I felt like crap. Like I somehow contracted the worst flu in the world, and then compounded it with my head feeling like it might explode and my emotions blurring into one great heap.
But I pushed on, because we’d come this far. The answer to the infected had to exist in this laboratory. The bitemark on my arm still throbbed, and I was terrified I’d soon become one of the sick, and that included my baby.
We’d been through so much, fought so much, struggled so much. So I refused to let this thing beat me.
Thane held me tight and dragged me deeper into the lab. It was a large room that could easily fit fifty people standing. A large counter ran down the middle and another against the back wall, filled with all kinds of technology I couldn’t begin to comprehend. But Corran smiled for the first time in days and raced up to the wall of glass refrigerators with shelves of vials of different serums and god knew what else kept in here. The place smelled sterile and like antiseptic. I assumed the scientists would have been horrified to see us in here without proper gear.
The room seemed to tilt around me, and Thane swept me off my feet and carried me across to where a medical bed lay near the refrigerated samples.
Derrial joined Corran in searching everything in this place while I lay there trying to steady the room from dancing so much in my head.
“See if you can get some rest or even sleep while I help Corran.” He studied me all over like I was the experiment, but I knew he meant well. His hand touched the skin on my arm just below the bitemark. I flinched.
“It’s so sensitive,” I explained.
His fingers moved up and gently pressed on my shoulder, and I winced. He did the same across my collarbone, and the pain followed.
Worry pushed his thick eyebrows together, and he didn’t need to say anything. I knew the look. “It’s spreading, isn’t it?” I couldn’t bring myself to ask the question of how long I had before it really changed me and I became something other than myself.
He held my hand and pushed away the loose strands of hair caught on my eyebrows. “Don’t worry. We are going to find a cure, and you will be the first to be healed.”
As much as he tried to smile, I watched the crack in his demeanour. The terror behind his gaze. The slight shake of his hand against mine. He was terrified and wouldn’t show it in front of me. Except, I was beyond scared now. My thoughts were so far beyond that.
I held onto his hand tight. “Please, you must do something for me.”
“Of course.” He ran his hand through my hair as I looked up at him from the medical bed. “Anything.”
“If it looks like I’m not going to make it, you need to save the baby.”
His face paled, and I tightened my grip. “Please, Thane. If it’s too late for me, promise me you’ll save the baby.”
His eyes glistened, and he swallowed loudly, struggling to find his words. “Oh, Ella. Even if I have the strength to make such a promise, I don’t know if the little one is infected or not. We haven’t done enough tests to properly understand how this virus works.”
The words were a blade to my soul, and I wanted to scream and cry. Except, I knew he was right. My throat thickened and a tear trickled down my face that he wiped away with a thumb.
“Ella, please don’t cry. Don’t give up hope. We made it this far. You have one of the best scientists in Vepar in this room working on it. If anyone can find the cure, it’s Corran.”
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
Thane leaned down and kissed me sweetly. “Just rest for now. I’m going to see what I can do to help.”
“Thank you,” I murmured and watched him head over to the other two. All three were whispering so low, I couldn’t make out their words.
Then all three broke out into a frantic rush and began checking every single thing in the room. Cupboards. Vials. What looked like test tube bowls sitting on the counter inside a plastic transparent box. My head hurt too much to even try to make sense of everything here.
But I just watched them. My three husbands, who were working frantically for me, for our baby, for their planet.
All I could think about was how I first met Derrial at the nightclub back on Earth. How that one decision to go to a club had changed my entire life. Where would I be now if I didn’t go out that night? Would the Khonsu have tracked me down, and I’d be one of those women trapped in the farms?
I felt a spark of appreciation that I had met these Vepar. Without them, I never would have found my father or discovered what happened to my mother. I never would have found love in a world ravaged and torn apart.
Looking up at the ceiling, the fluorescent lights shone with a blue tinge, and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to push all thoughts out of my mind. To calm my racing heart. To stop feeling like I might pass out from the panic strangling me.
I had no idea what was going to happen, but Thane was right about Corran, and I had every faith in them.
Unsure how much time had passed, it was Corran’s strong voice that lured me out of my half sleep state.
“It’s the contaminated blood samples,” he explained as Derrial and Thane approached him. I pushed myself up on my elbow and stared out toward them, listening to them.
“This proves they have been testing the virus here, and we’re going to continue their experiments until we find that cure.”
I trembled at hearing both the fear and excitement in his voice. This was a step forward as he’d found some progress, except what if he didn’t uncover the antidote in time for me? In time before the council arrived and arrested them?
Laying back down, I tried not to overthink and trusted my three husbands could do this. I lay in bed and tried to fight the wave of exhaustion pulsing over me. I shut my eyes once again and tried to drift off.
I didn’t remember falling asleep, but when I groggily opened my eyes, the three Vepar were still working frantically in the lab, Corran calling out instructions. He sounded frustrated and roared at one stage.
I stared at the frustration and anger on his face.
“Fuck. That’s the sixth trial and none of them are fighting the virus.” He dragged a hand through his hair, shadows dancing under his eyes. My heart hurt to see his struggle, how he would never stop until it killed him.
“Keep going,” Derrial barked.
“I’ve tried every technique to eliminate everything the scientists could have used to create the virus. It comes down to a chromosomal level, as the scientists have manipulated nature. They removed DNA, replaced it, changed it so much that it mutated into the infection taking over Veon. So maybe I was wrong, and there was no cure after all. All I have are the samples of Vepar blood they experimented on to develop this pathogen, but not how to undo the mess they created.”
“We need some of those samples,” Derrial stated, his voice stoic and authoritative. “That shows the council has used these labs to test on Vepars. And right now, I’ll take any fucking bit of evidence against them that I can get.”
“Yes, but I still haven’t found a cure.” His voice shook and I knew what he was thinking...he thought of me as he glanced my way with dread in his gaze.
Fear settled heavily in my heart.
“Maybe we need to come at this from another angle,” Thane suggested. “You’re trying elements already used in the creation of this plague… What if it needs a different element to counteract it?”
Corran huffed. “There is a very slim chance anything like that exists in this lab they haven’t already tested. I don’t even know where to begin.” He clasped his hands behind his head as a strained expression washed over his face. “Nothing I’ve tried has created any impact on the virus.”
“Then we test again,” Derrial muttered. “We keep going, in case we missed something.”
I lay back down, feeling hollow. Corran’s fear affected me. If the best scientist couldn’t find a solution, what hope was there for me and everyone else? The bite mark on my arm pulsed as if it had its own heartbeat. The strange thing was, that I didn’t feel much pain now at all, but more like numbness. And that terrified me because it meant one thing… my body was getting closer to assimilating and changing.
The shock of that realization jolted through me. I hugged my stomach. I didn’t want anything to happen to the innocent baby inside me. I felt like screaming.
Corran was using sophisticated equipment, and he still had no luck.
Their conversation kept playing over in my mind about his failed tests. My hand remained on my small belly that churned as I thought back to the Arcathian waters. At how easily they eased my pain and gave my baby energy. What I needed was to bathe in those rejuvenating waters, as they would make me feel better. I knew they would. The tingling over my body from the experience drew away the pain. With that memory came the gorgeous gold petals that I’d eaten that had tasted like the nectar from the gods.
My hand instinctively went to my pocket where I had taken one of the flowers. It would be completely squashed now, but I pushed myself to a sitting position. Slowly, I pulled out the flower and unwrapped the crinkled paper where inside lay a broken and bent stem. Somehow the long petals survived unblemished. The golden color was as vibrant as I remembered it, shimmering under the lights in the lab. And just looking at it had my mouth salivating as I remembered the sweet taste that lay somewhere between honey and the sweetest melon.
Thane’s words came to mind again, and my words fell from my lips before I could give them enough thought. “What if we try experimenting with the properties from the Arcathian flower?”
All three looked over to me, confusion pulling at their features.
“Those waters were miraculous and helped with the vitality of the baby, right? And my pain disappeared completely. So these flowers have healing properties. Isn’t that what we need? Something to help heal the mutated cells? I’m probably saying it wrong as I don’t know the technical words, but what if Thane is right and something like this can help?”
I lifted the paper with the flower in my other hand. “What do you think?”
“You snuck out a flower?” Thane asked. “You were going to eat it, weren’t you?” He smiled as he shook his head.
“Lucky I didn’t.”
Derrial crossed the room in a few long strides to reach my side. He took the flower and smiled at me. “Smart thinking.” He turned to the others. “I agree with Ella. We try out the healing properties of this plant.”
Corran studied the flower in my hand, his brow pinching.
“You said it yourself, we’ve exhausted all other options,” Derrial continued.
Corran nodded. “Fine. We have nothing to lose. I’ll add that to the tests as I do another round of the previous tests in case I missed something. Let’s move fast.”
The three were back at it, and I lowered myself back down, feeling strange all over like I wasn’t quite in my own body. It was a hard sensation to comprehend.
I glanced up at the white ceiling, tired of being inside laboratories. If we ever survived this and escaped, I wanted freedom and to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible.
The baby kicked. I smiled, then placed a hand over my belly and felt the small movements. Despite all the darkness burrowing through, joy pushed to the surface to feel a life inside me. To hold my baby for the first time would be the most precious thing to me. Tears slipped out from the corners of my eyes, thinking that such a chance might be ripped away from me.
I wiped my eyes and shut them, trying to forget everything, to somehow fall asleep again as I waited. For so long, nothing happened, but when someone touched my arm gingerly, I fluttered my eyes open.
Corran stood over me. “I need to take some of your blood, beautiful.”
I quickly nodded and stuck out my hand. “Take what you need.” He wasted no time in finding the vein on the inside of my elbow and I turned away as he used a syringe to extract blood. After all this time in labs, I’d think I would be used to needles, but I still hated them just as much.
I stared at the white wall next to me, blinking away the tears, hating how emotional I was getting. “Do you think the plant will work?” The words escaped my lips.
“We’re about to find out.” Moments later, he whispered, “And I’m done, gorgeous.” Then he folded my arm over my stomach.
I turned as he stole a kiss and lit up my insides. He was gone just like that, and the three of them busied with testing my blood. I didn’t want to overthink if we would succeed, because I wasn’t sure I could take anymore bad news. My gut roiled at the thought.
I pushed myself up to sit on the edge of the bed, unable to lie down another moment. I had no clue how long this part would take. Derrial and Thane crowded around Corran, and they all stared into the glass-like incubator. I shifted to the side to see robotic hands placing a drop of the serum Corran created into a small round dish that had something red inside...I assumed it was my blood.
Then Corran turned to the computer screen on the counter, and frantically typed something. Seconds later, the screen was filled with numbers and symbols along with a line chart. None of it made sense to me.
A startled sound came from Corran as he turned to me. Derrial and Thane studied the screen results closer.
But Corran crossed the room. “Ella, I don’t know how you knew that the flower would work, but its properties are reversing the virus. It’s killing the infection in your cells at such a rapid rate, I can’t believe it.” His smile was infectious and the most amazing thing I’d seen in days.
He cupped my face and kissed me. “I think we did it!” He beamed an explosive smile.
My response came out as a hiccupped cry because I still couldn’t believe it. “You found the cure? Holy mother of all things, you did it. I’ll be cured and so will all those people out there?” I clung onto his arms, happy tears rolling down my cheeks.
“It should work,” he admitted. “I mean I would need more time to test this out, especially for side effects.”
“Use it on me,” I interrupted. “I can feel myself changing, and I don’t want it to be too late for the baby.”
He stared at me as if ready to argue, but I didn’t give him the chance.
“If you don’t, you might lose me. For our baby, I need it. Please, Corran. We don’t have much time.”
I watched the pain cross his face at his decision.
“I think we should,” Thane added. “Those results are spectacular. And her body responded so well in the Arcathian waters.”
“Agreed,” Derria murmured as he approached me.
“Are you sure about this?” Corran asked me.
As if his question lured the sickness in me, that strange pain swept over my chest. I shut my eyes for a moment as the sharp pain flared over me.
“Yes,” I finally gasped. “Please yes.”
“Alright, get her ready,” he ordered and rushed back to the test as Derrial helped me back on the bed. He pushed the sleeve of my other arm up and found a vein easily. “We want to put it straight into your bloodstream for fast results.”
Another wave of pain rolled over me, feeling like dozens of knives raking over my skin. I nodded my response, biting down on my lower lip to fight the ache. Thane was there and wiped a small tissue that smelled of alcohol over the skin.
I looked into both of their gazes. At their love, their worry, their hope.
“Everything will be okay, I know it will,” I reassured their fear more than mine.
As Corran returned, holding a very large syringe, my mouth dried.
I cringed and looked away, every inch of me tense.
A sharp prick pierced the skin, and I clenched my teeth as the sting lasted for the whole duration. Once done, Thane wiped the tissue over the spot once again.
“And done,” Corran said, returning to the counter where he worked.
I felt nothing at first, then small tingles started up my arm that quickly spread over my body... not too different to what I felt in the waters.
A sudden explosion boomed somewhere in the building.
I flinched upright, my heart pounding into my ribcage. My three Vepar froze, the blood draining from their faces. Then voices sounded just outside the door to the lab.
“Fuck!” Derrial murmured. “The council found us!”
I blinked in bewilderment, too terrified to move or make sense of what was happening.
A shudder ran through my body. We finally found a cure and now we were going to get caught!