Elementia

Chapter 10

My eyes flew open. I was out of breath and could hardly process where I was or who I was looking at. All I knew was that I was in a room with dull walls and one big window. After only a minute or so, my mind unscrambled and I was able to process things.

    I first noticed that I was in a hospital bed and there were five people surrounding me. They were Dr. Enki, his assistant, Agni's mom and dad, and Alinta, Agni's sister. It finally clicked– the voices I heard in my vision, the familiar voices, the familiar names and places. Agni's family had come to visit me when they heard I had the Virus. Agni's parents are scientists so they must have given me a vaccine.

    "Am I...okay?" I asked, looking at Dr. Enki.

    "Yes," he said, with a smile. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "However, we will have to run some physical activity tests to ensure you are back to normal."

    "Ok," I sighed, relieved. Suddenly, I remembered Caspian. "Wait! How is Caspian? I heard he was in a coma...?"

    "Oh, so you could hear us?" Mr. Spera inferred.

    Suddenly, I felt bad for asking how Caspian was doing instead of thanking Mr. and Mrs. Spera for saving my life. "Yes, I was able to hear a lot towards the end of waking up. I'd like to thank you two and Alinta for basically saving my life."

    "No problem," Alinta said, with ease. "We almost think of you as part of the family."

    "Yes," replied Mrs. Spera. "When we knew you were here, trying experimental vaccines, we came as fast as we could. We had to do something, especially when we knew we had many successes with this vaccine."

    "Oh, speaking of which, how is Agni?" I asked, intrigued.

    The faces of Alinta and Mr. and Mrs. Spera fell. "We haven't seen him since yesterday. The last we heard from Agni is when he called us to tell us that you might be in a hospital and if we could help you."

    Oh. Agni was the one who sent them...? He's the reason I'm alive. Yet, he's also the reason I was sent here.

    I felt worried for Agni. Where was he? Why did he leave home? Would he ever come back? There were too many emotions to process so I decided I would try to call Agni later.

    "So," I started, trying to change the subject, "is Caspian still in a coma?"

    "No," Dr. Enki answered, "He's just starting to wake up, from what my assistant tells me. If you'll excuse me, I have to go tell him about the tests he will have to go through. My assistant will explain in detail about the same tests you will have to take."

    "Of course," I replied.

Dr. Enki and his assistant explained to Caspian and I that we would have to take a few physical assessment tests to make sure that the vaccine hadn't affected anything in our bodies. After we agreed and signed waivers, Caspian and I each took three tests. Dr. Enki evaluated our results and determined that we were free to leave the hospital. He had said that he was planning to try the vaccine on more people who had suffered the Virus. His plan was to try to get this vaccine to the public so that everyone would not have to be divided anymore. He also said that the vaccine would prevent us from ever having the Virus again so we were free to hug or high five each other as much as we wanted.

After the whole  ordeal, Caspian and I first saw each other in the black car assigned to bring us back to our houses. Without thinking, I started hugging him. He hugged back and there was utter silence the entire car ride. We relished in our embrace, both knowing what the other was thinking; I almost lost you.

The driver pulled into my house first. I broke free of Caspian's embrace, reluctantly, and wandered into my driveway, after having thanked the driver. As I watched the black car leave, and Caspian inside it, I wondered what I would say to my parents or Blake. I sighed and went into my house.

As soon as I had closed the door, my parents and Blake rushed up to me and gave me a big group hug. In unison, they asked, "Where have you been?"

"It's a long story," I replied.

I had hope for the world now. Previously, I had been cold and stoic because society, in my school at least, was so divided and violent. However, at the moment, the vaccine that saved my life was being put through trial so that it could save other people's lives. This vaccine could liberate society. It could free us from our division. I never had such a hope for the world nor such a bright outlook on the future.

This was a memory I would never forget.