Darci's eyes are open, but she isn't moving or responding to anything; Marc's talking and touching does nothing. For some reason, he starts to think that the numbness might have spread, though he has no clue as to what could cause this.
"Darci," he says, looking into her eyes and pointing at his lips, "if you can understand me, I'm taking you to the hospital. I'm going to pick you up." He tells her then carefully slides his arms underneath her, making sure that he's supporting her neck. Marc carries her out of her room, down the stairs and out to his car. Once there, he opens her door and gently sets her down and does up her seatbelt. As Marc rushes over to the drivers side, he looks over at her face; everything is motionless except her eyes which are wandering wide in fright. He gets into the car and reaches over, pulls her face towards his, "You'll be okay, I promise." he looks into her eyes and sees that she believes in him, though Marc's not even sure if he believes in himself.
As Marc drives to the hospital, he steals glances over at Darci. Her eyes are closed usually, but occasionally he sees them open; looking around then closing them again after she sees him. When they finally get to the hospital, Darci is sleeping again; whether from the numbness or pure exhaustion, he doesn't know. Marc shakes her arm, but as he thought, there was no response from her. Marc undoes her seatbelt and carries her into the emergency ward.
"Excuse me," he says to a lady behind the desk, "can you help me? I don't know what's wrong with her."
"Don't worry sir. I'll get a doctor for you. in the mean time, you can set her down over there." She points to a reclining bed lined up against the wall. the lady picks up the phone and makes a call. "we have a man and woman down here...No, he doesn't know what's wrong with her...You want to speak with him? Okay. Here." She motions Marc over and hands him the phone.
"Hello, I understand you wanted to speak to me." Marc states.
"Yes, this woman that you brought in, did she say anything to you before you brought her here?" A man's voice on the other side of the line asks.
"She was saying that her legs were going numb, and then when I checked on her, maybe a minute later, it seemed to have spread. She couldn't move at all, couldn't speak, and couldn't even feel me holding her hand. Does that sounds familiar?" Marc says hurriedly, scared of what the answer might be. There is a silence on the other side for a long time, and then finally, he responds.
"Sadly, yes. can you bring her up to my office please. I'm in Room 000." He then hangs up without waiting for Marc's answer. Marc hands the phone back to the lady and thanks her then heads back to Darci.
Marc carefully lifts Darci again and starts heading towards Room 000; to the mysterious man on the phone. "I hope he can help Darci, I can't lose her again. I just can't. I won't." He thinks to himself; repeating it like a mantra. "Can't lose her, I won't."
After wandering the halls, he finally managed to find Room 000; hidden at the end of a hall, on the main floor.
Holding Darci close, Marc awkwardly knocks on the door. The door swings open to reveal a short man; his hair is black and cut short, his eyes are a deep, dark green. Marc notices that he is missing a finger and a half on his left hand; his pinky is completely gone and part of his ring finger. He motions for Marc to enter his office, and once Marc steps through, he slowly closes the door behind them. the strange man motions toward a bed beside the far right wall of his office; so Marc goes and gently sets Darci down. When Marc turns back around, he sees the mysterious man getting a syringe and needle ready.
"What is that?" Marc asks; curious as to what he's doing.
"It's a cure for her." he replies simply, as matter-of-factly. But when he looks over at Marc and sees that his answer wasn't enough, he expands it. "she has a drug in her system; this will neutralize it so eventually the drug will disappear." he finishes explaining and steps towards Darci, but stops short when Marc blocks his way.
"How do I know that you're not giving her anymore of the drug?" Marc counters, intending to stay in his way until he is satisfied with the man's answer.
"You don't, so you will have to trust me. Now move before it's too late for her" When Marc still doesn't move, he gets anxious. "Look, the drug will numb her limbs, and then when it's done there, it will move to the nerves and muscles. That's likely why her eyes are closed; it has reached her eye nerves and muscles. If I don't give this to her now it could reach her brain, or even her heart. at that point she'll be too far gone to save. So move." the man says.
"This man might be little, but his words are huge." Marc thinks to himself and moves to the side. Marc is worrying about Darci so much that he is paranoid. Marc watches as the man carefully but quickly ties off Darci's arm so her vein pops up, then inserts the needle. Once he is done, he grabs a bandage and puts it on her arm where the needle was mere seconds before. Marc continues to watch him as he walks away and sits behind his desk and starts typing on his computer. Marc opens his mouth so say something, but a movement in the corner of his eye stops him. He quickly turns and sees that Darci is moving her hand. Marc rushes over to her and grabs it, holding it firmly just as it stops moving. Marc studies her face for any movement, but her fave is still frozen in the same position.
"It's just a twitch." the man says as he notices Marc over by her again. "It ways happens right after the vaccine. it will be at least two hours before she can actually move anything on her own. I suggest you grab a seat if you insist on staying beside her."
Marc reluctantly leaves her side; letting go of her hand and goes to sit in the chair across from the man. "I'm sorry I doubted you, Dr...?" He trails off, realizing now that he didn't even catch this man's name.
"Ruposo; but please, call me Stu." he says, reaching across his desk to shake Marc's hand. "Don't be sorry, most people do. That's why my office is here; out of sight out of mind, right?" Stu laughs.
"If you don't mind me asking; how did you know what Darci had?" He wonders aloud.
"No, I don't mind. my sister was induced with this drug years ago. nobody knew what it was, so eventually she went numb everywhere, until it reached her heart and brain. I dedicated my life to numbing research; making sure that if this ever showed up again I could stop it. Darci here is the tenth to come in with this problem, and the frequency seems to be increasing much faster than I've ever seen before..." Stu wanders off, then starts typing at his computer again. When he looks up, Marc sees his eyes twitch over to Darci, then back to the computer.
***
Marc bolts awake. He doesn't remember falling asleep or where he is, but as his surrounding come into focus, he remembers. "Darci!" Marc looks over at her and sees that she is awake; Stu is examining her eyes at the moment. He sets the to he was using down.
"You look good, no permanent damage; though your eyes will be blurry for a bit. nothing you can't handle I'm sure." Stu states then turns back to Marc. "Ah good! You're awake. I was just telling Darci what to expect for her eyes and what to do if they get worse." As Marc listens to him, he watches Darci; she's looking around the room, squinting then widening her eyes. When Stu is done explaining everything, he gives Marc the 'OK' to take her home. "Remember what I told you." he cautions as Marc guides Darci to the door.
Once they are through the door and Stu has closed it behind them, Marc stops Darci. "Are you okay?" He asks.
"I'll be fine once my vision is back to normal. I can barely see you." She squints and reaches her hands up to his face; tracing it with her fingers, smiling as she reaches his lips. He kisses her fingertips then leans in to hoss her lips. Luckily, she knew what he was doing and met him halfway.
"Let's go home." He says against her lips, feeling her nod. "Hold on." he breaks away from their kiss and bends down to pick her up again.
YOU ARE READING
Salvation
Historische RomaneDarci has been through hell for the past three years; so much that she doesn't remember any of it. Until he came along. Marc has been worrying about her his whole life, and he thought that she was gone forever, but then he found her in the least lik...
