Manifestation

12: Phase 5~The Shut Down

"Her right lung is almost collapsed."

"Do something!" Jane yelled.

Silence cut through the room like a knife.

"You might want to say your goodbyes now."

I used all of my strength to open my eyes. Jane was sobbing on the floor. My chest felt heavy and I felt vomit coming up. I threw up blood into the bucket on my bed.

"Just in time, she is awake." A nurse said.

Jane looked up. "I told you not to leave!" She screamed at me.

"I'm.... not..... not gone...... yet." I managed to say.

She was still crying. "Please, don't make me say goodbye." I couldn't promise her that.

"Ry." Was all I could say. I hope she got the hint.

She stood up and wiped the tears from her face. She walked out of the room and came back a few minutes later with a miserable looking Ryan.

"Please.... stay." I choked out again. A crimson tear dripped down my cheek.

His eyes got watery. "I can't do it." He said.

"You have to. If you don't, I will haunt you for the rest of your life." I chuckled and started coughing up blood.

Tears spilled over his eyes. "I can't do it."

"Ryan! Just do it! You aren't allowed to be sad!" Jane sobbed. "Give her what she wants!"

He put his head in his hands. "Just for a few minutes." Another blood tear plopped onto my dirty hospital gown that had stale black and red vomit stained into it.

He stumbled over to a chair and sat down. He wouldn't look at me.

I felt an excrutiating pain in my side and whimpered. It felt like my organs were failing.

"I don't have a lot of time." I said to him. His chest rose and fell rapidly. His nostrils flared and more tears dripped down his cheeks.

"Don't make me sad too." I said. I wracked my brain for something that would lighten the mood. "Remember when we ate potato chips by the lake together?"

He nodded, but didn't say anything. His face was unchanging. Tears still streamed down his face.

"Ryan, I love you."

He didn't answer.

"I know you don't want to admit you love me back because your heart will be broken. And it probably will. But will you please just be here with me."

"I am here."

"No you're not." His body was here, but his mind wasn't.

"It's been a few minutes." He got up and started walking out, but Jane stopped him.

"You are going to stay here." She said sternly.

"Jane, move out of my way."

"You are going to stay here with the love of your life and cherish the last moments you have together. You don't know how crucial those moments are. You are lucky, you get those moments. I didn't. So take advantage of them."

He collapsed into sobs on her shoulder. It brought more red tears to my tired eyes. I vomited again and Ryan cried even harder.

I wish I could do something.

***

I opened my eyes to a dull gray. Debbi stood in a dark grey gown in front of me.

"You promised me!" I sobbed.

"I promised you if you held on."

"I am holding on! You are here right now, aren't you?" Her dress got darker.

"No, don't leave. Please!" Her dress got lighter.

"You aren't dead yet."

***

My eyes snapped open and I was breathing heavily. Sweat made my back stick to my hospital gown. I started coughing. My lungs hurt. I coughed up blood and bile.

It was dark in the room and the infirmary was silent.

I turned my head to vomit into the bucket when I saw a small paper bag on the side table. Words were scrawled in black marker.

To: Arizona

Directions: Place syringe into bottle and pull up on syringe handle. Place needle into forearm and inject into bloodstream.

Don't lose it. It's the only one we have.

-KJ

I was confused. What was in the bag? I mustered enough strength to reach my limp arm over and grab the bag. The moment my fingers clasped the crumpled paper, pain shot up through my arm and I thought my arm was broken.

I opened the bag and looked inside to find a syringe and a vial with an orange cloudy liquid inside it. I'm not sure what it was, it could be a fatal medicine, or it could be a pain reliever, or there could be a slight chance that it was a cure. But the question that was really nagging at my mind, who was KJ? Was it somebody at the camp? Was it somebody using a code name? At this point, I didn't care who it was and I just wanted this pain to end.

I reached my shaky hands into the bag and pulled out the syringe and bottle. I did what the directions said. The needle piercing my arm felt like a million bees stinging me. I whimpered in pain as I injected the solution. Once I was done, I immediately vomited into the bucket and my arms and back went numb again.

I laid on the bed, still breathing heavily. I really hope this was a lethal poison. I don't want to see what happens after this.

I closed my eyes and tried to think happy thoughts as I died. Thoughts about Debbi and Jeff and the baby and Ryan and Jane. Thoughts about my mom and Rachel and Whitney. Silently saying goodbye in my head, giving them comfort while they mourn me.

I started getting drowsy and expected to feel weightless and eventually die, but I didn't. Instead, an excruciating pain went through my entire body. I really hope this was just the pain before the medication kicked in. It didn't stop. The pain raged throughout my body like a fire through dry grass. I felt like my insides were being ripped to shreds. My stomach churned and my head throbbed, my lungs ached and my heart pumped wildly, my arms and legs twitched. I screamed in pain. Maybe the medication wasn't anything at all and this was the Virus taking it's last run through my body. More images flashed through my head of creepers. This was the end.

The pain didn't stop and everything went black.

***

I felt like I was falling.

Falling through an endless black hole. The wind seemed to fuel my pain. I tried to find something to tell where I was but it was all black around me.

Then, I hit something and it was like air was knocked into my lungs.

My eyes snapped open and I breathed heavily on the soft mattress. The pain in my body turned into a dull ache.

I looked around and saw Ryan, Jane, Jack, my mom, and my sisters all gathered around my bed, sobbing.

Adrenaline coursed through my veins. Finally, Jane noticed me panting and almost fell out of her chair. Ryan looked up and quickly shot out of his seat. He pulled me into an embrace and I was surprised when I could move my arms to hug him back.

"I'm so sorry. I never meant to leave you. I was scared. I was stupid." He sobbed into my shoulder.

"It's ok." I said back.

My mother hugged me next, then Jane, then my sisters, even Jack hugged me.

"What happened? Why are you all so freaked?" I asked. My voice was clear again.

"Ari, you died."

***

Oooooo. Getting weird now. Comment on your predictions who you think KJ is.

Tell me what you think!

-RavenclawMaven1198