Iplier and Septiceye One-Shots and Imagines - Book 2

In Sickness and In Health (The Host)

Suggested by: darkiplier910.

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When the first wave of sickness came, there was nothing you could really do to stop it.  It tore through a single country in South America in less than a week, the rest of the continent in just under a month.  Then it spread.

It attacked the elderly first.  Their deaths were quicker since the disease didn't have as much time to mutate.  You were young at the time, only hearing what you couldn't understand on the telly.  All you knew was that their vision went first, then their hearing, then the rest of their body.

No one really knew why it went in that order.  It just did.  There was no explanation for any of it, the scientists couldn't find a reason for it.  All they could find out was that originated from the birds.  The birds started all of it.

When that didn't work, they killed the birds.

It was pretty much too late by then, though.  The virus had mutated, leaving slower and more painful deaths.  There was no way to contain the spreading.  As far as you knew, there were no immune people on the planet.

Two years later, doctors released an antidote.

It wasn't perfect; if you took it when you were healthy, it would protect you for a few years.  If you were already infected, it only slowed it down for a few months.

Even though you were a doctor at the local hospital and had come into the most contact with the sick, you were still somehow healthy.  Once you took the medication, you knew you could relax, if only for a little while.

The same could not be said for your lover.

The two of you had gotten together years before this had all started; dating started a week after the two of you had met, and marriage came three years after that.  It was then the two of you had started thinking about a child, but tragedy struck before that could ever come to fruition.

He had contracted the sickness a few days ago, and it was already starting to take its toll.  His sight had gone, his eyes nothing but bloody messes.  He took to wearing a bandage around them so it wouldn't scare you as much, and all he wore was a dirtied trench coat to huddle in; he wouldn't take the damned thing off.

But compared to dying, a small smell couldn't be too much of a complaint.

Speaking of him, it was time to give him his medicine.

There wasn't much left anymore.  The scientists wouldn't give any more out to the public.  Maybe it was because they were holding it for the more important people.  Maybe they didn't have any left to give.

Maybe there wasn't anyone alive anymore to give it to the public.

Sighing, you grasped the last few vials of medicine in your purse to make sure none of it had spilled and started home through the empty streets from work.  Only a few noises could be heard, one or two dying humans on the side of alleyways, either sleeping, dead, or begging for mercy.  You couldn't bear to even glance at their pitiful forms any longer, not after months of staring at it and being unable to do anything as they withered away.  Medicine was too expensive for people to be taking too much, let alone you purchasing for them.  It would just prolong their suffering, anyway; when they ran out, it would just make it worse.

Your house had turned decrepit since the outbreak.  It wasn't like you had the time to keep it clean, with all the dead people.

When you opened the door, you saw a cheaply furnished kitchen and living room, almost barren of most appliances from selling them for the money to buy the vaccines.  You called out to your fiancé, but you didn't hear anything.  Starting to get worried, you slammed the door behind you and hurried around the house, searching for him.

Eventually, you found him at the back of the house, sitting on a tattered couch in the corner of the room.  You sighed in relief, sitting beside him.

"I called out to you.  Did you hear?" you asked.  He just shook his head no, glancing in your direction.  You smiled sadly at the cloth wrapped around his eyes, and said, "I'm going to take your hand, okay?" he nodded, and you took his hand, moving it palm-up and placing the medicine in it. "Can you take it yourself?" To answer, he moved it up to his lips and downed it like a shot.

The silence was too much. "Are you up for speaking today?" He just shrugged, meaning that he could if you wanted him to.

If.

You took his hand again, making him jump slightly, but then he relaxed as you lifted it up to your cheek.

There wasn't much hope left at this rate.  The both of you knew that.  Pain took residence deep in your chest, and you lay your head on your boyfriend's lap, sobbing silently.  You felt his other hand on the top of your head, playing with your hair.

"It's okay," he whispered. "Everything will be okay."

The sound of his voice seemed to calm you somehow, and you quieted down, hugging him desperately.  You felt his empty gaze on the back of your head as you stared with your red and puffy eyes at the ground, right in front of his feet.

The two of you stayed huddled in that little ball as the sun set on another day, wondering exactly what would become of your corpses when all that could pass would be realized.

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Word count: 949

This was short and really not something I'm that proud of, but it's time I started doing requests again.

Sorry I haven't been updating recently, I was busy working on some other stuff.  Speaking of other stuff, my Discord server is now up for those of you who didn't see my notification on my board.  I like talking to more of you on a more personal level, and comments aren't always the best way to do that.  If you're interested and have a Discord, the invite is https://discord.gg/pnEZ2dm and you're all welcome to join.  In fact, I'd really love it if you would.  It'll be a fun time. :)

(If you're too lazy to copy and paste that, just message me in my inbox and I can send you a link that's hopefully active?)

Alright, I'll leave it there.  I'm going to try and post a digital drawing within the week, since I've been starting to practice with that medium.  Spoiler alert, it's not going that well.  Hopefully I'll get used to it.