Virus

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

260 Days

27th October 2021

During these past few days I haven’t had a second to myself, I never knew looking after two invalids could be so difficult; and just as I was realising my newfound appreciation for nurses, Xavier bolted out of bed and made a beeline to the bathroom. I sighed and followed him, waiting until he was finished throwing up and helped him clean himself up before helping him back to bed. It was strange seeing the usual smug Xavier in such a state. His signature smirk had been absent for a while and showed no signs of returning, it worried me, I always relied on it to convince me everything was okay even if it wasn’t. However the cure was working, the rash was fading from Xavier's arms and Lisa's anxiety attacks had ceased and not to mention she wasn’t dead yet.

Alex was getting worn out from the lack of sleep but he was use to it from his long hours as a medical student, he would check their temperatures every few hours, which was rapidly rising to frightening highs. Yesterday Lisa’s temperature had risen so high, she passed out mid-sentence, I ran to wake Alex up from his short nap and had to half drag his semi-conscious body to Lisa. After checking three times, he told me that her temperature had risen to one-hundred and seven degrees Fahrenheit.

“Can’t you give her anything?” I asked in panic watching my friend sweating through her bed sheets.

“No nothing will work, the healing process is worse for her, since we gave her the cure so late.” Alex said while placing a wet towel on her forehead and running an ice cube along her lips.

"Why is this happening? I thought they were suppose to get better not worse." I said frustrated that I couldn't do anything to help her. Alex began to launch into a detailed and complicated explanation which I only understood every other word. Seeing my confused expression, he smirked and gave me the dumbed down version.

“Do you know anything about genetic modification or virus structures?” He asked. I gave him a dubious look.

“Of course not!”

"The virus works in a certain way, it attacks the cells in your body, however it doesn't kill them, it alters them and that's what causes the symptoms. The human body has adapted to function a certain way, so the body tries to correct the damage that the virus is doing and this causes the strange symptoms. After a year the body can not cope with all the alterations and it shuts down." After seeing that I understood his explanation so far, Alex continued, "The cure not only kills the virus, but it is also a catalyst, it assists the body while it corrects the alteration the virus has made. When you have a fever, it's caused by chemicals in your blood called pyrogens, the same chemical is made when the body is healing it's self from the virus. The process puts a lot of stress on your body especially during the late stages when more damage has been done and that's why she is so sick. Honestly, I’m surprised she survived." I sighed at the end of his explanation, I just had to wait and watch. “I’m worried about the amount of fluids she is loosing. You go to sleep I’ll watch her until she wakes up.” Reluctantly I obeyed and almost instantly fell asleep on the hard floor.

Lisa woke up today early in the morning, her skin was almost translucent, I could even see blue veins creating intricate patterns under her skin, after Alex force fed her some food and water, he went to sleep after being awake for almost twenty hours, and my shift began. I glanced over at Xavier whose face had turned the same colour as his hair and was tossing and turning in his sleep, I walked over and began to check his temperature but his eyes snapped open the second my fingers touched his skin, I gaped at him as his pupils were reduced to tiny black dots surrounded by a sea of silver. His hand gripped my arm and with strength I didn’t know he possessed slammed me against the wall beside the bed. My head thumped against the wall with such force that I bounced off it and landed on the bed. Xavier instantly had my hands pinned above my head and had a death grip around my throat. I stared up at his manic eyes trying to process what was happening. He used one leg pinning down my own while his other knee pressed painfully against my chest; his unseeing eyes were wild and unaware of his surroundings. There was a painful throbbing at the back of my head and I’m pretty sure he was breaking my ribs with his knee but I still tried to talk some sense back into him.

“Hey Xavier, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. Hey look at me! It’s Blondie.” I chocked out trying to push my fear aside. His crazed eyes slowly faded and returned to reality.

“Christ!” He cried out once he was aware of his position, he immediately let go of my throat and helped me from under him. “Oh Natalie, I’m so sorry I didn’t realise… I-I-“

“Hey don’t worry about it.” I coughed as oxygen rushed into my lungs.

“Oh God I could have killed you!”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves; I could have so taken you. If you weren’t in a mental state I would have had you on your ass in three seconds.” The annoying yet comforting smirk spread across his face. “There we go! The Slade Smirk has returned!” He raised a confused eyebrow at me.

Just as I was about to explain Alex began to stir and after a few seconds he sat up with his hair standing up in every possible direction and rubbed his eyes making him look like a small child.

“What’s going on?” He asked groggily.

“Oh nothing much, almost killed your girlfriend-“

“You did what?” He exclaimed and was on his feet and wide awake within seconds.

“Oh calm yourself Alex, it was just an accident.” While Alex and Xavier argued, I walked over to Lisa’s bed, her eyes cracked open and her psychedelic eyes flitted around the room then back to me.

“Nat.” She croaked. “Why is your boyfriend trying to kill the father of my child?” She asked shakily. The smiled disappeared from my face as I turned back to the other bed where Alex was sitting on top of Xavier with his hands around Xavier’s throat. I leapt up, off the bed and ran towards them yanking Alex away from a suffocating Xavier.

“Hey! No! We do not try and strangle our sick best friends.” I lectured Alex. “And Xavier stop smirking, I know you're not innocent either. We are all clearly tired and just need a little sleep.”

“Really? Because all I’ve done the past few days is sleep.” I turned to look at Lisa wobbling on her feet.

“Jesus! Lisa go back to sleep!” I exclaimed running over to her and propelling her towards the bed. She pouted and looked up at me.

“I thought I was suppose to be the mum.”

An hour later I had Lisa tucked in, Xavier asleep who was still soaking his bed sheets with perspiration and Alex asleep on the floor under a pile of blankets trying my best to keep him comfortable, maybe he’ll stay asleep this time. Completely worn out, I collapsed on a small chair in the corner of the room. Lisa was right I’ve turned into the mother of our little gang of misfits. I sighed and looked at my ‘children’. Lisa with her striking features, trouble-free in her sleep with one arm curled protectively around her growing abdomen. I then looked over to Xavier his red hair clung onto his clammy forehead; his features that were usually masked by cocky smirks were now gentle and sombre. Finally my eyes travelled down to the floor where Alex lay fast asleep. His black hair contrasted strikingly against his pale skin. His face was contorted into a mask of pain and fear, he thrashed around in his sleep moaning and mumbling. I didn’t need to guess who was haunting his dreams.

Exhausted, I walked over to him and a pushed his hair off his forehead and kissed it lightly like one would do to a child. His expression instantly softened and relaxed from under my touch.

“We’ll get through this.” I whispered in his ear and I stood up to settle myself back into the armchair in the corner again and let my thoughts wonder; but the only thought that came to mind was: What now?