In•fec•tion

1

    I sit against the headboard of the hospital bed. I sit with my knees up to my chest, my good arm holds my knees still. I watch the sun rise, it was so pretty. I feel absolutely awful, I am never drinking in public or in private ever again. Pull away from my thoughts, I hear a faint knock on the door. I don't say anything, I just stay seated on the bed. The door opens slightly, a doctor enters. She gives me a small smile. "Uh, hi there. Someone is here to pick you up and I thought I would let you know. I am going to let him in if that's okay with you." I don't say anything I just nod my head in approval. She leaves the room and shuts the door behind her. Before I could get up or anything, the door opens revealing Shaun. Relief floods Shaun's face as we make eye contact. I break eye contact and look out the window, the down to the floor. "Are you okay?" He asks quietly. I look over at him, his white hair sticking up. It look like he just woke up. "No. I'm not okay. I'm probably going to get fired because and can work for at least a month. My arm is broken. I don't know how I feel right now. It's my fault, for why I'm here." I say, grabbing my hair and pulling it. I let out a sigh and release my hair. Shaun walks over to my bed and, sits on the edge of the bed. "Jordan.." he pauses, "it will be okay. Tyler will understand. He wouldn't fire you. He'll probably stick with one of the guards to make sure you're safe, and so you aren't bored." He says giving me a small smile. I smile, "Thank you Shaun." He changes the topic by asking, "You wanna ditch this place and, go see everybody?" I nod my head yes. I carefully get out of the hospital bed. Shaun and I, make our way down towards the front desk. So I can pay them for the exam.
After I am done. I make my way towards the exit but, I feel arms wrap around me and lift me off the ground. I tense up, and look who picked me up. My look of shock turned into a glare in a matter of seconds when I saw it was Shaun. He lets out a chuckle and asks, "what?" I continue to glare at him as he carries me out of the hospital. "You scared me! You big jerk!" I exclaim. He laughs again and apologize to me. I roll my eyes and smile, "can you put me down? My legs work just fine. You know?" I ask. He sets me down gently and shows the way to the car. I get in the passenger seat as Shaun takes the driver's seat. He starts up the car and makes his way back to the lab.
       We make back to the lab in like fifteen minutes. I open the door to car and hear someone yell my name. "Jordan!!!" I look up to see Tyler running at me. My eyes widened, I freeze. His develops me in a tight embrace and lifts me, "I'm so glad you're alright!" He says as he is spinning with me in his arms. I frown slightly and tell him that I have a concussion. He smiles and says, "it's okay. It will only be a month or two but, for now you can work with..." he pauses and looks around. He looks at Shaun and then me again and smiles. "You can work with Shaun." I feel my face become hot. "Is that okay with you Shaun?" Tyler asks with a mischievous smile on his face. I look at Shaun, his face look uncomfortable. He rubs the back of his neck, as he nod his head yes. Tyler smiles and says, "great! Get to work you guys." He waves bye and leaves. I wave bye. I look to Shaun, the sun hits his hair giving it a metallic shine to it. His dark brown eyes focused on something in the distance. His lips are slightly parted. His mouth closes and he clenches his jaw. I catch myself staring too long and I look down to my feet. "Jordan? Do you want to get breakfast?" I hear Shaun ask. I look up to him and say, "sure." He gives me a small smile and we make our way to the cafeteria in the lab.
       We are walking down a hall and there are two sets of big, black, double doors. Shaun quickens his pace and get the door for me. I smile shyly and say, "thank you." He rubs the back of his neck and says, "no problem." I turn my attention away from Shaun to the people of the cafeteria. I see Josh and Victor seated at the bar next to the big window, drinking coffee or some other drink. I feel the pressure of two hands come down on my shoulders. I flinch, I look back and I see Shaun. I glare at him. He begins to chuckle. "I'm going to get your breakfast for you why don't you go sit next to Josh. I'm sure he is worried about you." He says with a slight grin on his face. I nod and adjust my cast in my sling. "If you don't mind,... Shaun. Can you walk me over there?" I ask but my gaze remains on the floor. "Of course! I don't mind." He says. He cups my chin and makes me look at him. "If you ever need anything. I'm here. You'll never become a burden to me. Okay?" He say with all seriousness but, he smiles at me when he finishes talking. I feel tears begin to form and I nod my head. I try to hold my feelings back. Tears start to stream down my face. Shaun's facial expression changes and he takes my hand and leads me out into the hallway. I'm still crying, he brings his hands up to my face. He uses his thumbs to wipe away my tears. I open my mouth to apologize but, before I could speak. Shaun pulls me into an embrace. I feel my heart slamming against my rib cage. After a minute and was able to compose myself. We walk back into the cafeteria again, I see that more scientists have entered the cafeteria. Shaun walks me over to Josh and Victor. Josh looks like he didn't sleep. His gaze meets mine and his eyes widened. "Jordan? I'm so relieved that you're okay!" Josh says practically jumping out of his chair and ran over to me. Shaun leaves. Victor walks over and plops his hand down on my head and ruffles my hair. "Glad your okay, kid." He says smiling. I feel my face heat up. "So what happened with, Lexi?" I ask look between Josh and Victor. Victor clears his throat, "I haven't seen her since she was detained by the island police station." Josh nods his head in agreement. I take seat a the bar, I spin the seat towards them. Josh gets close, my face feels as if it's on fire, he whispers. "You know, Shaun was more worried about you than I was. He wanted to stay the night in hospital room you were in, so nothing else could happen to you." I don't say anything but, this news makes my face grow with color. Josh proceeds talking except at a normal level. "I just wish I could have done more. Then you wouldn't have ended up like this." He says with anger and sadness displayed on his face. "Josh, it's okay. You did what you could've done. Thank you, I seriously appreciate it." I say with a small smile. Shaun returns and takes a seat next to me. He got me a blue berry muffin, with a banana, and apple juice. I tell him thanks. He smiles and then takes a sip of his coffee. The four of us make small talk and enjoy our breakfast. A lab researcher sprints past us to the tv with a remote. He flicks the tv on to the local news station. I start watching the tv instead of paying attention to our conversation. "Four found dead. Doctor don't know what's going around but, it has racked up a body count of ten. From the last six days..." I furrow my eyebrows and turn towards the group of guys I was sitting with. "Hey have you guys heard of what's going on, with people randomly dying?" I ask. The light conversation turn into silent tension as they shook their head no. "We know what going on but, we don't know why." Victor says. Shaun nods his head in agreement. Shaun's watch makes a little beep noise. "Well my shift starts, come on Jordan." He says. I grab my trash and throw it away and meet Shaun in the hallway. "So what do you do?" I ask. "I usually have to patrol the hallways make sure no one bothers the researchers. My first shift is like an hour, do you wanna check out the island when I'm done?" He asks. I look up and him. He is rubbing the back of his neck. I smile and nod my head yes. He smiles. We make a quick stop by his room, so he can get his equipment. I noticed his room is only four rooms away from mine. I readjust my sling. Shaun steps out of his room and locks it with card key. We start patrolling the halls. We have random small talk here and there. We enter the research hall, I hear loud ,what seems to be, arguing. Shaun beings to run towards the commotion. I don't run but, I follow Shaun through the hallway. I see researchers bunch outside of doors. They looked at me as I passed them. I see Beth and Megan, I approach them. "Hey, do you know what's going on?" I ask cautiously. Beth looks towards the crowd and pulls me into the lab. Megan follows and shuts the door. "You need to get out of here. Lexi is looking for you. She is super pissed off. I'll tell Shaun that you left. I want you to go to Tyler's office, he'll take you to the island record label company . You'll stay there for until Shaun comes to pick you up." She says frantically. I nod my head. Megan brings me to a door that leads to a different hallway. Before I leave I thank them. I make my way to Tyler's office quickly. I knock on his office door. The door swings open and Tyler rushes out and scoops me up in his arms. My face is scorching hot. We turn, after a short time in the hallway, into an exit. That leads out into the parking lot. He puts me in the passenger seat of a familiar black car. He gets in the driver's seat and we make our way to the record company .
We arrive at the record company forty minutes later. I get out I wave bye to Tyler as he leaves. I don't really know what to do now. But then I remember that Tyler's son Andrew works here. I walk in the lady at the desk says, "Hi welcome to Delva, do you have an appointment." I nervously shook my head no but, before she told me to get out. Andrew walks out and noticed me. I wave shyly. "Jordan!! So glad to see you! I hear what happened last night come with me." I nod my head and follow him. He offers my a seat in front of the sound board. Andrew moves my chair towards his. He moves his face close to mine, colors paint my face. "What's going on?" He asked me. I explain everything from last night to right now. He has a sad look on his face, "I'm sorry your first couple of days on the island have been awful." He quickly smirks and says, "I'll make sure the time you spend with me is the most fun you've had all day!!" He grabbed my hand and brings me out of the recording studio. He drags me across the hallway, into a room full of instruments. I feel a huge grin on my face.
I slowly inch my way through the room. Inspecting and admiring each instrument. "Go on pick one up." Andrew insisted. I pick up a capo off of the shelf next to me and pick up the acoustic guitar. There was a box of picks sitting next to it. I place the capo on the sixth fret and played random cords. I felt a smile spread across my face. I start strumming a few cords and I take in the sounds bouncing off the sound boards. I look to Andrew, he has a small smile on his face. I look back down at the guitar, Andrew took a seat next to me. It is really awkward because, he just watching me. I awkwardly clear my throat and put the guitar away. "That was good Jordan!" Andrew exclaimed. My face heats up, "thank you." I say with a bashful smile. I hear someone clear they're throat, I look towards the doorway. I see a head full of snow white hair.  It's Shaun, he looks upset by something. "Jo we're leaving." I didn't immediately follow him. I said goodbye to Andrew, whom also look upsets . He waved us goodbye. I leave the room. Then it finally hit me, Shaun gave me a nickname. I start blushing as I follow Shaun out of the recording studio. Shaun hold open the front door for me, I nod my head as a thank you. I wait for him to let go of the door, so he can showed me where he parked. I hear branches snapping it the forest near the edge of the parking lot. I squint to see what is making that noise. I see a tall pale figure in the brush. I quickly look away and rush to Shaun's car.
We make it back to lab an hour before lunch. I couldn't shake the image of that figure out of my head. "Can I go to my room?" I ask Shaun. "Uh, sure. Do you want me to walk you there?" He asks awkwardly. I shake my head no. Before he could invite himself to walk with me, I started walking to my room. I reach my hallway, I pass Shaun's room feeling a little guilty for leaving him like that. I was at my door before I knew it. I open the door and lock it behind me. I sit on the edge of my bed but, managed to slide to the floor. My first moment by myself, I feel hot tears sprint down my face. I let them run. I hear a knock at my door, I don't answer. A second but, more impatient knock echoes through my room. I wipe my face and get the door. It was Shaun. I don't say anything I just open the door more so he can come in. "Jo." He starts, "What's wrong?" I couldn't respond in English, I just started crying again. I felt Shaun grab my hand, he pull my hand towards the bed. He sat down and motioned me to sit next to him. I sit next to him and we sit and talk, until the alarm for lunch is sounded. Shaun didn't move and neither did I.
"I have a question." I say as I look to Shaun. He raises and eyebrow. "Why do you call me Jo?" I ask nervously. Shaun looks at the floor and didn't look back to me. "It's just a nickname. I thought it was..." he stopped speaking and looked to me and said, "cute." When that last word slipped from his lips, my face feels like it was set on fire. I break our eye contact and say, "thanks." We sit in an awkward silence. "So, I'm going to grab some lunch do you want me to bring you back anything?" Shaun asks. I wasn't hungry, so I shake my head no. He makes his way towards the door. Before I knew it I grabbed his hand. He stops and turns around. I get off the bed and make my way towards him. "After your done with your lunch, can you come back here?" I ask timidity, still holding his hand. He lets out a small chuckle, and says, "I'll be back soon. I still have to tell you about Lexi." I let go of his hand and he leaves. I watch him shut the door. I start thinking, why does he think I'm cute? I go into the bathroom and look at my self. My, long, raven black hair hangs over my shoulders. I look at my face it looks average, except my freckles that scatter across my face. My green eyes look dull.  I look average. I stop looking at myself and decide to take a shower because I smell like a hospital. I turn the hot water on the adjust the cool water. I wait a couple minutes and get in. I wash my body and my hair. As I'm rinsing my hair out, I hear a door open and close. I quickly finish and dry off quickly. I throw my robe on, I leave the steamy bathroom. I see Shaun sitting on my bed with Josh and Victor. Shaun notices me and see his face go pale and then explode with red. He jumps up from the bed and pushes me back into the bathroom before the other two saw me. "What the hell?!" He exclaimed. My face now red. "I smelled like the hospital. I thought you were going to take longer and I didn't know you were bringing them!?" I say glaring at him. We were so close. I looked at Shaun's lips, they looked so soft. I look back up at Shaun's eyes and they were looking down at me. I didn't realize I was backing up, until I just hit the wall. My brain decided, fuck it. I moved closer to Shaun and I placed my lips on his. The kiss was so gentle. We separate, I don't look at him. I mutter sorry. "I'll get the guys out of your room." He says as he leaves. Why did I do that! I'm so stupid. I walk out of the bathroom, not even caring if the others saw me. I grab my only pair of sweatpants and a sports bra with a tank top. I quickly change. I open my bedroom door inviting the guys in. I sat in my desk chair. Shaun start to tell everyone what happened with Lexi. He is acting like nothing happened, my chest tightened. I decided to do the same. "I heard a lot of commotion going on down in the laboratory hallway. So I ran over and see some of the male researchers trying to calm down Lexi, who looks like a mess. She was looking for Jordan she kept screaming. I had Jo with me and I noticed she was gone. So instead of freaking out I decided to take care of Lexi because, if I went off to look for Jo that would leave Lexi loose and she could've beat me to her." He pauses and looks at me and then continues, "So I told Lexi that she was downtown. She told me to drive her down there, and so I did. We get downtown and my phone started ringing. So stepped away from her. I answered it, it was Tyler. He told me where Jordan was. I told him that I'd go get her in a few and hung up. I turn around to tell Lexi I had to go but, she wasn't there. I figured she was fine so I went to go get Jo." Before shaun could say anything Victor jumped in. He furrowed his eyebrows and says, "Did you leave Lexi out by herself? She is a danger to the public! We have to find her before she hurts someone!" He softens his look and turns to me, "Jordan? I'm sorry I need to ask for your help with this one." I nod my head. I grab a pair of shorts off my dresser and run into the bathroom.
When I return to grab my shoes Victor and Shaun are quietly arguing it the corner of my room. I slide my shoes on and walk over to the door, which the guys were standing in front of. Victor and Shaun immediately stopped arguing. "Jo, you're not coming." Shaun sighs. I don't look at him, I feel my anger begin spill. "I'm ready." I say grinding my teeth as I look to Victor and Josh. They're eyes widened as they opened the door. I follow after them. Josh explained the plan to me. I kept repeating the plan in my head. We reach Victor's truck. Josh and I took the back seat, while Victor and Shaun took the front. We road in silence. The down town area was crowded. I quickly got separated from the group. I didn't even bother looking for them. I continued with the plan. "Are you lost?"