A wreck within

Chapter 15

The Thompson twins were working non-stop to find the cure. It was much harder than it seemed. Morgan was determined to help out James as soon as possible. She had missed him, being a shy dork and their long conversations. Howard was still trying to recover from his addictions so neither of them could work with an empty mind. If they did not find a cure, he knew that he would also go mad. In other words, they were on the engineer's block.
The two of them started working at the crack of dawn on Thanksgiving. They did not care that it was holiday time. Saving James was much more important. James was also a part of their family. They practically grew up together.
Their mother came to the workshop. She found them banging their heads on the wall after another failed attempt for the antidote. The dust bin was filled with balls of paper. Their whiteboard had crossed out ideas. "I have a suggestion that might help you" she said to them while taking away some of the empty mugs.
"Mum, if we needed any psychology tricks you would be the first person we would ask, so don't worry" Howard replied. He wanted a cigarette very bad.
Virginia laughed and gave them her advice. "Why don't you try and figure out why you are doing it. There must be deeper importance for you. You are not biologists. You want to do it because it is James. Why you want to do it for James? I am not talking about the obvious reason. There was a more intimate, a more personal and more ethical reason we want to do some things."
Morgan rolled her eyes "There isn't always a deeper meaning in everything we do mum!"
"I am telling you. Find the reason. It might help you find out the antidote." Virginia replied to Morgan's comment.
Howard and Morgan pretended to ignore that question. In reality, that question puzzled both of them. Why did they want to do it for James? Morgan had lost all of her focus. Why did she really wanted to do it for James? Did she want to do it for herself?
She remembered their trips at the beach. When they were three and James' sister was a baby, James was all day with them. That summer he had even been with them on vacation. She vividly remembers James giving her a piggyback ride. Howard being the most annoying human on the planet pushed both of them in the water. They just laughed. Everything was funny back then. There was no pain or sadness. You understand that your childhood is over the moment you realize that you are not bulletproof. It is the moment that your problems are that big that your parents cannot understand how much your problems are bugging you and how horrible you are feeling. That moment did not arrive in Morgan's until a year ago. Her mum knows stuff. She knows how to read your feelings. She and Howard always felt that their parents could understand them.
A year ago, everything was so different. There were no maniacs who were trying to kill them, and everyone was happy. Morgan remembered Montauk. She remembers Freya and Howard trying to find the closest MacDonald's at 2 am. She and James were sitting alone at the beach at James' favourite spot.
They had opened their hearts to each other. Morgan knew more about James than anyone else. James was the best listener. That was great for a talker as Morgan who always loved to talk about everything. He would never interrupt you. He would just look at you with his trademark glance. When you asked him a question, he would give you the exact answer.
He was not like the other guys Morgan knew. There was something about James, that was very special. Morgan did not know what it was exactly, but she liked that feature he had.
She had missed his gaze more than anything. Well, she also missed the way James was talking about his future. He wanted to go to Paris and become a writer. Morgan would follow him. They would go to the tiny French café across from his small apartment. The two of them would pretend that they did not speak English. They would only communicate in French, become one with the locals.
And they would go to the majestic art galleries. They would talk about the art pieces for hours under the starry night.
James was not a lover boy but just hopelessly romantic. Morgan loved that he had a hidden artistic side that she would reveal only to her, it made her feel so special. She had missed feeling special. Or at least that kind of special.
Howard was always thankful for James. When he was younger, he did not have any friends. It was because he was "special". He was dyslexic and he had ADHD. The other children marginalized him for that, but there was James. The kid with that used to have an awful stutter and also had ADHD who was playing on his own. The teachers were watching him all the time because he was asthmatic. The other children thought that he was sick and he would infect him.
The best choice Howard had made was the moment he went to that little boy and asked to be his friend. James and Howard were inseparable. No matter if they were different classes or the teachers made them sit far from each other, nobody could stop them.
Their dynamic was something that always frightened the teachers. In primary school, they were warning their parents that it would cause them problems in the future. They said that the teachers in high school would not tolerate their behavior. How little did they know?
In their junior year, James and Howard were the leaders of the school. Co-captains of the football team. President and Vice president of the student council. Founders of the Audio-Visual club and they had the higher ACT scores in their school. Their teachers in high school knew that if the two of them wanted to get something done, they would do it. They were the only people that the students would listen at. Every teacher had a weak spot for them.
With James absent, Howard did not want to go back to school. That is why he chose to go to that stupid boarding school. James was his anchor, his best friend. And without him, he felt lost and alone. Like he was in a tide. In a small lifeboat that was packed with people. And he was the leader. They would sink any minute. He did not know what to do. James was the one who always knew what to do. Howard had the confidence and James the ideas. The one need the other.
James and Howard always pushed the other hard. Howard helped James with his stutter. In return, James helped Howard with his schoolwork.
Howard wanted back his anchor, his brother, his partner in crime. He felt empty without him.
Suddenly, Howard had an epiphany. He realized why none of their antidotes worked.
He threw a ball of paper to Morgan who had zoned out. "We are so stupid!"
Morgan was dumbfounding. "What? Why?"
Howard got up and went to the whiteboard. "We forgot a piece of very important information. James has two serums in his blood. Meaning no matter how we make it unless we have some of the serum the antidote will not work on him. The other serum will not allow the antidote to get in his system. The poison worked on him because it was similar to the serum"
It was like a light in a tunnel. The hope returned. Morgan was shocked. "You are a genius! But we do not need the serum. Just a bit of blood from a person who has the serum in them. We can go to James' mum. I'm sure she will help us out."
The two teenagers packed the antidote and their tools and made their way to the base. They were soon greeted by Natalie who immediately agreed to give them some blood. She could not bear lose her son too.
Then they sent the antidote in the lab to be checked. The wait was painful. It was their last chance to save their best friend.
"Howard?" Morgan asked worriedly. From her eyes, you could understand that she was ready to start crying. "What if it doesn't work? You heard the doctors he has almost a month left without the cure"
Howard took her hand "If it doesn't work, we will make other antidotes. We will even try to get in his mind if we have to. We will try to become witches, honestly. I promise you. We will not let him die. I am going to find a cure even if it is the last thing that I will do."
A chemist came out of the lab. "The cure will work. It has passed the clinical checks."
Both of them wanted to cry. They did it. James would come back home"
Two days later Morgan and Howard were at the base since 6 am. They would inject the antidote. Morgan had James' head on her lap. She was running her fingers through his hair. She had a huge smile on her facing knowing that within the next hours James will be talking to her. "The cure is ready. You will be back to how you were. We are going to find out how to help Sebastian. And how to stop all this terrible stuff that is happening. And then everything will be back to normal." She was murmuring.
"Morgan we are ready for the injection" Natalie said coming in with a doctor. The doctors plugged James into some machines that were showing his vital signs. Howard was sitting in the corner of the room, tapping his foot on the floor. Morgan was holding James' hand. One of the nurses took out of the box the syringe with the antidote. Morgan swore that she had never seen a needle that big. They rubbed some alcohol on his left arm and then they injected the syringe.
Nothing was happening. His vital signs did not change. The black lines were not disappearing. They were everywhere. Everything seemed the same.
"Why isn't it working? It should be working by now. Did we make a mistake?" Morgan was panicking.
"Maybe it takes a longer time to work. Or maybe he is immune to it". Howard said devastated.
"How the hell he is immune. There is no chance he is immune. Why it is not working! We must have made a mistake" Morgan cried.
Natalie hugged Morgan "It is going to work. Look at me. You have done it correctly. I want you to relax. He has been under a lot of pressure. The cure can't work immediately"
Morgan ran away crying. Now it is up to James. The black lines were becoming bolder and spreading faster.