The Portal Effect

Chapter 19

I was woken up by the sound of the landing gear being activated. The others were also just waking up. When I tried to move, I felt cramps in my hips and back. Groaning, I shifted and slowly stood up, using the wall as support.

I walked stiffly to the cockpit section, where Andvari, Sarge, and John were. John was awake and looking a bit better.

"How're you doing?" I asked. He offered a mild smile.

"Grand considering, I got shot in the stomach. Thanks for shooting him for me." John said.

"Made me feel a bit better." I said. They all laughed.

"Hopefully this explosion got him." Andvari said, shuddering slightly.

"If not, I have a bullet saved just for him." John muttered, coughing slightly.

Just then, the plane shook as we landed. Everybody sighed in relief. Ten minutes later, we were allowed off the plane. John was rushed away immediately, while those that also needed medical attention were given time to recover and move around some. I waved away any medics that tried to attend to me.

"You should go get that checked out." Leo said, watching the third medic to approach me hand me a map. She was rather nice about it too, realizing I wanted to put the people first.

"I will once everyone else has been taken care of." I replied. Keegan and Leo shared a look, and I glared at them.

"So, what are we going to be doing here?" Keegan asked.

"Whatever it is, I am making sure we get any new info on the beasts. It has been really quiet, and for once I don't like that." I said firmly.

Just then, the rest of the group ran up to us.

"Harley, why aren't you getting checked out? That wound is gonna kill you if you don't let it heal." Cody said, but he wore a smile.

"I know, I know. But once everyone else is checked first." I told them.

"Just make sure it gets cleaned out." McFay said strictly.

"Jeesh, you guys might as well adopt me now." I joked. We all laughed and walked towards the building named Kennedy Memorial Hall. It was smaller than most, but located inside were the visitor commons, the conference rooms, and the smaller mess hall.

By the time we got there, a nurse was waiting. Kaia stood next to the NASA nurse, her left eyebrow raised. I sighed.

"Come on. We need you alive." Kaia said. I grinned, as did the other nurse, who introduced herself as Nia Kyles. I could see some people just shortening it to Nickels. And she seemed accustomed to the nickname as she wore a little nickel around her neck.

We walked to the Johnson Medical Center, where nurses were busy bringing in extra supplies and beds.

"How's John?" I asked, looking to either nurse for an answer.

"He's stable. The bullet pierced his stomach, but otherwise was not a concern. He'll be headed to surgery in half an hour." Nia said.

"Right now, we need to make sure your injury isn't infected, especially since you have a knack for not following orders and keep ripping stitches saving people." Kaia said. I made a silly face and we laughed as we walked the rest of the way.

"By the way, how are you not doubling over in pain?" Nia asked. She looked genuinely curious.

"Honestly, I think she has a really high pain tolerance. She seems to also heal a bit faster than most." Kaia said. But we both knew that the healing was a result of some serum my team was injected with when we were young, allowing our healing process to speed up. Unfortunately, the pain was still extreme at times. When we got to the medical center, many people stopped and stared.