When Two Worlds Collide

Chapter 13

Ever since Keith woke up in the hospital bay of the palace, his whole life has been completely different. It took awhile to get him lucid enough to be able to process information. By the time that happened the rest of the Team came back from their tour of the castle. Then they sat Keith down and started to explain everything that had happened when he was out. They let the Royal Doctor and Lance explain most of the stuff to him. He didn't really trust the doctor, and he felt better, calmer that Lance was there with him. The doctor then began to explain that the reason that he was in the hospital in the first place was because of his bug bite. Keith subconsciously brought his hand up to his neck where he had been bitten earlier. He was surprised that all of this was because of some bug bite. Though he really shouldn't have been surprised, since he's on an alien planet, being bitten by an alien bug he's never seen before. And it made sense to Keith, since he was told that the venom from the bite is what messed with him and caused him to pass out on them. Though, that was when they got into the why part, and Keith wished that he was still knocked out cold.

He swears that he felt his heart stop beating when the doctor started going on about this fate pair business. Keith thought that he was crazy, or maybe the team was pulling a prank on him to get him to loosen up some. But with how serious and quiet everyone was acting he knew that they were telling the truth, and that this thing wasn't a joke. Keith felt his stomach fill with dread. Once he had the science behind the bug and what it causes, he made the mistake of asking questions. "So, if all of this is true, then who's this 'fated pair', then that I'm supposed to have?" Keith asked them. For the longest time no one in the room would look him in the eyes, or answer him. "Well? You guys said that my case isn't that bad compared to some of the others that you have seen, and that's only because I've found my soulmate or something?" Keith said. "Who is it?" And Keith felt like he was going to throw up again when all eyes in the room moved to Lance. No, no it couldn't be him, it couldn't be Lance. The universe must be playing some sort of sick joke on him or something. Lance, it just had to be Lance, the one person in the world that Keith knew couldn't ever return his feelings for him in the same manner that he felt them. Logically, he knew that the chances of Lance liking Keith in the same way that he liked the Cuban was a long shot. It was only something for him to dream about at night, and then wake up in the morning and wish that it was real. But there was still a small part of him that believed it could become a reality. And more likely than he liked to admit, Keith listened to that part of himself a lot.

Somehow Keith and Lance ended up making eye contact with each other. It was awkward as Hell, but for some unknown reason neither one of them were able to look away from the other. It was like they were being drawn in to one another, like something was pushing for them to be together. At least that's how it felt to Keith, and it was making him really uneasy. He could feel the beginnings of another panic attack coming on and he didn't think that he would be able to stop it before it went full-blown. But that was something that Keith really wasn't in the right mind-set to be able to handle all of this right now. Though he wasn't that lucky to get that kind of a break with the way that his luck was going, And to make matters worse that wasn't all of the news that he was going to get that day. Keith didn't know if the doctor didn't get the memo that everyone was sort of out of it or that he just didn't really care, but he just decided to keep on with the bombshells today. "And, besides that fact, you also tested positive for the Garlan carrier gene." the doctor told him in the most driest tone he's ever heard. "Congratulations." And that was when Keith blacked out for the second time that day.

And that was how Keith got to where he was now. The next time that Keith woke up, he was back in his own room aboard the Castle. At first he couldn't remember really how he got there. Then it started to come back to him. Going planet side for negotiations, getting bitten, waking up and having his whole world turned upside down. He felt his face start to get hot when he remembered the bit about the Garlan carrier gene, and him and Lance being destined soulmates. Keith was beyond embarrassed about all of that information and how it was told to him in front of the whole team. He thought of himself as a joke of a leader now. No one would ever have any respect for him again because of this. And it was all of his thought too, which was the worst part. If he hadn't gotten bit, then none of this would have happened to him. More likely than not they would all just go on with their lives and Keith would just continue to harbor his feelings to himself and no one would notice the difference. And they would never know about any of the things that he's kept to himself for years. Because of all of this, Keith hasn't left his room ever since they had gotten back. And he wasn't really planning on coming out anytime soon either.