An Inch Of Infinity (Short Version)

CHAPTER 64- Breaking Deals

 I run to the nurse and tell him the story. He puts me in quarantine then dashes to the boat to get Coral. She comes in, coughing. The nurse has a hazard suit on and is soon joined by several doctors. I watch as they put her in a medically induced coma. She fights them, confused until they inject her. They hook her up to lots of machines and take blood samples. Then they come over to me. They hook me up to machines and give me a knockout shot. When I wake up there are two overlapping beeding sounds. Coral is across from me. She has a tube hooked up to her mouth, and we both have tubes going into our arms. There are charts along both walls, and there are other people to, ones we have recently have contact with, I assume. Coral's roommates, Emma, Lilly, Tyler and a handful of other people. Lilly has the most machines, most likely because of the baby. A few others are awake, but most are still asleep, or whatever you call that.

I sit up halfway. The beeping is coming from Lilly and Corals machines. A few doctors and nurses wander around the large room. One puts a glass of water on my desk side table, which would be great if I could reach it. I am about to fall asleep, when one of the steady beeping sounds stop, replaced with a long beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. I try to sit up, but the tubes and wires hold me down.

"Coral! Lilly!" I scream. A swarm of doctors and nurses ran past me to Coral's bed. Oh no, please no. I plea in my head. There's a loud THUMP!

"Clear!" says a doctor. THUMP!

"Clear!" THUMP!

"CLEAR!" THUMP!

Then the steady beeping continues. Beep. Beep. Beep. The small crowd gives a cheer and thins out to treat other patients. Although, most stay with Coral to get her better. I relax, but can not fall asleep, not if Coral could die. No, I can't leave her vulnerable, so I watch her, for hours, until my eyes inevitably close, and I drift into a dreamless sleep. When I wake up, Coral is still there, in fact, everyone is there. I must be tired, because I'm seeing triple, but when I hold up my hand I only see five thingers. What's going on? I look around. There are easily four-hundred people in here! I dont have the tubes in my arm, and I can now reach for the glass of water. A doctor comes over and checks my eyes, measures my breathing pattern, and a few other things, then he finally lets me go. He has me take a breathing mask, and I walk with him briskly to an exit. I step through the flaps, just to find myself in another room, with more people.

My eyes dance around the room. This room is full of children. In the far corner is a maze of cribs, next to me two boys no older than eight lay next to each other. They must be identical twins, for they are exactly alike. I step over wires, careful not to disturb them, hoping that these kids will get better.

I walk into one last room, with only one patient, tied to the bed by leather straps, hooked up to as many machines as Coral, with three dozen guards surrounding him. It's the Keeper. His eyes lock with mine, and a smug look flashes across his face. On my way out, I kicked one of the many wires crossing the floor to his bed, it came loose. I hope that was his life support. Or better yet, I hope he dies of this disease.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I ran into somebody. Maiki looked startled. Behind him, Kiki, Kadek, and the others are staring at me. Kiki steps forward.

"We heard that he is in there." she snarls at the door. I try not to laugh, who snarls at doors? A picture of faith snarling at the door with Lilly on the other side appeared in my mind. I laughed, I just couldn't help it. They all glare at me.

"The Keeper is in there, but he has a contagious disease. I was just cleared." I explain. They push past me and I just try not to fall over, and follow them into the building. They have already gotten past the guards, who don't really care for the Keepers safety. They stand around the Keeper, but haven't put a hand on the Keeper, in fact, they keep their distance. Then, slowly, several of them start to smile.

"It seems fitting that you should die of the kutukan kematian." says Kiki.

"The what?" I demand. She turns to me.

"The curse of death" she says gravely.

"Please tell me you know the cure!" I exclaim. They all look confused.

"Why? He is a traitor to humanity and deserves to die." she says, as if she has practised that line.

"Him? Maybe, but what about them?" I say, gesturing to the hundreds of people in the next two rooms. They walk together, clustered in a group, through the rooms. When they come back, they agree to help, as long as the Keeper dies. I agree as well.

"WE HAD A DEAL! YOU LIAR! YOU AND I HAD A DEAL!" he cries. I turn to him. They are right, he is a traitor to humanity. No regrets.

"Our deal has expired." I say coldly. He cries out as we leave. I don't really understand why he is like this. Keepers are emotionless monsters. This must have been a mistake. He sounds pathetic.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" but we just keep moving. I look back. He is actually crying! He must be really scared, or the worst Keeper ever, Keepers never cry.