"You…" Cole breathes in and out, calming her heart which was beating too fast for her to focus. "You said you were a doctor." She mentioned.
"Y-Yes." Vincent reaches into his back pocket. "I can show you."
Cole tensed, but when Vincent took out his work badge and wallet her shoulders relaxed. "Look", Vincent spoke as he held up the badge. "That's me… Vincent Lance."
She studied the badge with her eyes. His name and picture were on it. "Saint Hallman?" Cole read the top of the badge. "Saint Hallman's Hospital was destroyed four years ago." She looked at him curiously, remembering how the building glowed in the night. Like a torch against the night sky, Saint Hallman burned while Cole and Doctor Isla viewed the horror from the safety of a helicopter.
"You were there?" Cole wore a look of disbelief.
"Yes." Vincent pressed his lips together after admitting it.
"Then you knew a doctor…" Cole hesitated, then decided to describe the doctor. "She's not very tall… Brown hair, long, usually with a white clip in it. She's got brown eyes, olive skin, mole near her left ear, a voice that can cut right into your soul."
"Isla?" Vincent looked at her seriously as the description of her was clear. "Doctor Isla Mayfield. She's four feet and six inches tall, her husband's name is Rodrigo, and she h-has a dog. Pluto."
"You know about Pluto?" Cole suddenly smiled.
"Yes". Vincent slowly moved to place his hands over where hers were currently on his mask. "Because Pluto was a birthday gift from me…" He reveals.
Cole felt the warmth from his gentle grip as he carefully pulled away her left hand. Then the right.
The man to the right of the bed slowly lowers his gun. "Thank you, Eris…" Vincent breathes in relief when he decided to back down.
Eris grumbled as he left the room to cool off. "You're outa your fucking mind, Vinny."
Vincent paid him no mind and got up to clean some things. Which were laid out on a table covered with cloth. From where Cole was sitting in bed, she could see old bandages and gauzes. Mixed with wrinkled plastic, ripped fabric, some towels, and old tubes. She watched as he bagged up the things and took them out. Meanwhile, the unknown man to her right went back to his tampering. He wasn't as tall as the other two and looked boyishly young. Perhaps no older than fourteen. He continued his tampering until machine noises echoed, coupled with hissed breaths and hums.
Cole was about to sit up when a strong pain spread through her chest.
"There…" The young boy stood up, just as Vincent returned with a duffel bag.
A cool draft flowed into the room. The coolness brushes over Cole's face, cooling her pink cheeks as she suffers through the wave of pain. She lay stiffly against the bed and her eyes began to water. The others stood by clueless as they started to chat. Vincent began changing gloves, throwing the stained ones out and slipping on a clean pair.
"Cole?"
Her eyes went wide as a figure slipped through the layer of plastic, separating the room. "O-Oliver?" Cole's heart filled with dread when she realized he was not wearing protection.
He smiles, holding out his arms to her with love in his brown eyes. "Cole, I was so worried".
"N-No". Cole lay stiffly on the bed. Paralyzed by pain, she began to cry the closer he got to the side of her bed. "Oliver, don't touch me… Don't…" She shut her eyes and pleaded. Tears stream down her pink cheeks. Cole's greatest fear was coming true… Another person she loved would suffer from exposure.
Meanwhile, a clueless doctor eyed her current weak state. Looking around when she speaks, then back at his patient. A look of concern forms on his face when he realizes.
"Oliver". Her soft sobs echoed as Cole turned her head away from him. Cole felt her energy slipping when she began to shiver with fever. Then all at once, everything went black.
--
"Vin, I'm telling you we have no more to spare!" Shouts erupt from behind the dividing plastic curtain. Cole opens her eyes slowly to see a fog in her vision. The room was dark now, but she could see shadows beyond the curtain.
"You're out of your mind! This girl is not worth it! She's of no value to us! She is a burden! There is no cure for what she's got, and you are wasting all our resources!"
With hazy thoughts, Cole sat up and tossed the blanket off her as she swung her legs over the edge. She found herself breathing feverishly from the small act.
"She's not worth it." Eris repeats, crossing his arms over his chest. The words stung worse than the physical pain. She felt it everywhere, but her heart ached the most. Cole watched in silence. Feeling helpless while the doctors were deciding her fate.
"She's weak." Eris bites out. "We could be using resources to help reestablish safe communities. Help the families who really need it..."
"How many patients have we lost?" Vincent was calm as he spoke.
"...Too many" Eris lets out a sigh.
"How many loved ones have we lost?”
Eris looked away, holding his chest as if someone had struck it.
"If we stop trying for a cure there will never be one." Vincent continued. "Those safe communities will crumble like all the rest. Medicine will run dry... More death-h... T-There won't be anything le-"
Vincent let out a shivered breath, his eyelids closing while his body began to tilt.
"Vin?" Eris barely caught him as Vincent collapsed to the floor. Cole got up from her bed, fully awake now as she watched three other shadows rush in and question Eris. "What happened?" The young boy questions as he shook Vincent by the shoulders. "Vin?"
"He's…" Eris hesitated, glancing toward the curtain as if he could sense that the patient was awake. "He just needs rest… Been a long day. Help me get him to his room."
Eris took a breath and lifted him by his shoulders, while the other two got his legs. Cole watched as they carried him away to another part of the house. Cole wasn't sure what part of house they were taking him to, but by the sounds of their footfalls Cole knew the home was large. She listened until the footfalls were too far away and began looking around the room. Cole spotted the light switch and turned it on. Bright lights beamed from above as she took in her surroundings. All around the bed was medical equipment and to the left was a table full of clutter. Cole peeked at a duffel bag that was open. Inside It was a change of clothes, a few folders, and a bunch of other things. Cole's gaze drifted elsewhere to a pile of cases to the right. Then to a door a few paces from the pile. She opened it and found a spacious private bathroom. It was much bigger than the one in her old hospital room.
White and gold. The bathroom floor was shiny white tile with soft rugs placed in front of the counter, bathtub, and toilet. The walls were white with gold moldings. White cabinets and crystal knobs, with a marble countertop. Cole approached it and felt it with her fingers. She lifted her gaze to a large round mirror with a gold ornate frame. A row of vanity lights gave a warm glow from above. Tears pool in her gray eyes as she stares at herself in the mirror.
Wild cedar hair falls around her small face. She was thin and weak, barely filling the shirt that covered her body. Cole's complexion was an unhealthy pale. This was not shocking since Cole couldn’t recall the memories before the years of isolation. Gaunt cheeks, dry lips and skin. Even if there was a cure tomorrow, Cole knew her weak heart wouldn’t last. The only person that could get her through it was Oliver… He made the time go by. Cheered her up when she felt hopeless… Now there's only strangers.
"Cole…" A tap on the door makes her turn around. The young boy stood there, his brown eyes shimmer with emotion… Perhaps worry for his friend. He was slightly taller than Cole, but shorter than the other men and less muscular. Youthful brown skin like honey and peanut butter. Innocent round eyes that shift nervously with indecision. A boyish face that Cole found adorable as a baby fox. He was thin and wore loose clothes, with his shoulder-length hair tied in a low ponytail; while some loose pieces dangled around his face.
"These are clean." He held up a folded stack of clothes. "I'm going to put them in here for you."
"Thank you." Cole's voice came out gentle and hushed.
The young boy added the clean clothes to a tall cabinet. Afterward, he leaves the bathroom and softly closes the door.
Cole took a clean gown from the cabinet and changed. Tossing the old one which was stained. She carefully slipped into the new one. Minding her left shoulder as she does. The pain was barely there, and she guessed the doctor had given her something for it. Cole cleaned her face and left the bathroom. Stopping when she closed the door behind her.
Cole's gray eyes widened as a tall shadow appeared near the bedroom window. A startled gasp left her lips as she tensed. Fear filled her core. Cole kept her gaze fixed on the window, unable to tell who was lingering outside. All at once, Cole felt a rush of heat to her head as her heartbeat struggled in her chest. "S-Somebody." She tries to speak, but her voice is a hoarse whisper. The more she tried, the harder it was to breathe. Rapid breathes huffed through her lips while pain returns to her chest. "Help…" Cole tries to scream again, while her mind relived the moment a shadow appeared beyond the glass of her hospital room window.
Spots enter the corners of her vision as she opens the bathroom door. A moan escapes her lips as a sting of pain shoots through her body when she steps. Cole's grip slips away from the knob, then everything goes dark.
"Cole?" A voice echoes in the darkness of her mind. Slowly luring her back to consciousness. Cole opens her eyes partway to see a worried young boy leaning over. A plastic rod in his hand, he pokes at her thigh as if checking to see if she was alive. "Hey. Can you hear me?"The patient tilts her head, looking through foggy vision to see there were others entering."What the fuck happened, Tuck?" Eris says when he sees the patient."I don't know, man. I just found her I swear." Tuck says."Fuck, I don’t need this right now." She hears Eris grumble while he steps away. Cole thought both of them were going to leave, when he re-entered the bathroom with a pink throw blanket. "Hey kid." Eris speaks softly, despite the clear annoyance in his gaze. "Let me help you up."Cole's gray eyes peek to see Eris extend his arm toward her. His tall frame shadows Cole's smaller form as her eyes fill with dread. Cole's heart beats harder the more he neared. Reeling to the surface, the memory of their fi
"She's asleep..." Vincent whispers to a curious Eris, who re-entered the room with a tray of food.“Great", Eris sighs, "An hour in the kitchen and two flights of stairs...""Guess there'll be leftovers". Vincent whispers as he tucks in the patient. Carefully gathering her long hair with his hands, before slipping on a hair tie. This allowed him more access to her neck as he wipes away the perspiration on her pale skin with a clean towel. "She's got a temperature of 110." He tells Eris, wiping away the sweat from her face as well."Infection?" Eris wonders."It's too early to tell. For now, let's let her sleep." Vincent decides.The pair exit the bedroom, turning off lights as they went, and washing up in an adjacent room. A single bedroom made into two… Modified to fit the living requirements of a fragile patient and prevent the risks of a domestic outbreak. Time passes as the pair vigorously clean and prep for the next day.Only when they part from the purgative room and enter the h
Cole sat up in bed, her pulse beating wildly as her gray eyes look around the pitch-black room. Sweat leaking down her forehead. Travelling down the curve of her neck and soaking into the collar of her gown. She lifts her right arm, trying to locate the bedside lamp when the noise comes again.Bang!She jolts in her spot, and immediately recognizes the noise as a gunshot. This time there was no mistaking it.Dread poured over her body, flooding down to the tips of her fingers and toes. She trembled uncontrollably, her gray eyes watering as she could not think of what to do.Cole stayed put for the duration of the silence that followed. Until a multitude of footfalls echo past her bedroom. She finally slipped from bed. Sliding off the side of the mattress and onto the cool tiled floor. Cole shifted her gaze toward the bedroom window. Observing the ray of pale moonlight that filled a spot on the floor. Then to the right of it. She could faintly see the pile of luggage in the corner of t
Eris's voice comes from Vincent's radio as he says something in his native language. Cole listened curiously as Vincent responded, chatting back and forth until Eris finished. Saying: "Entendi, obrigado." "You're so quiet…" Vincent observes, while he carefully wraps her shoulder with new bandages. "Are you in any pain?" He wondered. A look of concern surfacing in his green eyes again. Cole secretly thought his round eyes resembled a timid stray pup. How can a grown man look so… adorable? She stares senselessly into the pair of eyes, admiring the lush green of them. "Cole?" Vincent blinks nervously as he stops what he's doing to look at his patient. "I want to know what's going on", he whispers, "but… it's kinda hard when you don't talk." Cole shifted her gaze at last. Pretending to find the bathroom floor interesting, before she comes up with an answer. "I… It's just… you're so different from Isla… More…" Cole struggles when the heat rises to her cheeks. "More… what?" Vincent's
"I- I am wearing gl-gloves." Cole barely manages to get out. Rambling: "It's only cards. Tuck assured me they were sterile. He even brought me this bed-tray, so nothing touched the sheets…" Vincent looks at his patient in silence. Shifting his gaze to the cards, which were set on a firm bed table, and Cole was indeed wearing latex gloves too… With a deep breath, Vincent set the food aside. "Alright…" He speaks softly, the crease between his brows slowly disappears as he neared. "Let me take that so you can have your meal." Cole glanced one last time before setting the cards down. The doctor seemed calm… at least that's how he appeared now. "Leave the gloves too." Vincent points with his eyes, to which Cole understood and discarded them. She watched as Doctor Lance took the table and set it with the other items. Then he brought her the food, carefully putting it on the bed where she could reach. "It’s not a five-star meal so… if you don't like it, don't eat it." He says, turning to
Before the sun rose on the horizon, Eris was up. He sat in his office chair, eyes glued to the current document he was reading. With his free hand he took notes on a pad. Listing all of Cole's past symptoms and the recurrences of them. After, Eris researched the incident reports written by Rue. He listed those by date and a brief description of the incident. Next, Eris began sifting through the patient's lab results. And finally, he reviewed Cole's cognitive tests. Which were performed daily as Cole never seemed to suffer the more severe symptoms. "She's strong, she wants to live." Doctor Isla says on a recorded log. Which Eris played out of curiosity. The conference video showed Doctor Isla in plain clothes. She was sitting in her own living room, while talking to an interviewer. Other unnamed individuals were a part of the virtual conference, but only their names appeared below. "What was going through your head when you took her in as a child?" An interviewer asks. "She needs m
Vincent slipped outside. The morning breeze cooled his skin as he finally placed the dog bowl. Sitting on the porch while Audi gobbled his food. Vincent let his gaze drift over the many vehicles parked on the lawn. Some of them were in poor shape. Though, it’s still a better option than walking. Beyond the collection of vehicles, a long dirt driveway curves into the distance. Surrounded by trees, and poorly maintained grass. "Oh my god.” Vincent lifted his head as voices echoed, followed by the sound of laughter. "Again?" "Hahaha, Tuck you're so bad at this game". A small smile stretched on Vincent's lips when he realized they were up. Not only that but playing their card games. "Come on. Rematch." Cole spoke. "But this time, if I win, you have to get me some of Doctor Blonde's secret stash." What? Vincent could hardly believe his ears. "Deal." Tuck quickly agrees. This time Vincent stood up. Stepping off of the porch, he looked up at the open bedroom window. Placing one hand
"Who told you my middle name?" Vincent questions, his right eyebrow twitching as a dark cloud forms over the green in his eyes. "It was on your -ahem". Tuck pulled out a familiar leather wallet. "State of Connecticut Driver's License.” "Tuck". Vincent warns as he starts opening the wallet. "Let's see. Date of birth -fuck- 2029?? You're like… OLD!". Cole stirred awake as Vincent set down the tray of food nearby and reached for his wallet. "Give me that back you little turd and go find Snow White and the other six dwarves.” “Ha, I think I hear Barbie calling you back to the Dream house.” Tuck smirks, jumping out of his spot when Vincent got close. Causing Cole to fall on the floor with a loud thump. "OWw". Went Cole, lifting her head up after hitting the coffee table. "What's going on?" She croaks out, her gray eyes still hazy with sleep. "Hey, Cola". Tuck smiles mischievously, holding the wallet out. "Guess what? Barbie’s boyfriend was born in-" "Enough". Vincent moved swiftly t