𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓-𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙨

XVIII-THE RIGHT ARM SAVES MY LEFT

He hadn't moved since Doc revealed the information, but now he was staring at Teresa and she had a look on her face. I couldn't quite pinpoint it, but it was there. Thomas grabbed my uninjured hand and we walked with Doc to the Tent.

"I need to get some blood from you." She noticed I was walking with them. "And Aesara." Her eyes traced down to mine and Thomas's interlocked fingers and smiled. "It's good to see you guys made it out. I was honestly worried that they might have gotten rid of you." She looked at me as she said that.

"Why?"

"You weren't as motivated-driven-as Teresa was. You were complacent in your place at WICKED. You too wanted to end things at WICKED." She paused. "But you stayed. For Teresa and Thomas." I blushed. It almost felt like a confession. One that didn't come from myself directly. We got to the tent. "What will I be seeing you for today?"

I slowly peeled off my bandages, the material getting stuck to the scratched, old blood dried it together. She sucked in a deep breath when she saw it. "I got scratched by a crank. It's a couple days old."

Doc nodded, opened the flaps and gestured for us to go inside. The tent was full of medical equipment, something you wouldn't really see in a camp. There were two beds, Brenda laying on one of them. They were still panting, lips gone blue and skin so pale you can see their veins shining through. Jorge sat on the other side of the bed. "You can sit on that bed, I'll just take blood from Thomas real quick."

I sat on the bed, listening as Doc explained to Thomas what she did while she worked for WICKED. How he helped them escape from them and get kids out while they were at it. All the while, she was making a blue liquid that she put Thomas's blood in. She mixed it, put it into a syringe, this one having a long needle, and inserted it into Brenda's arm. As soon as the liquid was in them, they released a breath of air, their breathing going back to normal. They were already starting to look better.

And now it was my turn. She put more blue liquid in the syringe and made sure there were no air bubbles. She got an alcohol wipe, cleaned the inside of my elbow and stuck it in my arm.

It was a small biting sensation and I hissed at the feeling, but Thomas grabbed my hand to calm me. The liquid burned as it went through my veins. "What exactly is that?" I didn't catch what it was when she explained it to Thomas and Jorge.

"It's to slow down the infection, to give the person some more time. For Brenda it's a little different than you. She is not immune while you are. But you are different from the rest of your friends. While they are immune and can not spread the disease, you can. Without showing any symptoms. It was also another reason WICKED wanted to get rid of you. You put everyone at risk if you got the infection."

I swallowed, but it was hard when being told that. If I had come into contact with anyone else, I might have given them the infection and they would become cranks. I hoped that was Marcus's fate. I didn't feel when Doc took out the needle, but I felt when alcohol, not the one back at Marcus's, was being poured on my wounds. I tried to pull my hand back, but Doc's were soft and sure.

"Just a little more, and then I can wrap it." The cuts hissed as they were being cleaned, and white foam came out, dripping down my wrist. When it stopped forming, Doc carefully wiped the access pus and wrapped the now clean-pink-cuts with gauze. The material was white but slowly caught the blood as it released from the open wound. "You're lucky you got here when you did, any longer and you would have lost your forearm." She gave me a smile and the gauze a small squeeze to make sure that it was on right. "Alright that will be it for you, if I had lollipops I would give you one. But if you feel any different, come back here, okay?"

"Okay." I hopped off the bed, Thomas and Jorge following.

When we got out the tent, Jorge told me to go along. "I'm going to talk to Thomas for a second."