Through the Lungs and Back

Chapter Four

"Not the Bronson girl." Her teeth go back to their normal shape. I can feel my phone vibrate in my pocket, so I check it. It's from Mom, and she's asking where I am. "Hey Molly, I gotta go, but I'll stop by as soon as I can, okay?" I say, standing up. "No prob." Molly catches me off guard by tossing me a small container of hand sanitizer. I pick it up and off the ground after missing. "The world is a sick place. Stay safe, alright?" Molly hugs me. "You got it." I say, heading out. I walk down the quiet hallway again, then I head into the urgent care section. I take the elevator up to the gastrointestinal specialist floor where I find Mom waiting alone. "Where have you been?" She asks me when I sit down. "I was fitted for a new implant." I say confidently. "You know we can't afford that." Mom leans in and whispers to me. "The girl who's gonna make it says it's free." I reply. "What's her name?" Mom asks, leaning back. "Molly something." I reply. Mom mumbles her name over and over, then hums. Just then, a doctor enters the room.

"Mrs. Bianchi, can I talk to you?" The doctor asks. Mom stands up and follows the doctor into his office.

I welcome myself back into the real world.

The doctor and Mom poke their heads through the door again. "You may come if you'd like, son." The doctor says. I stand up and join them in the hallway. We enter a nicely sized office where the doctor sits us down.

"Your daughter Ilaria has a disease similar to that of the New York Biological Attack of 2362. If more cases like this appear in this hospital, it will be put under quarantine. We just wanted to make sure you were ready for something like this to happen." The doctor sits back in his seat as if waiting for Mom or I to say something. I stand up and push in my chair. I don't want to hear what the doctor has to say. Mom stands up and follows me. "Christian, where are you going?" She asks. I quickly approach an android nurse. "Take me to Ilaria Bianchi." That alerted the nurse. It must have been charging.

"Good after--"

"Take me to Ilaria Bianchi." I narrow my eyes at the nurse. It scoots down the hallway and Mom and I follow it. We go up the elevator to the top floor, and into the specialty unit. It's completely empty. The nurse pulls us to the end of the hallway, where there's one spray painted X on the door. "She is in there. You are not allowed to go inside." The nurse says. The windows are fogged over. Ilaria probably requested a picture be projected on the windows. "Thank you." I say, walking towards the window. The nurse scoots away, and I press my forehead to the window. I can't believe I let something like this happen. I can't believe I let her go ghost hunting with us. She hates that stuff. She hates scary things. The window slowly becomes transparent, and an identical pair of brown eyes looks straight into mine. Ilaria's forehead is also pressed on the window. Mom starts pacing behind me. Ilaria breathes on the glass, then pulls her head away and draws a heart on the part that fogged over. She smiles at me for a brief second, then she falls to her knees and vomits on the floor. I pound my fists against the glass. I need to be in there with her. I'm not going to make her go it alone. We were born with the same looks, same parents, same everything. Whatever she goes through, I go through, and nothing feels right when we're apart. "Let me in! Let me in!" I yell and continue to pound against the glass. She doesn't deserve to be sick! She doesn't deserve to be put through this! I'm the one who should've gotten sick. Ilaria didn't do anything wrong, and she didn't even see the body.

The body.

I couldn't live with myself if she ended up looking like that. She's only sixteen years old, she deserves to live a long life. She deserves to get married and have kids. To work in some fancy lab like she wants to. She's always been the smartest of us. Even though Aline and I are mathletes, Ilaria is still smarter than us. Any company would be lucky to have her.