Life's Little Teardrops

10. A Cure In Sight

It leads to a little closet type room with a trapdoor in the corner. The room is painted red and has multiple shelves holding medical supplies.

Stella walks over to a shelf and hands us each a plastic face mask. We put them on and climb down a ladder under the trapdoor.

This leads to another much bigger room. It is full of beds and dressers with people coughing everywhere.

They were of all different ages except for adults, there were no adults.

The beds were all lined up with 5 on each wall with a dresser in between each one. Deedee looked horrified as a pail girl coughed blood into a bucket ear her.

The strange thing was that aside from paleness and some coughing they seemed to be fine. There were TVs on the far wall showing cartoons and some of the older kids were on laptops and iPods. I did see some kids I knew from school but it took me awhile to find Trinity since she like always, had her face in a book. Once she saw us she stood up and ran towards us just like she usually did. She was the same hight but her hair was choppier and she seemed a little more skinny. She hugged me and Deedee then asked "Where have you guys been? We've been waiting for ever.". Deedee looked at the door where Blaine was now standing, "I was just hanging around my house and went to Walmart for a supplies run when I saw Blaine here kidnap Sylvia." She said putting her hand on Blaine's shoulder and smiling.

Trin looked at me questioningly and I pointed to my forehead that I suspected had a scar. Trinity nodded and looked at Blaine smiling.

"Hello." He said friendly.

I think this was the first time I'd ever seen Trinity speechless.

She just seemed to sit there with wide eyes and a freaky smile. Deedee leaned over to Stella "Is she okay." She asked with slight concern but mostly funniness.

Trinity blinked and stretched out her hand. "I'm Trinity. Most people call me Trin along with assorted nicknames." She said in a giggly voice while smiling in a way I had never seen.

Not her geeky happy smile, but a smile that I could only describe as 'Classic Flirty', like in those movies where a girl is batting her eyelashes so much she looks like lunatic.

This was just weird. I had known Trin for years, through many of her crush/obsessions where she had remained calm and confident. But now she seemed to be more 'in it for fun' than helplessly crushing.

Blaine nodded shaking her hand with a hint of friendship. Stella looked at Trinity with concern, "You should get back to bed.". Trinity looked shocked but motioned us to follow her.

She seemed to have her own corner where the bed had zebra sheets and a pile of John Greene books sat, some bookmarked and some not. Among the pile I recognized some others like The Divergent Series and the first book of Beautiful Creatures Series.

She sat on the bed while reaching onto the dresser/bedside table where at least 3 pill bottles sat along with an medical encyclopedia.

She popped a small orange one and I looked at her questioning. "Vitamin C, just for a precaution." She said picking up a book.

I nodded. It was time to ask what I had been thinking since I found out she was alive. She look at me in the eyes, "Have you found it yet?". Trinity's parents had both been in scientific fields, (Her mother forensics and her father Medicine) She looked back at the book which I now realized was a notebook. Her handwriting was so neat it was hard to tell.

She shook her head and flipped through some more pages of diagrams and notes. Deedee rubbed her temples and I could tell that she was let down.

Blaine say down next to Trinity on the bed to the point where there arms were touching. He looked over her shoulder reading her notes. "You seem pretty close. You thing the parrying of these antibiotics and mix of vitamin injections will steadily improve the health of the patient?" He said with a smart tone of voice that I had heard him use in the weeks we spent at Railey's.

Trinity looked at him with slight surprise but instantly returned to work.

"Yes, you see the bacteria injected into the jugular vein causes a blood infection which will eventually spread to the lymph notes causing sever pain. With this mix of infection degenerates we could maintain the infection to the blood. The vitamin injections will also help by boosting their immune systems which could help them fight the infection with maximum force....for our situation that is." She said highlighting a few lines of scribble with a blue marker.

Stella nodded. "She and Leon have been working non-stop for weeks. But we just can't find all of the supplies we would need for treatment." She said looking disappointed.

Blaine smirked, "What kind of douche bag name is Leon?" he asked laughing a little.

Trinity shushed him and jabbed him in the arm with a gentle fist. "He's from Rose Valley middle school, he's one of the smartest brains on this earth and don't you dare insult him." She went back to flipping pages and mumbled under her breath "He might be our last chance.". Deedee smiled leaning against the black dresser that was covered in scratches and marks.

"We're kind of in a hostile situation with the other school centers in the area, it kind of makes it dangerous to meet with people from other schools."

Stella said lowering her voice slightly.

Trin began coughing a little and Blaine patted her back gently. It was strange how they were interacting, Trinity had been flirting at first but now seemed only interested in friendship.

Deedee drummed her fingers on the desk while humming 'Best Song Ever' By OneDerection. She wasn't worried about Trin, after all it was the girlfriend she had to worry about.

I heard a noise and Stella ran out of the room.

I looked at Trinity, "So Leon's a smart cookie huh? When do I get to meet him?" The notebook seemed to be filled with info but Trinity was looking for something specific.

She nodded. "He's a young Sheldon. I'm meeting with him later and you can come if you want, but it is dangerous. People are jumpy around here and if you piss someone off then they might not be so friendly." She placed the notebook down on the dresser and dug around in it for something. As she got up Blaine reclined in the bed, enjoying the soft comforter.

I glanced around the room looking at all of the pale faces with warm eyes. The TVs were playing 'Despicable Me' which seemed to be entertaining most of the younger kids.

Trinity walked over to me holding a clipboard with several papers on it.

"What's that?" I ask looking at the large lists. Trin sat on the foot of the bed. "Its a list of side effects, symptoms and treatments that can improve or cure the issue."

I nod and Deedee smiles. "So there could be a cure in sight?" She asks with a glimmer of hope.

Trinity glances at Blaine and pauses, "Maybe. If we can get the supplies." Trin said smiling hopefully.

We all smiled. Knowing that one day, far away, life might be the same again.