Apocalypse [Pentatonix AU | Kavi / Scomiche]

Chapter 33 - Devotion

Scott pressed the damp washcloth against Mitch's burning forehead as Kevin left to clean the bedpan. Concerned didn't even begin to describe how Scott felt in this moment. He was completely distraught over Mitch's current condition. If Mitch died, he truly didn't know what he would do. He didn't know how he would be able to will himself to continue.

"You need to get some rest," Mitch mumbled through cracked lips. His skin was drained of color and his eyes barely opened. Scott could tell purely from his appearance that he was suffering, and just the thought of Mitch in pain made Scott sick to his stomach.

"I'm not sleeping anytime soon," Scott replied softly, although he could already feel the affects of sleep deprivation toying with his mind.

"Scott, I'm okay."

"No, you're not."

"How about this; you go to sleep, and then after I die, I'll wake you up.

"Not funny, Mitch."

"Yeah but it was kind of funny though."

Scott let out a small chuckle, and although Mitch tried to laugh as well, all that passed his lips was a cough. Scott worriedly put the towel in front of his mouth, and quickly it was stained with blood.

"How ironic is this?" Mitch said after regaining his breath, leaning back with closed eyes.

"What?"

"It's the fucking zombie apocalypse," he smiled, "and I'm going to die from pneumonia."

"Stop saying that you're dying, you are not going to die."

"You have to at least appreciate the irony in it though."

Scott shook his head, but once again cracked a sad smile.

Mitch gradually grew serious, his brows furrowing together. And then, completely out of the blue, he said, "Travis tried to kill you."

This took Scott by surprise, but he remained collected. "Well, yes."

Mitch was nodding his head. "That's why."

"That's why what?"

"That's why I could shoot him." Mitch finally locked eyes with Scott. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately. If Travis had gotten bit before I met you, I wouldn't have been able to kill him. It would've haunted me for the rest of my life. But because he tried to kill you," he began nodding his head, as if finally understanding. "That's why."

"Do you miss him?" Scott asked after a brief silence.

"I think I miss the idea of him. I miss who he was, not who he became."

At that moment Kevin returned with a clean bedpan, along with a small orange container in his left hand. He pulled up a chair, handing Mitch the bedpan then opening the container.

"What is that?" Scott asked.

Kevin poured two tablets out of the container into his palm, showing them to Scott and Mitch.

"Amoxycillin," he stated. "It's in the same family as penicillin, and it's commonly used to treat pneumonia." He smiled toward Mitch. "This will help you. And if we're lucky, it might just save your life."

Mitch quickly swallowed the tablets, washing them down with some water before laying back and falling asleep almost instantly. He could usually only sleep for a few minutes at a time though before he woke himself up from a coughing fit.

"How did you know that would help him?" Scott asked Kevin in a whisper.

"Before all of this, I thought I was going to go into medicine. I thought I was going to live in China and do work as a doctor." Kevin let out a long sigh. "Alyssa and I, we were students at Yale before we transferred to the David Geffen School of Medicine is Los Angeles. That's where I met Avi and Aleen, during my third year."

"Aleen?"

"Avi's wife."

Scott turned to Kevin in shock. "Avi was married?"

"Yeah, he was. He married young, before I met him, when he was 20. They were married seven years before she died, and had a five year old daughter, Rose."

"Are you serious? He was a father?"

Kevin nodded solemnly. "Don't know how he got over their death."

"What happened to them?"

"I don't know, I haven't asked. They died after we parted ways, and before he met ya'll. Can't imagine how he coped with it, completely alone." Kevin shook his head with a sigh.

Scott nodded in understanding, then looked out the window. "Looks like noon."

Kevin smiled. "They should be back any minute now."