Flame Rider I: Rise of a Warrior

Chapter 35: Medical Miracle

“The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty -- it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.” ― Mother Teresa, A Simple Path: Mother Teresa

Medical Shuttle 971, Ralsco Orbit, 2/11/2999 Day+3

Price’s POV

After hearing that Cole had been attacked by a Dark Clone from Blaze, I had immediately rushed down to the emergency hanger, and boarded the shuttle that Blaze had been standing outside. I had immediately gone to Cole’s side, telling him that he’ll be alright and that I wasn’t going to leave his side.

Blaze had then pulled me aside and started to explain what had happened; at least he explained what he knew about the incident.

“…I had only just heard the first bullet, when Dingo told me that a Dark Clone had attacked Cole,” Blaze explained, his head hung low, “If only I had been that much faster getting to him, I might have been able to kill the Dark Clone before Cole was shot in the throat.”

I noticed that there were tears rolling over Blaze’s cheeks. He seemed genuinely upset about the near death of one of his troops. I moved over, so that I was sitting right next to him, and wiped the tears off his cheeks.

“You did what you could when you got to him,” I said, “And I am grateful for the fact that you saved him from death, and healed his throat before he bled to death.”

Blaze still seemed quite upset, so I wrapped my arms around him, and brought his body closer to mine. He seemed to tense slightly from the touch, but I squeezed him tightly, letting him know that I have already forgiven him for what he couldn’t do. His arms wrapped around my back, and I felt his head lean into my neck.

“I will always blame myself for whatever happens to Cole because of the Dark Clone,” Blaze said, his voice muffled by my hair, “because I had a hand in training every single one of them.”

I knew what Blaze was talking about, and I instantly felt protective for him. All Blaze had ever known was fighting and killing to survive, while I went to school and hung out with friends until I signed up for the FAE military.

‘Jeez, my life has been so normal in comparison to Blaze’s,’ I thought to myself, ‘if only there was something that would make him happy again, something that would last.’

“We are approaching the Medical Frigate Torn,” a pilot announced over the shuttle’s intercom, “We shall be boarding in about three minutes.”

I unwrapped my arms from around Blaze and went to sit next to Cole. I noticed that Cole’s breathing was returning to something like normal. I lay my hand on his cheek and gently kissed Cole.

***

Medical Frigate Torn, Ralsco Orbit, 2/11/2999 Day+3

Blaze’s POV

‘What Price said to me must have been true, right?’ I thought to myself, ‘I did do what I could at the time, but was it enough?’

I shook my head, clearing those kinds of thoughts from my mind for now. I had to focus on the situation at hand.

Cole was in intensive care, as medical personal tried to repair the parts of Cole’s throat that I had either missed or failed to heal. Delpha was able to watch the whole operation because he was a very important AI and had threatened to have all of the medical personal executed if he was unable to make sure that Cole pulled through.