Caught In The Gray

Chapter Sixteen

Entry Ten

I can't believe it, I don't know what to do. When Adabelle told me that she and Sebastian had a short lived affair, I don't know. I went blank.

I don't know how I could've been so stupid, believing that the Selection process could allow me to find love. I should've put up more walls, been less open, I should've been more careful and not gotten so involved.

I feel numb, like I'm in a haze. I shouldn't have fallen in love so easily.

I wake up alone. Alaric's gone. He left before I woke up. I get dressed and go to the bathroom in a haze. Rosy follows me but I barely notice. It's still sinking in.

Alaric and I are over.

I look in the mirror and my eyes are red rimmed and puffy. The shade of green is dimmed, darker. I sigh and walk down the hall. I grab my untouched mug of coffee and sip it. I can't think about eating anything.

I sip on the coffee for a few more minutes before I push it away and put it in the sink. I walk down the hall to get to my room and I grab my backpack. "Bye, Rosy," I say and pet her head before I walk out the door.

I'm going to the Medical center today, I think doing something to clear my head, it's better than doing nothing. I reach into my backpack and grab the earbuds and play music. I try I get lost in the sound of it, but all I can think about is how Alaric gave it to me and than I think about him.

I blink away and tears as I step onto the Transit. I sit down and tilt my head back, closing my eyes. My mind wanders to Alaric and I open my eyes. I can't think about him for the rest of today.

I pull the earbuds out as I walk into the Medical center. It's pretty busy today, there's lots of people walking around and the nurses look busy. I walk to the staff lounge and I don't see Linc. I drop my bag off and walk over to the couch. "Hey, do you know where Linc is?" I ask a resident.

"He's in the file room," she says and I nod. I walk to the file room and push open the door. Linc is standing and pacing, he has a file in his hands.

"Linc?" I ask and he he looks up.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asks, walking over to where I'm standing.

"I just wanted to do something to keep my mind busy," I say and his eyes flash with sympathy before he nods.

"What happened when you talked to Alaric?" Linc asks, shutting the file.

"It didn't go well. Whose file is that?" I ask and Linc holds it up. It has one of the stickers on it.

"It's Fiona's, she came back in today and she wasn't doing good." Linc says and I nod. He hands me the file. I look through it, her symptoms are like a virus, but there's bruises on her abdomen that present like internal bleeding.

"She has signs of and Stage Two," I say and Linc nods. He runs a hand through his blonde hair.

"I know, but she has the vaccine," he says and I nod. "She's getting a scan done now to see if there's internal bleeding or any other sign of the Epidemics."

"Is she doing okay or is she nervous?" I ask and Linc walks out of the room, I follow him.

"She's putting on a strong face," he says, reluctantly.

"But?"

"But I think she's nervous." Linc says and stops by a room. It looks like a patient room, he pushes the door open and Fiona is laying in the bed. Her brother and her mother are talking quietly in the corner and they look up when we enter. Fiona smiles but she looks sick, the parlor is her skin is off and her eyes look sunken.