NUMB

Day Twenty-Nine - Jet

I'm not sure why I grabbed these two to come with me. I guess I hoped having at least some backup would help with convincing Tasha to get back on board with the plan. They're bickering right now. I can't help but worry that Krysta will start throwing punches again.

We really need more of those vials and some of those pills.

"Which one is Tasha?" Quinn asks once we're standing in the infirmary. I've got my hands on their shoulders, trying to look like I'm supposed to be in here.

"Strawberry blonde. Kinda short. Kinda bossy."

"Ah, that one."

"Do you see her anywhere?" I ask as I watch a few nurses run from a patient room to the storage room on the other end of the hallway.

"Is that her?" Krysta points towards a door that's just opened near us. And she's right because there's Tasha, ushering some poor Numb kid out into the hall with a bandage wrapped around his arm.

I give their shoulders a little push, head towards the room and gently shove Krysta and Quinn inside before the door can shut or someone else can be let in. Tasha startles, nearly drops the clipboard she's holding. "Jet, what the hell."

"Hey, Tasha. How's it going? Got those vials for me yet?"

Her eyes bounce between the three of us. She narrows them at me. "I told you I was out. I can't lose this job, even if it's not a morally acceptable place of employment, it pays my rent."

"You won't have a job if we keep dying though," Krysta says as she hops up onto the edge of the bed.

"I won't have a job if this place gets shut down either," Tasha counters. Krysta makes a face that looks like she might agree, but doesn't say anything.

"Listen, doesn't any of this leave a bad feeling in your stomach? They're dying in here, Tasha. Literally dying. I mean, Quinn here is only," I glance at him. "how old are you?"

"Fourteen," he says.

"Fourteen," I repeat and then pause because he's only fourteen. He's still so young. "Quinn is only fourteen, Tasha. He could die tomorrow because of what's happening here. And there are kids here who are younger than him. Doesn't that make you feel anything?"

Tasha seems to waver for a moment. Her expression softening as she looks at Quinn. But then the pinch between her eyebrows and at the corner of her mouth is back and she's shaking her head. "Of course it does, I'm not Numb. But I just can't do it. I can't help any more than I already have. I'm sorry, but I can't. People are noticing things. The other nurses, they're getting suspicious because I'm talking to you so much." She gestures for Krysta to get off the bed. "Now, if you'll please vacate the room, I have sick patients to tend to."

I tell Krysta and Quinn to head out before someone gets suspicious. They leave and I'm left alone with Tasha. She gives me a look to say I need to go as well, but I take a step closer to her. "If you won't get the things I need you to get for us, can you do me a different favor?" When she doesn't agree or disagree, I continue, "One of the Threes from the other day, Elyse. She's sick and we need to keep her in her room for a few days. She said she'd need permission from the infirmary to stay out of classes for more than one day. Can you pull some strings and do that for me?"

She purses her lips for a moment. "Fine. I'll call her out of classes. But that's all I'm doing for now. Don't come back and ask me for help again until things cool off."

"Thanks, Tasha." I let the door shut behind me after I leave and I stare off at the bustle of the infirmary. How am I going to be able to pull all of this off?