Amnesia

Chapter 12- Tye

Aidlyn doesn't stir an inch at my touch. I tenderly smooth back the stray hairs from her face, then press the back of my hand to her forehead. She feels extremely hot and her face glistens with perspiration. Despite the blanket and her rising temperature, her entire body is shivering uncontrollably.

Why hadn't I noticed? She's been suffering and literally dying, yet I couldn't even realize it. I am such an idiot.

Aidlyn's been sleeping for maybe eight hours now and the freight is nearly pitch black, except for the streams of moonlight seeping in. Once the darkness had settled in, the air began to chill ever so slightly.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" I ask Will, sounding almost desperate.

"I have honestly no idea. If we can find some way of getting medication or treatment, then she should be able to make it. However, we only have maybe two or three days before her entire system has imploded," he confesses.

My gut shifts and my heart sinks at these words; I don't have any knowledge at all about when we'll reach the Partisans- or if  we'll ever reach them.

I can't help but feel primarily responsible for her fatal condition. If I'd just have accepted the fact that the ARC is evil a long time ago, she wouldn't be dying.

Even though I feel like it's mostly my fault that she's this way, I can't help but acknowledge the nagging question in the back of my mind.

"Did you know? What I mean is, did you know this would happen when you gave her the serum?" I query, my tone on the verge of sounding accusatory.

My blood begins to heat and I can literally feel my heart rate quicken. I don't want to be, but the only way to describe my emotions right now is angry.

"I knew how the serum worked, but I didn't think it would begin to kill her," Will confesses hesitantly.

"Well what did you expect? You thought she'd just be fine after you took away her means of life?! Honestly Will, I'm starting to think that you knew this would happen and you're just waiting for her to die," I'm lost to where all this anger and suspicion is coming from. Why am I being so defensive?

"Tye, you know I wouldn't try to kill her. You can't really believe that I would do something like that, you're my best friend. You need to calm down," he defends himself.

That set me off, "Don't tell me to calm down! How can I trust anything you're saying," I stand up swiftly, looking down at him.

There's a slight stir from behind me and I turn to find Aidlyn sitting up. She looks sickly pale and it pains me to see her this way.

"What's going on?" She asks, nervously.

Will ignores her and says, "What about you? You aren't exactly the best person either. What about those refugees? Why her? Why didn't you try to save anyone else?" he challenges, scrambling off the ground to meet my glare.

What he says hurts, but it's true. A pang of guilt slides through me, hitting my heart. Why did I choose her of all people?

"Guys stop. This is stupid," Aidlyn protests, breathlessly.

I don't say anything back to either of them. I simply move back to my sitting position next to Aidlyn and Will goes to where he was before.

She's right. I know she is.

Despite feeling extremely guilty and hypocritical, I don't apologize to Will. Wow, this is just great. I blew my temper for no apparent reason and now my best friend probably hates me. The stress of everything is killing me, but that's no excuse for me to have accused him of those things.