Dusk&Dawn

-16-

<Side's POV>

There was idle talk as we waited for Stephanie to come home.

Speedy and Dad never left my side.

And I could never stay awake for more than 30 minutes at a time.

So when I woke up from one of my random naps, Speedy was stroking my head and talking to Sammi.

It was something about Speedy's dream when he was unconscious from Wolfsbane poisoning.

"...Thorn rinovimin..that was what I saw before I woke up."

"It's one of the labels on the bottles, I think I brought them along." I hear Sammi say.

I open one eye to see Sammi rummaging through her purse.

She pulled out a small bottle and a large book..that somehow managed to fit in such a tiny bag.

"..according to the book..it can neutralise the effects of Rose Helm."

"It can? Okay so we have an antidote."

"No..not really. It can't be administered directly to her..Rose Helm and Thorn Rinovimin reactive explosively together." Sammi frowned.

"Then..how does it neutralise Rose Helm?" Speedy asked confused.

"I have to distil it..and add..This is not a cheap process..." Sammi muttered.

"Why do you need to do all that?" G18 asked.

"Thorn Rinovimin has an extract that calms and reacts with Rose Helm to neutralise it. But it also has a metal that produces huge amounts of heat when reached with Rose Helm. So I have to separate the two." Sammi scrutinised her book.

"What is the metal in Thorn Rinovimin?" I hear Dad ask.

"It's aluminium. That's why it can react with acids and alkalis that could potentially kill Side."

"But if Lucas ingests Thorn Rinovimin..will it harm him?" Dad asks.

"No, it shouldn't have any effect on him."

"Then..if Speedy takes it and...normally I wouldn't recommend it..have you know.." Dad made the sign.

"...it's an old method to distill or separate extracts of medicine." Dad continues.

I involuntarily yawned. Everyone turns to look at me.

{What?} I look at all of them.

{You're bleeding again}

I taste the nasty copper tang on my tongue again.

{Oh..} I held my head up, not wanting to drip any blood on Stephanie's white furniture.

"Go grab a bowl or something hurry!"

G18 jumped up from his seat on the floor and disappeared into the adjacent room.

He came back with a large container and slid it under my head.

I looked down and watched as blood and saliva mixed together in the tub, a swirling mess of gross and disgusting.

{Now that I think about it...} Blood was pooling in the tub.

{..I haven't eaten anything since yesterday. The last thing I had was pizza..}

I leaned forward.

I had forgotten I couldn't move my legs and nearly fell off the couch.

Speedy grabbed me before I slipped into the tub.