Space

thirteen

         

I run out of the examination room and into Jasper's.

He lies on his bed. Staggered breaths, slight shivers. I tear up looking at him, thinking back to how strong he was a week or two ago.

I kneel down next to him. His drained eyes slowly meet my teary ones.

He grips my hand tight, groaning in pain.

My heart twists involuntarily as I try hard to hold back my tears.

"You'll be alright Jasper, you'll be alright." I whisper, more for myself than him. I press our hands to my cheek. He'll be alright, he'll be alright.

"It should kick in any second now. Florence, your schedule awaits." I shoot Miriam a death stare.

But if I want Jasper to live, I must go.

"Stay strong, Jasper." I brush his damp hair away to plant a kiss on his forehead. "You'll make it out alive." His eyelids flutter shut.

I depart from the cold floor.

*******

"Florence?" I still hate the way the examination room echoes. It doesn't make me feel safe.

"No, I'm Charlie." I roll my eyes at Kullos, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Loving the spirit we have today." He starts hooking up the wires as per usual, scribbling down notes on his endless clipboard with each wire attached, with each spike of the monitor.

"What, no syringe today?"

"Indeed. Today's a control test. We just need to observe your regular self."

A long silence draws out between the two of us, it echoes through the room. Eventually, the roll of the papers on his clipboard break the silent wall.

"I have good news." He pushes his horribly outdated glasses up his wonky nose.

"Let me guess, you found a doctor that can fix your nose."

"I think I made a breakthrough."

In an instant, I'm off the metal bench and right next to his clipboard.

"There's been a pattern going on in your body. With each different sample we've injected, we've figured out how it works." He walks over to his laptop.

"We've injected a series of prototype vaccines, solutions and proteins into your blood, and I can conclude one thing. They attack specific blood types. Well, they attack all blood types but those who are A and B blood types are especially vulnerable, and this is because of the different proteins present in these two blood types. They feed on protein, and this protein especially is what helps them to grow and evolve. It helps them to adapt. This also means that A and B types die faster."

Jasper is an A type.

"So...with this pattern you're able to formulate a cure, right?"

"It's...still a long way."

My heart sinks to the bottom of my stomach.

"T-Then what on earth did you inject into Jasper?"

"A numbing agent to ease his pain, and the poison we've developed to slow the virus."

"You've injected poison into people?" My anger bounces off the walls and back to me.

"Would you rather we let them die instantly while the cure could come by any day?"

I bite my tongue.

"It's taking every fibre of my being not to punch you."

"And I am very grateful for that. You're free to leave." The back of my eyes burn.

Jasper's not going to make it.

With a mess of emotions, I trudge out the room and begin my wander down the corridors.

As I continue my journey down, a sickness builds in my stomach. It churns my stomach, forcing out the nothing I had today. It crawls up to my head, spinning it around in circles. I force a lunge forward, past my mess, before folding to the ground, hoping it'd stop the spins.

A muffled voice calls out to me, before my vision fades to black.

Florence is at it again, with a worsening temper and a tendency to black out. Jasper, oh Jasper, forgive me. I really like you as a character, albeit being a little generic. But hey, let's move on, to the next chapter!

~Nanasabae