𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. XLVII - 《on fire》

oOo

Diana let herself be led by Alice to their brother at a jogging pace, her heart palpitating and her tongue drying in her mouth. When they entered the farmhouse, the distinct sound of vomiting was loud and clear, and Diana knew precisely where to go.

Her legs almost gave out when she saw Felix lying on the same bed where Carl had been fighting for his life the past days. She knew his condition wasn't even half as life-threatening, but it still always made her nauseous to see her baby brother struggling and not being able to do anything about it.

He lied on his side, body contorted and bent at the middle, his head stuck in a bucket that Hershel held for him. When the gagging stopped, and he rested his head back on the pillow, his eyes caught hers in a feverish glaze. Diana's eyes stung, but she offered him a smile, knowing he needed strength.

She sat by his side while Alice chose the end of the bed, keeping a keen eye on their brother. Diana put a hand on the side of his clammy forehead, caressing down to his flushed cheek, confirming what she already knew. Before she could get a word of comfort out, Hershel broke through with accusations.

"You bring an infected child with you and say nothing?!" he whispered harshly, "Was he in contact with the other sick?"

"He's been bitten?" asked a voice from the doorway, finally making Diana aware of the crowded room. She recognized the voice as Andrea's shrill pitch, the one she went into when she was a bit of a bitch.

That was the opening of the dam as voices drowned each other with expressions of fear, blame, and anger. They moved like a tidal wave onto them, and Diana was tempted to cover her ears and shut her eyes. Instead, she steeled herself and stood, but it wasn't her voice that shut them up.

"My brother's sick and y'all are making fools of yourselves!" Alice shouted into the room, bringing silence with her words. "All of you, out! He doesn't need your shit."

They remained frozen in place until Hershel rephrased Alice's words, throwing Diana a glance which asked for an explanation. She nodded in agreement and gratitude. When the gunslinger band trickled out of the room, only the three Lobos, Hershel, and Rick remained.

"Mind if I stay?" Rick asked, hand on the doorknob. Diana allowed it with a curt nod, and he closed the door, shutting out the buzz of voices from outside the room.

"He hasn't been bitten," Diana started, sitting back down, throwing the blanket off Felix's still form; his body radiated warmth. "And you're not gonna do a body check like your pal suggested. I won't put him through that discomfort and humiliation for no fucking reason." She glanced at Rick with a curl of disdain to her lip. Rick looked down as if ashamed for words that weren't even his own.

Hershel sat on the chair in the corner with a heaved sigh. "Then what is wrong, Diana?"

"He- he was born like this," Diana said after a few seconds of contemplation. The confusion was clear in both men's furrowed brow. "He uhm... he's got a genetic condition, a mutation. Only eleven cases in the whole world at the time it was diagnosed. I mean, he was kind of a surprise baby, so my mom always said she knew he was special, but we never thought..."

"Just get to the point, you sentimental bish," Alice sighed. "They're waiting for facts, not tear-jerking stories."

Diana blushed and lowered her eyes. She cleared her throat and started from the beginning, "I guess it was discovered when he was a newborn when getting his first vaccine. He got a really high fever as a reaction, which puzzled the pediatricians. They took him for observations straight away and tried to lower the fever but... nothing they gave him worked. So they took a blood sample..." Diana paused to assess Rick and Hershel's focus; they hung onto her every word. She nodded and continued while pressing a cool hand to Felix's forehead. "All traces of the vaccine and everything else they'd given him had vanished, and he had a ridiculously high white blood cell count."