In my Blood

CHAPTER 45 - Bliss

I throw my arms around Newt, burying my face into his chest. It takes him a few seconds before he returns the embrace, holding me tightly against his body. I feel his heart pounding beneath his chest, the steady drumming music to my ears. I shudder, holding back more tears. We stand hugging in silence for a while. 

"Why you?" I whisper, my voice breaking. Newt strokes my hair, softly sighing as he holds me in his arms. 

"I would rather it be me than anyone else," he mutters. I look up at his face, rigid and tense, jaw clenched. I shake my head sadly. 

"Of course you'd say that," I murmur, letting out a bitter chuckle. "Shuck... Newt, what are we going to do?"

He opens his mouth slightly, a sad smile edging upwards on his lips. "We'll figure it out. We always do." He lightly kisses my forehead, grabbing my hands and pulling me closer towards him, planting his soft lips onto mine for a brief second. It tastes sweet, the aftertaste of the coffee we had earlier imprinted on his lips. 

He gives me a slight smile, before his eyes shift over to the door to the ladder. I turn around to see Thomas waiting in the door, an unreadable expression on his face. 

"Hey mate," Newt calls.

"I'll leave you two to talk," I nod to Thomas, leaving the roof. I reach the door, climbing down the ladder and back down the steel stairs. I walk through the building, down to the basement. Fry and Brenda sit opposite each other, in deep conversation. When they see me, they turn to face me, giving me questioning stares. 

"Is Newt alright?" Brenda asks. I hesitate, before shaking my head ever so slightly. 

"He's, um... well, he's..." I stammer. "He's Infected." Fry's head lowers to the floor, Brenda putting a hand to her mouth. I sigh. "Well, you guys probably already guessed."

"I had no idea before today," Fry sighs. "How long?"

"I don't know. Maybe a few days? I noticed he had been acting a bit weird," I reply, sitting down. 

"But... he wasn't bit, was he?" Brenda points out. I furrow my brows. 

"No, he wasn't... d'you think the Flare could've gone airborne?" 

"Possibly," she says. "I had heard people talking about it on the street yesterday. WICKED are trying to hide it up as much as possible, I think."

"Of course they are," Fry scoffs. "Shucking WICKED."

Gally quickly rushes into the room, pieces of paper in his hands and a concentrated expression fixed onto his face. He glances at me briefly, his expression changing to slight worry. 

"Newt, is he alright?" he asks, putting the paper on the table. 

"No," I say simply, looking to the floor. 

"Oh," Gally responds. "Well, we have the Bliss..."

I look up to Gally with a hopeful expression, but jump when I see a shadow standing behind him. It takes my eyes a minute to adjust before I see the person approaching closer. Lawrence.

"Is that so, Gally?" he grumbles. Gally turns around in shock, stepping back.

"Oh, come on Lawrence," he bargains. "We have Bliss to spare - just 100 millilitres, it would last Newt a few days, at least. Just long enough for us to figure out a plan and−"

Lawrence strikes Gally with one blow, hitting the side of his head. Me, Fry and Brenda all stand up immediately, though we're unsure what to do. If we try to stop Lawrence, he could get more violent, but if we don't, Gally may have to take another hit. Gally makes a pained groan, though he stays standing, facing away from Lawrence.