Fight With Fire

43

Finn had been a little angry for some reason. He had seen the whole thing with Lorhito and now he is ignoring me. He had a little pissy fit when I came back to the surveillance room and then he disappeared.

So I was left alone to delete all the footage that showed his escape. He disappeared very shortly though because he went off into the mountains which is probably the only place on earth where there are no security cameras.

Also he can fly which was very cool to see. It seems that he can do almost anything but whenever he uses an Aerdell he gets an equivalent Drell. At least he can pick and chose though.

Now I'm flipping through hospital looking for that familiar head of blond hair and green eyes but he is completely avoiding me.

I found him once and follows him through the hospital giving up on trying to make contact with him. I just watched as he helped kid after kid with the hands that many feared.

And then I lost him in the crowds. I found Rory a few times and he's more efficient than even many of the doctors. Especially after moving to the children's hospital. There's a lot more lives to save there than with the old people. Even though he is one of the most powerful healers I ever seen, I have come to recognize his limits. He can close cuts and speed up the healing process but for people with diseases of cancers he is hardly helpful.

I saw him leaning over one deathly pale boy for almost an hour. His concentration evident until you could see there was nothing he could do. Rory crumbled to grab his face in his hands and then abruptly stood up and left the room.

The little boy called out after Rory. The hope slowly drained from his eyes and one lone tear fell down his cheek.

"Are you okay?"

Both me and the boy look up in surprise to see Adrian standing in the doorway of the boys room.

"Ya ya of course I'm just-" the boy takes a deep shuttering breath and shakes his head. "Actually no. I'm not okay. And I never will be."

"I'm sorry. I get it." Adrian comments causally as he walks into the room and takes a seat beside the boy.

"You really don't get it." The boy says shaking his head. "I'm dying."

"I am too." Adrian says it simply and nods his head slightly to himself.

"You don't look like it." The boy says hesitantly. He is still clearly surprised at what Adrian said. I am too.

"It's not something you can see. I'm not sick." Adrian explains. "I guess you could say that I've just run out days."

There's a thick silence between them until the boy says, "Well that's just ridiculous."

Adrian laughs lightly with the boy nodding slightly. "I agree. It really is."

"I'm sorry, what was your name?" The boy asks politely.

"I'm Adrian."

"I'm George. I'm guessing you're not an Oari?" George asks as he sits up in the hospital bed.

"I am not in fact." Adrian stands up and lifts up his shirt to show his iae which has shrunk considerably since I last saw it.

"What can you do?" George asks as his eyes light up in hope.

"I'm sorry George but I can't help you here. I give people greatest desires but I've already given away all my days." Adrian smiles sadly.

"What makes you think that's my greatest desire?" George asks but he is not as excited as he was before.

"I can feel it. Anyway, I don't grant desires anymore. I need to save everything I have to make sure I get home." Adrian says softly.

"Got a girl back home?" George replies. It is obvious that he is trying to change the subject.

"Something like that." Adrian smiles sheepishly. It is an expression that looks vulnerable on Adrian.

"Tell me about her."

"You don't want to hear it."

"What's her name?" Adrian looks hesitant still. "I need a distraction."

"Gwen." Adrian says with a small sigh. "She's a little crazy. And she really gets on my nerves sometimes. She is probably the most annoying girl you will ever meet. So insecure that she always worried about what she looks like or what you think." He laughs slightly and George smiles.

"I guess that stuff doesn't really matter though. There's this way she smiles when she is finally comfortable. When everyone looks away and she can sink into her own skin. She's got this brown hair that's, well the perfect colour. It's a little crazy and gets everywhere. And I mean ev-rey-where. She sheds like a dog and any time I get close to her I find so if it stuck in mouth or around my fingers." Adrian rubs his fingers together subconsciously.

"And her eyes are this deep dark brown which as it happens to be, is also the perfect colour. They're always alive with light even though they're such a dark colour. She never looks at you long enough but even a glimpse." He sighs happily and stares off into the distance. "Even a glimpse can calm me down."

"She's not very good at meeting new people. She's always on edge. Afraid. I never knew why. There's one girl that drives Gwen crazy though. This other girl is probably the most popular girl in school but it's more than that. She sees everything-"

"Sorry the pronouns are confusing. What's this other girls name?" George interrupts with a confused smile.

"Right, Sorry. Her name is Ella. Ella is this girl who is honestly pretty scary. She has the whole school wrapped around her finger. I know that there's more going on there. It's all a facade but Gwen doesn't know that. Ella sees and knows everything. I know it sounds horrible weird but it's true. And freaks the hell out of Gwen. I'm not making it any better though because I'm kind of friends with Ella now."

I laugh out loud at this surprising myself. Even though Adrian isn't saying anything all that nice or even anything that I don't know, it's still nice to hear. It makes me surprisingly giddy.

"Gwen is all I've had for a long time. We've always had a lot in common but it's more than that. We've both struggled for a long time. We understand each other. Most of time, she's all I need." Adrian smiles gently and looks down at his hands.

"There's a But in there." George inputs ecstatically. "A big one too."

"No." Adrian says slowly. "No but."

"Yes there is. Gwen is all you've had for a long time but..." George starts for Adrian who just sighs in response.

"Well first she's jealous because of me talking to Ella. But there's something else. It's been happening for a while, at least a few years. She just disappears. I don't know where she goes. She shares everything with me except that. I didn't want to push her because I was worried and honestly I thought the worst. But it stopped. Don't know why but I don't care. We're finally fine because I know she's safe."

"Jeez you really needed someone to talk to." George says with a laugh.

"What do you mean?" Adrian asks with his eyebrows turned down.

"Dude you just ranted at me about everything under the sun. And you just met me!" George finished with a louder short laugh.

"You asked for a distraction." Adrian grumbles under his breath.

"Well thank you." George replies suddenly serious. "I am sorry you're dying. For both Gwen and Ella. And everyone else I'm sure you could help. And mostly for you because it really sucks that someone took all your days away."

"How did you know someone took them away?" Adrian asks sounding more amused than solemn.

"That's how it works in this world. People die and live and work and die. And then there's a bunch of random supernatural stuff that is caused by these crazy powers that people have." George shrugs with a small sad smile. "Everything makes sense except the stuff that doesn't."

Adrian just nods and looks at George.

"I'm sorry you're dying too."