The PulseTeam, Book One: Origins

Chapter Fourteen: The Close Call

Part One: I Woke Up Like This

The last thing I can really remember is finishing the contingency files before everything just went black. I guess that I really don't need sleep anymore, but I am just not used to not sleeping.

Part Two: A Purposeful Accident

After I fully wake up, I get dressed and head straight to a Cheetos factory to buy a big box full of Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

As soon as I get back in the Cave, I open the box and start chomping. By the time Alitia finds me, I'm on my last bag and almost unconscious. At the Cave's main entrance, I hear her yell, "DAVID!!!"

As I digest the last hot chip, I fall out of my chair. But I don't hit the ground. Alitia catches me and balls me out, saying, "David, what on earth is wrong with you?!!"

"Wha... what do you mean?" I ask weakly.

"You know darn well what I mean!" She yells. "You ate five hundred twenty-six bags of hot chips consecutively without water! Are you insane?! I-- Don't answer that! But do you know how much sulfur is in five bags of hot chips? Enough to seriously harm you. And you, in your infinite wisdom decided to consume over one hundred times that amount? You do realize that sulfur inside of you is like garlic in your bloodstream, right?! You are DYING, David!! Get that through that thick genius skull of yours!"

I think about it, and as weakly as I did before, I say, "Oh. So that's what's in that." I then roll over into her and say, "I think I might need to go to the hospital."

Then she picks me up by my underarms and sets me in the chair. She uses all of her superspeed to dress us both in our Pulse and Pulsate uniforms, and she quickly takes me to what I'm assuming is a quality hospital in this country. I pass out completely once I'm inside.

Part Three: Responsibility

I wake up to Alitia asking, "David, do you feel any better?"

I say, "Yeah, a little bit."

Then, out of nowhere, she slaps me silly! Once I compose myself and restrain myself from full-on retaliation, I ask as quietly as I can, "What was that for?!!"

"I know you're crazy, David, but this was just downright stupid! Why would you scarf down 526 bags of hot chips?"

"Because I am a scientist, but more than that, I am still a curious boy who wants to test his limits. And nothing that anyone does is ever going to change that fact. It's in my nature. It's ME!"

"Well stop being you for a while, okay? You are the leader of the PulseTeam, and everyone on the team looks at you as such. We-- I-- look up to you. And not just as my tall boyfriend, but as a role model. You are my leader, and because I love you so much, I'm going to tell it to you straight: This reckless behavior of yours has got to stop here and now. You accepted a VERY big responsibility when you became the team leader, and now you need to act like one. On and off of the battlefield. You got that?"

Alitia's right. If she hadn't caught me when she did, well... let's just say that they'd have to be searching for a new leader. This little stunt that I just pulled landed me in the hospital. It cannot happen again. If there is an "again" in my future. I respond, "Yeah, I got it."

Then someone knocks on the door to my room. I utilize my diminishing X-ray vision to uncover the doctor with a clipboard tucked under her arm. I say, "Come in."

She opens the door and says with a smile, "Good afternoon, Pulse. How are you feeling today?"

I say, "A little bit better now, thank you for asking."

She looks back down at her clipboard, and her smile turns into a full-on grimace as she continues reading it. "No wonder we had little issues getting the I.V. unit in you," she says.

I say, "Just say it straight, Doc. I know that it's sulfur poisoning, and I know that it's killing me. So now I just need to know-- in your professional opinion-- how much time do I have left?"

"Based on these readings," she replies grimly, "you only have a little less than six and a half months left, and at best, seven, but that's only if the sulfur in your blood slows down. I'm so sorry."

Alitia worriedly asks, "Is there anything you can do?"

With a glum expression on her face, she replies, "I'm afraid not. We've never encountered anything like this before."

I smile and reply, "Thanks, Doc. You have just told me exactly what I need to do when I get back home."

Part Four: Treatment

When I get home from the hospital, I get to work on making a containment unit for myself, and when it's finished, I give everyone specific instructions on what to do when I go inside of the machine. One of them is not to open the unit, no matter what happens.

When I step into the unit, sulfur-infused titanium needles inject me with nanites that I can feel siphoning the sulfur out of my system as soon as they enter my bloodstream. Then it starts to REALLY hurt. I try to stay quiet, but now I am screaming at the top of my lungs. And then it's over. Finally.

Part Five: Alone Time

When Alitia and I change out of our uniforms and get some time alone, I take her to the mini-theater a few doors down from the living room, I pop some popcorn, put on "The Gospel of John", and we sit down to watch the movie.

During the trailers before the movie, Alitia asks me, "You okay? I mean fully okay?"

I close my eyes, brace myself for a punch that I know I've got coming to me, and say, "Yeah, I am."

But instead of a punch, she just touches the right side of my face and says, "Good."

Then she slaps me. Again. It stings (a lot), but instead of getting mad, I say, "Yeah, I know that I've had that coming."

She says, "I'm glad you're alive. You're my world, you know." With that, she plants her lips firmly but neatly on mine unexpectedly, and she shifts herself so that she's on top of me. I freeze (No pun intended), momentarily caught off guard, but a second later, I envelop her in my arms. She pulls away and leans on my shoulder, and for a few minutes, we embrace, just overjoyed that we can do this at all. Then I look up at the movie screen, and I tell her gently, "As much as I hate to say this, you have to get off so we can watch the movie."

"Okay," she replies.

Before I let her get off, however, I say, "Hey, Tia, you know that I love you, right?"

She says as she gets up, "Yeah, I do, and I love you, too, more than you will ever know."

As she takes her seat, I can't help but smile, and the movie comes on.