Of Illnesses And Antidotes

Chapter Twenty-Five

"When?"

"How?"

"Is that even possible?"

"Whoa, slow down. When, I don't know; how, I don't know that either; is that even possible, yes. Yes, it is. If Viktor can do it, so can we."

I did not expect this reaction. Well, I did, but I was hoping they'd understand more. All three of them look at me as if I'm some sort of deranged, psychotic lunatic. Their eyes are bulging, their mouths hang open and their faces are just so damn hilarious that I burst out laughing.

"What?" Renée frowns, puzzled.

"Your faces." I point at them, chuckling. "Jesus Christ, you should go look in the mirror. All of you." Unfortunately, none of them seem amused.

"Are you forgetting something? You just suggested that we escape! Are you out of your mind? If we got caught, God only knows what'll happen to us." Renée runs a hand through her hair, pacing back and forth in the two-step room she has to move about in. "And here I was thinking you were sensible. God, who am I kidding? You've always been like this. Impulsive, inquisitive, reckless..."

"I think we get it, Renée," Lana hastily interrupts.

I flash her a smile, then shrug. "I honestly thought it was a good idea."

"It's a mad idea. A foolish, stupid, ridiculous, impractical..."

"Alright, alright, I get it, Renée. Chill out!"

"I'm trying, alright!" She shakes her head, rubbing her temples, furrows of frustration emerging on her forehead. "Oh, how I wish Val was here. She'd know what to do." She lowers her voice to a soft whisper. "She always knew what to do."

"So have any of you got any better ideas?"

"Well, firstly, I suggest that we all calm the hell down." Jas smiles wryly.

"I second that." Lana nods her head in agreement.

Glancing to Renée, she shrugs her shoulders and leans back against the cubicle wall. "Alright, I'm calm."

"Good." Jas pauses, then continues. "Secondly, I suggest that we stay here and take some time to think through our options. I know we're under pressure as Doctor Sullivan knows about our previous plan, but we've got time. It may not be a lot, but we have the chance to come up with some new ideas."

"Maybe we should think about buying ourselves some more time first," Lana proposes. "We need some sort of distraction or delay that can throw them off our scent."

"I like that idea." Jas nods her head, then turns to me. "Are you okay with that?"

I reluctantly nod my head. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

"Renée?"

Renée doesn't say anything. She's been strangely subdued for the past couple of minutes. She stares at the wall, focused on something. A moment later, she speaks, softly and steadily. "What would you do, Naomi? If you did escape, what would you do?"

My eyes widen and they glisten with delight. "I would... I..." Slumping back against the wall, I sigh dejectedly. "I don't know."

"What do you think Viktor did?"

"Nothing. He did nothing. It was thirty-five years ago; he couldn't have done anything."

"True, but, like you said, it was thirty-five years ago. We came here ten years ago without a clue what this place was and what happened here. So, in those twenty-five years before we arrived, he could have done something."