Cascade

20 - Rescue

20 - Rescue

Claire woke up on a soft bed. Machines beeped lightly beside her, and an incredibly white room came into focus. A pale curtain was pulled half way around her bed, and the window on the other side of the room poured in enough light to blind an angel. Claire squinted, and brought her hands up before her eyes. There was a stir of motion. Claire blinked heavily, and her pupils reluctantly contracted. Looking to her left, though not directly at the window, she saw two slumped forms sitting in chairs side by side. Slowly, one of the forms raised their head, and pushed back the hair covering their eyes. Claire immediately recognized Melissa’s face as it lit up with excitement.

“Jordan!” She called, poking the figure next to her rigorously.

“Ah!” Jordan cried as he twitched awake. He glared at Melissa, then turned his confused look towards Claire. Surprise shot over him.

“You’re awake!” He shouted. Melissa jumped to the side of the bed. Claire shrugged as she pushed herself into a semi-sitting position. Jordan joined Melissa, looking bemused but ecstatic.

“What’d I miss?” Claire asked through her dry voice.

“Only me saving both of your lives. Again.” Jordan said.

“Oh, is that all?” Claire rolled her eyes and smirked.

“Half of it was my idea.” Melissa said. “I didn’t put in over a month’s worth of effort just to get no credit.”

“A month’s worth? What are you talking about?” Claire asked.

“You’ve been asleep for a while, Claire.” Jordan said.

“We had to put you in a coma.” Melissa said.

“How long-“

“Forty six days.” Jordan said. Claire closed her eyes and rubbed her head.

“It was Dr. Luray’s blood.” Melissa said. “In a sense, you were………well…….infected.”

“Aggressive immune response.” Claire supplied.

“That’s right.” Melissa said. “When his blood got into your system, it began to react heavily. His white cells tore you apart from the inside out. They multiplied like crazy too. Normally you should be able to fight off most infections, even if they are a bit virulent. But the doctor’s blood was………something else.”

“I was loosing?” Claire asked.

“Yes.” Melissa replied with a nod. “Your system protects yourself at exactly the level it should. The doctor’s system however, is beyond aggressive. You really didn’t look to stand much of a chance.”

“So, what? Am I dead then?” She asked. The three of them chuckled.

“Not quite.” Jordan said. “Though you gave it your best shot.”

“I’m afraid you have my brilliance to blame for still being here.” Melissa said. Claire raised her eyebrows. “Well,” Melissa corrected, “I suppose I was really stealing your idea, but whatever. It worked.”

“Do tell.” Claire said.

“Well, after the whole shebang went down, I nearly croaked myself, but was graciously rescued by a dashing man in a vacuum suit. Or so I’ve been told. I was passed out for that part of the story along with you, so I just have to take Jordan’s word that he flew the dragonfly into the dome and saved the day.”

“Well what else do you think happened?” Jordan asked.

“I’m just saying, you probably exaggerated. After all, kicking down a door, discovering us, and rushing out with both of us slung over your shoulders probably isn’t exactly what went down.”

“Oh please-“

“Just……continue the story.” Claire said.

“Right.” Melissa picked up. “Well, when I came to, Jordan had stopped your bleeding, but wasn’t sure what else was going on. Knowing the doctor’s condition, I knew what kind of war was going on inside you. So, I rushed you here, and did the one thing that would save your life. I gave you a disease.”

“You what?”

“That’s right. I gave you the most powerful anti-immune virus on record. And it worked like a charm. It took a week to destroy every white blood cell in your body, but we got there eventually. Several weeks of you locked up in a top class sterile room, the virus died away because it had no food, and your own immune system began to regenerate. Brilliant right?”

“If it worked, I won’t knock it. But how exactly was that my idea you stole?” She asked.

Melissa shrugged.

“Eh, I was just borrowing your tendency to think outside the box. I mean, after all, you already died so you could survive. Making you sick to get you better is kinda following the same principal, don’t you think?”

Claire laughed.

“Hey.” She said. “Speaking of dying, what’s with you being alive, hu? I saw them bring in your body.”

“Fooled you too did I?” Melissa asked. She brushed off her shoulders. “Please, honey. This girl can act.”

“Slowing your heart to a near dead stop probably helped as well.” Jordan replied.

“Well, ya. There was that too.”

“So now we’re all alive………to what?........face execution or a life of imprisonment?” Claire asked.

“Not really.” Jordan said. “Four planets have been completely destroyed, and the ones that are left are in disarray. I’m presumed dead, and the two of you never really existed in Nexus records to begin with. Believe it or not, Nexus is more focused on rebuilding than chasing ghosts.”

“A ghost.” Claire thought. “That’s what I should be.”           

“What’s up?” Melissa asked, seeing the pensive look on Claire’s face.

“It’s not fair.” Claire said. “Look at this. Why should the one monster responsible for the deaths of so many be among the few to survive? You and I both, Melissa. By all rights, we deserve to be dead.”

“That’s not true.” Said Jordan. “Sure you may have been designed for planet wide destruction, and brainwashed for your missions for over half your life, but look at what you did. There are still five perfectly livable planets in this system because of you. There is redemption in what you did. The way I see it, the one person made to collapse the whole of society, chose to reject her purpose, and become the one person capable of saving the lives of so many.”

“There sure is a lot of rebuilding to do.” Claire said with a sigh. Melissa grabbed Claire’s hand and held Jordan’s as well.

“Yes.” Melissa replied. “But thanks to you, there’s also a lot of people left to rebuild it.”