OBLITERATE- The Ring of fire

24. Dumped in a hospital

They sent us off to the Northern Central hospital on a bus. It was loaded with people.

I looked away from a family- a mother and two daughters crying.

The sky wasn't bright, but it was dotted with stars. The darkness was pure black- not even a hint of blue.

"I just can't believe it," Mike said and sniffled. "I killed a man,"

Mike looked down at his hands, bending and folding his palms. His hair was tousled like blue whipped cream. His lips were a hard line.

Kyle sent his arm around his shoulders and patted him. "You had good intentions,"

Mike smiled and pounded his fist with Kyle's.

They're good now, I breathed.

Mike sat back, his head on the seat. His eyes closed.

It seemed like a long ride to the hospital. We walked out of the bus to the tall grey building. It was lighted brilliantly.

"This way!" A doctor instructed us inside.

The rest of it was a blur. I heard phones ringing, sobs, light laughter, footsteps inside the hospital. We were made in lines-, and transferred from one laboratory room to another. In each it had something to do with scanning or getting put into a huge machine like a human bread roll, and the doctors will examine the scan, murmur in their own language about heart rate, neuron damages and amnesia. It went on for hours... I had to consult a doctor at last. And I didn't even remember how I answered. After that the nurses escorted me through the crowded corridors to where Grandma Jo's room was.

The doors were closed, and the blurred windows just exposed a white figure on a bed. Kyle and Mike stood outside the doors- arms crossed.

"How is she?" I asked the nurse.

"Well," she said. "Normal for the disease, but she has a few capillary damages, and blood loss."

"Oh," I said. "Do you have enough blood?"

The nurse sighed and clutched her i-pad. "For now, yes."

She nodded at the boys and me, then, she walked away.

There was silence as we stared at the doors.

"Time?" Mike said, breaking the silence.

Kyle fished out his phone from his pockets. Blinked several times at the screen and said, "Ten o'clock,"

"No way...." I said. My heart started to make its way to high blood pressure. That meant tomorrow...was just hours away.

Oh lord, I thought. Misty.

"We'll go," Kyle said and that's when I realized I'd spoken aloud.

"Go?" I asked. "All of us?"

Kyle stood dead pan, staring at the doors.

"But what about Grandma Jo?" I asked.

Kyle bit his lip. Mike shook his head. "We need to save Misty,"

"GUYS!" I said. "Grandma Jo is-"

"We don't know her situation yet, Des," Kyle said, looking plainly at the ground.

My hand moved to my pockets, and I felt the warmth of it. I tugged at the fabric and touched-

I gasped.

"What?" Mike asked.

"Oh lord," I whispered. "The anti-dote,"

Kyle scoffed.