Maybe You're the Reason Why

Chapter 8

As I sit in my empty room, I seethe in my anger. The gall! The betrayal! How dare he? As I slump into a frown my door opens again, and he walks in.
"Think of the devil," I murmur.
He sighs as he walks in.
"Look, I don't know what I did to make you so mad."
I open my mouth to say something, but he raises his hands up in defense.
"I'm not denying that I did something I just don't know what and if you want to tell me later that's fine but right now, I need to explain what your test results mean."
My mouth closes shut with an audible click. He takes a deep breath and starts,
"Every year, before the testing simulation, there is always a blood test. As I told you earlier, the simulation doesn't determine all that you are led to believe. Ever since the virus was introduced to the human body, it attempted to make antibodies against it. Through the generations, some lucky few, through genetic mutation, have a certain gene that allows them to do something extraordinary. However, this gene only develops between certain ages. I presume you can guess which years?"
"15 to 18..." I whisper trailing off in the end as puzzle pieces start clicking into place. But I still can't make out what the end result is. What 'extraordinary' thing can these people do? Do I need to be worried? I snap back into the present when I see a whisper of a smile on his face. I'm guessing at my answer.
"Yes Rada. 15 to 18 years old. The way the gene works is that it seems to appear out of nowhere. Where most people have about 19,900 genes in their genome, during these three years, another is added. Most people, about 99% of the population, gets a gene which we have deemed 'normal'. It doesn't affect anything and doesn't change them as a person. They then go through the simulation just to see which group would fit their personality best in order to keep our broken society functioning."
I look at him, my mouth gaping open. This is so hard to grasp. Another GENE? Everything I know about biology is flipped upside down.
"Sorry about the info-dump. But we have much more to get through." He said and his tone suddenly goes serious.
I straighten up in my seat and get ready for who knows what is coming next. The gears in my brain are turning and turning until they get stuck.
""Wait you said 99% have this so called 'normal gene'. What about the other 1%?"
"Getting to that but before I do, I'm going to get through a couple other things while we are touching on this subject. So, within the 3-year period, this gene can pop up at any time. Some people get it right at 15 and some get it as late as 18. Those years in-between, however many they may be, are the years a person is deemed undetermined. That is what happened with you as well. Now getting to the other one percent. So, you know that the 4 DNA bases are adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine. But in these rare one percent, two other bases are formed, danmine and pritine. These to bases added into your genetic code change a person's abilities'."

Danmine and pritine? Changing a person's abilities? Changing them to what?

"What do these two new bases add?" I say, furrowing my brow in confusion.

"They give the ability to heal others."

WHAT? Heal others? Is he crazy? He's got to be kidding. Right?
"What do you mean 'heal others'? How is that even possible?"  Another thought falls into my mind. "And if you now all this, why were you so freaked out when you looked at my blood test results?" I say, all in a rush. Getting more stressed and more anxious by each passing second.
"Freaked out?" He says slyly, smirking, completely ignoring my rushed tone.
"What did you want me to say? And answer the question!"
"And what if I don't want to?" He says softly, putting his hand next to my thigh and leaning in. He keeps coming closer until I can feel his breath on my lips. I can feel my head tilting up towards his breath. What am I doing? I shake my head and softly say,
"Please. Answer the question. You're scaring me."
He immediately sobers up and takes a couple steps back, away from me, running his hand through his hair. Why'd he go? I miss him. I miss his breath. What would have happened if I just leaned forward a couple inches? I shiver imagining the feeling of his touch.
"Right, the reason I 'freaked' at your blood results was, where everyone else only had 1 gene added, you had 2." He says trailing off at the end, as if gauging my reaction. I have two new genes? How? Why?

"And what does this mean for me?" I look at him, my eyes wide. The whole world is spinning around me and I'm losing my grasp on it. Everything is changing. The fabric of my entire world is being cut one thread at a time.
"Hey, it's ok. I know that everything is changing all at once. If you need sometime to process I'll come back later. Your whole world is changing. I understand."
But my two genes...
"Wait! You can't leave! Not yet! Not before you tell me what's wrong with me!"

"Spitfire," he says calmly, "there is nothing wrong with you." 

He brings his hand to my face and gently tips up my chin. I find my eyes wide, and his looking right through all the walls I put up for myself. Against my will, a small whimper escapes my mouth. 

"Please, just tell me if I'm dying. Please,'" I can feel the tears burning the back of my eyes. "Please, I don't know how much longer I can think of the possibilities of these genes without spiraling."

He sighs and takes his hand away. Once again, I find myself craving his touch. 

"Okay Spitfire, I'll tell you. As you know, the first gene gives you the power to heal others. But the second gene allows you to-"

A loud BOOM fills our ears, cutting of what Niklas was telling me. Before I knew it, he was on top of me, slightly crushing me, but I realized, too late, that he did it to protect me.