she sees that I'm awake, she stops and looks up at me. My heart sinks as I prepare for the worst. Late last night, when Dad finally came home, he woke me up and told me that there was a 50/50 chance that Lachlan wouldn't make it through the night. Mira crosses the room and hugs me. "He's okay," she whispers. I suck in a breath. "What do you mean? Is he going to make it?" I ask, holding my breath. Mira chuckles. "They think he will be fine in a couple of weeks or so. It was just scary because of how much blood there was, the cuts were shallow, didn't get any vital stuff or anything," she says, smiling. I let out a sigh of disbelief. Thank Earth he's okay. "Cuts?" I ask. I assumed he was stabbed or something. How could a couple cut make so much blood, I wonder. Mira sees the confusion on my face and her eyes grow wide. "Oh... you don't know?" she asks. "I don't know what?" I ask tentatively. "Come on" she grabs my hand and starts pulling me out of the treehouse and down the stairs. "You're going to want to see this."

I stop at the door to the infirmary. I suddenly feel like this might not be the best idea. "Don't worry, he's still out cold. You don't have to actually talk to him," Mira says from my side. I take a deep breath and open the door, only to see a narrow hallway with a few chairs. In one of which, Rook seems to be asleep. As I approach however, he perks up, jumps to his feet and gives me a quick hug. "Did Mira tell you? He's going to make a full recovery," he says excitedly. His tone doesn't match his face, as I can only assume he hasn't gotten very much sleep. I smile at him as he leads me to another room.

As soon as I walk through the door, the smell of 'clean' burns my nose. I have to close my eyes. It smells like... like the Center. I take a deep breath and open my eyes. Lachlan is sleeping peacefully on a bed in the corner of the room. I sigh, and start towards him but Rook stops me. "Er... Rowan... maybe not yet," he says gently. "Why not? You said he was fine," I scoff. Mira and Rook exchange a concerned expression. I hate being kept in the dark. I roll my eyes. "Okay, seriously. What the hell is going on? Is it really that bad?" I ask. Rook shakes his head. "I'll go get Jaik," he says, before leaving the room. The second he leaves, I rush to Lachlan's side. Mira doesn't stop me. I gently brush the hair out of his face and plant a kiss on his forehead. I want so badly to just scream him to wake up, that I'm here, I'm back. I want to hold him and kiss him and talk to him. I want to say I'm so sorry for leaving you, and I never, ever will again.

Suddenly, someone bursts through the door and I flip around to see the same strange, masked young man from last night. "You must be Rowan," he says, joining me at Lachlan's side. "I'm Jaik. I was with him when we were attacked," he says, shaking his head. "Attacked?" I ask, raising my voice. Jaik explains how some of the second children who were monitoring Eden would come back with very interesting information the past couple days. "Some would return claiming the desert came back on while they traveled home, others said Edenites were forgetting there was even a living world again," he says. "Lachlan and I decided to go talk to a few people, see if we could figure out what was going on..." he continues, trailing off. "We were on our way out... when... when this happened," he sucks in a breath and knees down next to the bed. He pulls the sheet back, and only then do I realize Lachlan isn't wearing a shirt. Instead, a massive cloth bandage covers Lachlan's chest and stomach. When Jaik peels it back, I nearly gag.