Kingdom Of Heavens - The 100 [1]

Chapter 5

It took all my effort to hide my shaking as I examined patient after patient. After my father had gotten back, Apollon had left without a word. Surely any minute now there'd be guards storming in here to arrest me. I tried my best to focus on the tasks at hand.

Medical station was busy today, swamped. There was a line down the hall and around the corner with patients, all with the same symptoms: dizziness, fatigue, vision problems. These reoccurring symptoms from person to person told me exactly how the Ark was dying. Many people were suffering from a deprivation of oxygen. Some were even diagnosed with chronic oxygen deficiency. Under my fear of being arrested was my fear that I too had this. More than once today I felt dizzy and nearly fell over. I felt exhausted (although that could be attributed to the events of the previous day). I even began to notice I could no longer see as far away as I was once able to. I tried to chalk this all up to paranoia, but I feared I was suffering the effects of low oxygen levels just as any of my patients. Perhaps worse. I kept my mouth shut about it though, as I knew there would be nothing anyone could do about it.

I was about halfway through my shift, filling out paperwork between patients when Abby came in. I would have been shocked, if Jackson had not already told me the council had granted her a work release. As Abby walked up to me, I put my pen down and mentally noted where I was in the paperwork.

"Who's next?" Her voice was serious and lacked emotion. For someone who's been locked up twice in the past two weeks, I'd sure be excited to be out once again and not floated yet.

"A nine-year-old girl named Gracie, complaining of vision problems. She's waiting on the examination table. Her dad is in there with her." I handed Abby a chart I had pulled for the examination, hoping she'd take the girl so I wouldn't have to. I could deal with old people and adults having oxygen deprivation, but not children. They were so innocent, and I knew they were slowly dying. I couldn't see another one, I just couldn't.

Abby took the chart from me and read over it. As she did, a dizzy spell once again came over me and I nearly fell over. I placed my hand on the nearby table for support. Abby quickly took her attention away from the chart and grabbed my arm with her hand, helping me to find my balance again.

"You alright?" I could hear the legitimate concern in her voice and not that fake one she uses with patients who are so fearful over the smallest and least harmful colds.

"Yeah," I shrugged her hand off. "Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't get much sleep last night is all." I forced a smile. "I'll be alright."

"No, you're not." Abby quickly put the chart down and shuffled through some papers on a nearby table. "You know your father can get you extra oxygen if you need it." She spoke as she searched. I didn't bother to answer. The last thing I wanted was to take oxygen when there were others who needed it more. I had seen a patient not even ten minutes ago whose nearly blind now due to a lack of oxygen. She pulled out a piece of paper and began to walk away from me. Once she was across the room she held it up. I immediately saw what it was, an eye chart.

"Cover your left eye and read as much of it as you can." She instructed me.

"Abby, there's patients who need-"

"This'll only take a second Venus." I sighed and covered my left eye with my palm. The first two rows were clear, but the rest was just blurry. Regardless, I was able to recite the whole chart from top to bottom, following along with my uncovered eye to where the letters should be. I had seen this chart so many times, given patients so many eye exams that I knew the letters by heart. I was surprised Abby didn't think about it. I repeated the process again, this time covering my right eye. Once again, perfect. And all from memory.