Soul Stitched (book one)

Chapter 95: Crystal

I opened my eyes and groaned. My whole body ached with a piercing pain. What had happened? I vaguely remembered us standing around the generator and...and then it's all blurry. Was I dead? I looked around at the white walls and wondered if I was in Heaven. Or maybe Elysium. Who knows? Maybe I would reincarnate as a cockroach or something.

I tried to focus my vision but it remained fuzzy. I couldn't tell where I was. I could only pray I wasn't back in Dr. Shep's lab. Who knew what he would do to me.

Suddenly, I heard the door open so I closed my eyes to pretend I was still unconscious. I heard the sound of rustling papers and I couldn't contain my curiosity. I opened one eye, then the other. My vision cleared so I could make out a figure holding a clipboard. They were jotting things down on a piece of paper on a metal rolling table. I heard her mumble, "One day." One day for what? Then she looked back at me and saw that I was awake.

                "Mornin' hon, I see if any doctors are available." The nurse said. I noticed that her nurse dress was splattered with blood. What had happened to her?

                "I'm good." I said, voice scratchy. "Where am I?"

                "You're in a hospital getting taken care of. You and like, a million other people got pretty beat up out there but don't worry, you're in good hands." The nurse said, adjusting my IV. Then she stepped out into the hall and called a doctor over anyway. Then she came and pulled back my blanket. "You have some pretty bad burns but nothing too major. Some other people were critically injured in all of the explosions. You have no broken bones, a slight concussion and you seem to have some strange marks on your skin here..." she pointed to my arms and my legs.

                "Those are just scars." I whispered. "From stitches, not the virus, but I had stitches." The nurse's eyes flickered up at me. "So what happened to the infected, are they all dead?" I asked.

                "No, a day or so ago, something, like, happened. Randomly there were all these explosions all over the world, hospitals, office buildings, restaurants all exploded. Then a couple minutes later, all of the infected just dropped to the ground, seconds later they sat up, completely fine. As if they weren't killing people hours before." She said. "They had no memory of it, they only remembered things before they turned." My jaw dropped but then I smiled. We had done it, and saved the infected. But then I remembered how we probably killed millions with the explosions.

                "How many people do you think are dead?" I asked. The nurse shrugged.

                "Maybe about a quarter of the world, but most of that was from the infected killing them, not really the explosions." She said. I let out a shaky breath.

                "Oh." I said, looking down at my blank palm. No snowflake engraving. I keep forgetting my powers are gone, how they were stripped from me to destroy the generator-stop the virus. I looked back up at the nurse.

                "Do you think I could have some food, water?" I asked. She nodded and left momentarily. I didn't feel right and was glad when the doctor came back with the nice nurse. He checked my vitals, my eyes, re-cleaned my burn-applying a thin layer of some balm over the red skin. If I closed my eyes, I could still feel the flames as it swallowed me, Cashmere, Wilt and Aqua up in its fiery hands. Thankfully, I had hidden behind some rubble before it could get the best of me, only got my legs and some of my left arm. I ate some food and drank water. Nothing tasted better.

                "So what's happening to everyone?" I asked. The nurse had to leave so I was just with the doctor.

                "We're pretty desperate, getting anyone we can to help the wounded. But we'll make it. Soon we'll start to rebuild the city and one day, we'll forget this strange virus outbreak ever happened." He said. I looked up at him.

                "You think?" I asked, knowing I never would. He shrugged.

                "I sure hope so, sweetie."

                "Anyway, do you know of four other girls? They're my age with really weird names. Cashmere, Wilt, Aqua and well, Mac." I said. The doctor's face clouded over.

                "Are they your friends, relatives?" He asked.

                "They're all I have left." I whispered. He frowned.

                "I only know of Cashmere and Aqua." He cleared his throat and wouldn't meet my eye. "You might be here in the hospital for a while but we'll arrange for you to see each other soon." He said. A ping of worry shot through me.

                "But no Wilt or Mac?" I asked. I noticed a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face. It wasn't hot in here.

                "I'm sorry, I don't know." He lied. I didn't press him and he left me to get more rest, handing me some pain relievers although I was already drugged up with others. But when I closed my eyes, I found sleep came easy. My dreams, however, were very unsettling.

I stood in front of the generator, it loomed high above me. A loud buzzing sound filled my ears and electricity coursed through the air giving sharp zaps. I started to back away as a groaning sound came from the generator. Then it broke apart and started to collapse. It started to explode and smoke came from the sides. Pieces started to clatter to the ground around me and I ran. I ran for all I was worth but then, "Crystal!" I froze and turned. Cryptic and Mac stood there in front of the generator. They seemed distressed, frantically looking for a way out but they were going to be crushed by the generator. I hesitated, if I went back, I'd die too. I started to run away, only looking back to see Wilt running towards them.

                "Cryptic! Mac!" Wilt screamed. She reached them just as the generator fell to the ground, killing them instantly.

I woke up screaming.