An Inch Of Infinity (Short Version)

CHAPTER 67- Flat Lined

 I utter a sob. Coral is gone, she can't be gone. Then she reaches up and pulls the cloth off of her eyes. She blinks rapidly and stretches, then tears her headset off. I guess I was right. She really can't be gone.

"What kind of garbage is that?" She demands, glaring accusingly at the head set. I laugh, as tears spring to and from my eyes. She's back. She pulls the rest of the tubes off of herself. She must have just knocked the line off. I give her a hug, and after a second she pushes me away. She looks around at the people in beds, while a few wake up.

"So are we gonna help these people or not?" She questions me. I nod, scared that if I try to speak I won't make words come out, or I will actually just say 'words' or something. Coral gives me a quick side hug and then we head to the door. When she sees the cauldron she raises an eyebrow but says nothing. I show her how to tell someone's body mass index, or BMI. Then I showed her how to determine how much is required. Soon all around the compound we opened eyes, pushed plungers and measured antidote. Coral and I spent my entire time in the kids room. Unlike in the other rooms, every bed that was used before, is still used.

This assures me, but I don't want to get into technicalities. Most kids cry for mommy or daddy, or that they don't like shots, but some, mostly older ones, understand to some degree what was and is going on. Those often thanked me. The infants would either wake up look around and go back to sleep, wait until someone claimed them or they fell asleep screaming. Let's just say I got a slight headache.

The two twins from earlier I woke up at the same time. They woke up and hugged each other. The liquid in the cauldron started getting shallower, until we had to tilt the pot to get any out. I finished with that last kid, a little girl with bright blue eyes and stunning red hair. She automatically thanked me, although she was only eight according to her profile, then asked for her mother.

I told her I didn't know. She gave me a detailed description and I told her I would find her mother. I searched the other room. Her mother was on the other side, still in the coma. The little girl had followed me and pointed at her mother.

"That's her, can you wake her up?" She asks. Her mother's BMI papers were on a desk next to her. I filled a syringe half way and stuck it into her mother's neck. She woke up and was attacked by her little girl with hugs.

I look at the little girls red hair. It reminds me of the Block 6 rebel, Jezabel Froxanger. I never understood why it's called red hair if it's orange. They should call it orange hair! If it's red, then it's red. If it is orange, call it orange. Faith creeps up from behind me and pounces, knocking me to the ground.

"I yield!" I gasp and she gets up. She pulls me from the ground. In just a few minutes everyone is treated. Faith stole my shoe, and ran from me for almost an hour before I caught her. I can't believe she would be so childish.

"Really? Now?" I snap at her. She turns away abashed and finally acts mature enough for a fifteen year old.

I leave and go back to Coral. She is picking up her stuff so she can go. She sees me coming. I'm sure she just wants to talk from her expression alone.

"Thanks, for reading to me, it's WAY better than that garbage we were forced to listen to. Why would I want to know how to set off an electromagnet bomb, sing my ABC's backwards, or learn world history?" Coral inquires. I shrug. Coral groans as if scared by the experience of learning. She picks up her stuff. She beckons me to follow her and we talk as we walk.

Coral does not stop. She just keeps talking, I sorta get it, because she was stuck in the coma for quite a long time. During which she was incapable of talking. So she's making up for it now. She asks if the book we are reading has a sequel, and why does the heart monitor have to beep so loud and so on and so on.

Then Coral tells me something horrifying. She thought it was a dream, but I know better. I know that it couldn't have been. Coral remembers her brush with death, when the monitor flatlined. When she was dead.