Soul Shattered (book two)

Chapter 18: Wilt

I sat stiffly next to Cashmere, my arms crossed, my foot tapping the smooth tiles repeatedly. I fixed my eyes on the front door, chewing my sore lip. The pain kept my mind off of the fact that Crystal was in critical condition. We had wasted thirty minutes driving to the hospital, if Crystal didn't get blood in the next half hour, she was dead. I put my head in my hands and let out hot hair.

A couple minutes later, Aqua and April returned. Aqua's arm was bandaged up and she had a woozy look on her face. She sat down loudly next to Cashmere. I sent a questioning look towards her and she giggled.

"T-they gave me pain medication." she grinned, licking her lips. I scrunched my nose and leaned away from her, allowing my long hair to fall in front of my face.

My worries consumed me. As the time passed, my anxiety only grew. My chest tightened and my breathing became raspy. That could also be because Erin had kicked me square in the chest. I let my worries take over my brain as the terrible possibilities played through my head.

I wondered what would happened when she died. Would our powers just, cease to exist. Would Dr. Shep activate his army and take over. Not only that, but what would happen to us? Losing Crystal to death, too? It would be the worst blow that could happen. I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a ragged sigh.

No one else in the waiting room seemed to stare at us. At our condition. But did they wonder what happened to us? Could they possibly know the terrible risk they were all in?

"How do you think she-" Aqua hiccupped. "Is?" Cashmere frowned at her.

"I don't know." I whispered, honestly. "I really don't know." I ran my fingers through my hair and laid my head against the chair's back and pressed my lips together.

I tried to picture Crystal just as I knew her before. When I first ran into. I remembered waking up on her sled, half dead. Her sled dogs pulled me to her house where I'd be safe. Safe and sound. She was so innocent. Two thick braids framing her face, small freckles her cheeks. Her nose always seemed to be a bit red from the cold. Her thin lips were always pulled back in a smile.

Then I pictured her now.

Her long, thin face with such hollowness it made me cringe. It seemed like she hadn't smiled in years. Her eyes were dull, always seemed to stare at her feet. A single braid snaked down her back instead of two. Her freckles had disappeared and her fingers were tinted blue, curled inward in fists.

Oh, how people change.

The four of us were such different people who you would never think of as friends. The horrid time we spent separated morphed us into different people. But we were all trying to be the same people we were before. I knew it would take time to get to know the new Aqua, the new Cashmere and Crystal. But I was willing. And hopefully I would get a chance before the world ended. Because however this journey ended, I was never leaving again. I couldn't be separated from them anymore. I regretted living the past three years without them being by my side.

I had tried to make friends at my school. Meaningless friendships, really. They only liked the pretend Wilt, the girl who grew out her hair and went along with gossip. I knew that if I exposed my true colors, they'd un scared. Aqua, Crystal and Cashmere, they loved me for my dark colors. I had nothing to hide from them. They completed me and I completed them. 

So how could I lose Crystal?

How could I just sit here and do nothing? I imagined sprinting through the halls in search of my friend, calling her name, reaching for her. But just as I was actually considering it, a doctor with a crisp, clean, white jacket on approached us with a blank expression.

"How is she?" Cashmere asked. I stood up quickly, the others followed suit.

"She's going to make it if-"

"Can we see her?" April asked. I glared at them.

"You said...if?" I said.

"Yes, if she gets blood." he said. "There's no blood anywhere that matches her type and you said she was your sister, yes?" the doctor asked. Oh yes, another little lie I slurred up. I stared at my shoes.

"Yea. I will give my blood, if that's what she needs." I said, nodding.

"What do you mean, her blood is different?" Aqua asked, blinking quickly as her medication worked through her.

"She seems to have an incredible amount of solid di-hydrogen oxide coursing through her veins." he said.

"That's ice." I explained, thinking back to biology glass. My mouth parted as it dawned on me. What would happen if our powers intertwined? It could potentially kill Crystal or cause an explosion and kill everyone here.

"I...actually can't give my blood." I said. "Is there any other way?" I asked. The doctor shook his head.

"No, I need blood or she's dead in the next...six minutes." he said, looking down at his watch. I covered my mouth and looked over at Crystal.

"We can't." My voice cracked. "We can't give our blood." The doctor's face flashed with fury.

"Your sister will die! You do understand that?" he snapped. I held back tears and remembered how my grandma had to transfer her powers into me or else they'd over come her body and destroy anything in a mile's radius. I could only imagine what would happen if we tried mixing them together.

"If we give our blood." I started. "Everyone here could die." I said, meeting the doctor's eyes. He was taken aback.

"What?" he asked.

"Can we talk to you, in private?"