Saving the World - Awakening

Sea Legs

BEEP...BEEP...BEEP

Eliot's heart was beating steadily, but it unnerved him to hear his own heartbeat as it happened. He felt like he was in one of those medical shows, where there was some kind of deadly disease or dysfunction in the patient's body and the doctor had to think of a way to take care of it. Maybe that was the case with him, and it was just a matter of time before the doctors figure out what was wrong with him.  At least the popping in his ears was gone...for now.

The door across the room clicked open and in walked Dr. Nicos.  Eliot groaned loudly, not caring to hold back his disdain for the strange doctor.

"Don't you dare touch me.  You're probably the reason all this is happening." Eliot warned.

Dr. Nicos ignored him and walked over to a computer screen beside his bed.  He could see her viciously typing, all tremors that were once in her hands seemingly gone.  Across the room, the door clicked again and B walked slowly in.

"Eliot, how are you feeling?" B asked.

Eliot only glared at B, wishing for the two to leave him in peace. They were the reason he was hurt again.  They were why he was in the middle of this situation.

"The doctors took a look at you.  They saw nothing damaged, no broken bones, no sprains - nothing.  What they did find was much..." B hesitated before finishing, "stranger."

"Well, what was it?!" Eliot asked impatiently.

"Feel your chest. Anything different there?"

Eliot put his hand under his shirt and felt for any abnormality.  Down in his gut, where he had been stabbed by a knife dealer about a week ago, a long cut was stitched together.

"What did you do to me now?" He asked with resignation.

"It seems that the serum we gave you did a little bit more than heal you."

B motioned to Dr. Nicos, who then produced a small jar, no longer than Eliot's thumb, from her pocket.  It was filled with a red liquid that looked similar to Kool-Aid, but the way that Dr. Nicos was holding it, it was definitely not Kool-Aid.  The liquid seemed to be suspended, as if gravity was irrelevant within the jar.

"What have I got to do with that?"

"Eliot, the wound that was healed when we injected you with the serum didn't just heal. It looks like an organ with unknown properties has formed there as well."

For a few seconds, Eliot didn't know what to say. Then, the questions came flooding through, one more important than all the rest.

"Am I going to die?" Eliot asked, barely holding back his anger.

"No, no, no, probably not.  What happened to you is a great scientific feat."

"Then what was all that nonsense in the square?"

B hesitated before answering, "I don't know.  One thing I do know is that we need to find out what this organ can do."

Eliot laid his head back.  This exchange was giving him a headache; the popping was starting to come back.  He ran his hand around the stitches and felt a lump beneath his abs.  It was right next to his rib, below his heart.  He didn't know anything about anatomy, but it seemed like this was that organ that had been causing him so much discomfort. He closed his eyes as the popping kept getting worse.

"Eliot, what are you doing?" B asked warily.

"Nothing." he answered irritably.

"Open your eyes, Eliot."

Eliot reluctantly opened his eyes.  B's eyes were wide open, looking at him.  Eliot was floating in a few inches above his bed, as if gravity no longer bound him to the earth.

Dr. Nicos spoke up, "It l-looks l-like we've f-f-found it's use."

It was a weird feeling, being weightless.  He felt good, besides the popping in his ears.  It was like he was immersed in water, except he could breathe much easier than normally.  He didn't need to defy gravity with every action he took. It was almost peaceful.

In front of Eliot, B got up in awe.  His mind was spinning with ideas.  His experiment with Eliot was successful, and most likely was successful with Samantha.  Not only had he completely healed Eliot from injury, he had created a phenomenon.  Finally, after all his hard work, he could proceed with his plans.  He quickly turned away and exited the room.

Eliot felt the incision in his chest, trying to feel the mysterious organ he had grown recently. There was no lump there, only his abs.  Confused, he turned to Dr. Nicos for her input.

"I don't feel the lump anymore."

Dr. Nicos cocked her head to the side like a dog, as if she were thinking.  Eliot was floating, but the lump was either gone or shrunk.

"I have a th-theory." Dr. Nicos began.

Before she could start, B burst back into the room.  Out of breath, he looked to have gone for a run somewhere.  Behind him, people were running through the halls, as if there was an evacuation.  The look on B's face confirmed that there was something wrong.

"We have to leave, now." B said forcefully.

He rushed forward, grabbing papers from the desk and unplugging equipment from the outlets. Eliot watched in panic as B irreverently discarded the machines surrounding Eliot.

"Don't I need that?" Eliot said, panicked.

"No, we just needed it to keep you still.  Get up!"

Eliot's floating spell had seemed to wear off, and he had control over himself now.  His legs were shaky as he slid down from his bed.  He crumpled to the ground, unable to support his own weight.  The door was only a few feet away.  All he needed to do was get up, leave the room, and change.  Trying his best to reactivate his weakened legs, he pulled himself up from the ground. He clung to the door handle as his body adjusted to gravity again.

"Hurry up, we've got company!" B yelled.

Galvanized into action, Eliot opened the door and hobbled out.  The halls were filled with people running from the square.  Luckily for Eliot, his room was down the hall and not against the flow of people.  Every second he felt stronger and stronger, but the people clamoring to leave the square were nigh impossible to work with.  After a few minutes, he had resorted to clinging to people around him for support as he waited for his room.

By the time he figured out where he was, it was almost too late.  The hall that his room was on was coming up on the left, and the crowd was almost too much for him to fight off.  He had to push people down to get there, but managed to escape the torrent of panic.

His room was ahead, along with Samantha's. He had recovered mostly, and was able to walk to his room without a problem. His room was almost empty, with only a change of clothes left on the bare mattress and a few knives and a gun from his arsenal.  Without a second thought, Eliot changed into the clothes and armed himself with the weapons.

After he checked the room for anything left behind, he left.  He looked at the hall he had just escaped and noticed there weren't many people running anymore.  Before investigating, he checked Samantha's room.  Peering through the door, he was surprised to see that it was stripped bare, just like his own room.  Samantha was gone, along with all her belongings.  Confused at what could have caused this evacuation, Eliot headed back to the square, where everyone seemed to be running from.

"After all," he said to himself with a smirk, "what could go wrong?"