Consuming Fire

Chapter 48

"Olivia, hand me that tube will you?"

Mark and his wife Olivia – who looked about twenty years younger than her husband – calmly worked on Fearne's body for a solution to her bizarre illness. Only minutes ago, the seizure had stopped. Her body still felt hot. Joshua stood at the foot of the bed with his hand over his mouth. He had his suspicions already and they terrified him.

Memories were bouncing back into his mind. Memories of Liz as she described the surgery with the homeless man. Amidst these suspicions of Fearne's illness was a different kind of panic – that this SSS place had something to do with it all.

Suddenly he was certain something wasn't right. He knew this man, from a different time, a different life.

"Dr. Mark," said Joshua softly, "from New York Downtown hospital."

Mark frowned. "How do you know that?"

"We only met once. I never forget a face though." Joshua peered at Fearne. "You know what's wrong with her, don't you?"

Mark's face went white. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I knew there was something off about this place," said Joshua. A familiarly cold and dark feeling was spreading through his veins. After everything that happened at the cabin and the way Hunter looked at him after finding out the truth, Joshua had felt his control start to come undone. The Iceman was emerging from his icy cage once more. If he wasn't careful, he may lose it.

But right then, he didn't care. He stormed up to Mark, grabbing him by the collar and forcing him back against the wall. Olivia gasped in shock. Joshua's fingertips went cool and iced over. He had to admit, he found some pleasure in the look of total fear on Mark's face. The last time he saw the man, he had his disgusting eyes all over Liz the way that hungry men do over beautiful women.

"Tell me everything you know about Feucotetanus."

Mark shot a glance at Olivia. "Could you give us a minute, honey?"

"No," she said.

"Olivia," Mark urged her.

Olivia hesitated, then left the wing. They were alone with Fearne's still body.

Joshua shoved him hard and let go. Mark brushed his coat down and eyed Joshua warily.

"I used to think medicine was black and white," said Mark. "Until a homeless man came into the hospital twenty years ago and that same night, a friend of mine disappeared. A fire killed her husband, but Liz survived. I thought it was strange that she suddenly quit the hospital and left the country, never to return. She was never the type of person to give up helping people, even if her husband died."

"That's because that night changed everything."

Mark's blue eyes suddenly widened. "Joshua ... Joshua Harrison?"

"I would say it's good to see you, but it's not."

"Yeah, I was kind of a dick to you."

"You can make up for it by explaining how you found Feucotetanus."

"Feucotetanus." Mark shook his head. "It was some drug. I first heard the term when I was studying in the UK. The hospital I worked at was testing a new drug on patients and ... it didn't go well. Said it came from Sweden and they had to send it back. Then it came up on our system because I bought some samples back for my studies and I recognized the formula in the blood of the homeless man. I couldn't believe it. After the fire at Liz's apartment, I started wondering if this drug had anything to do with Liz disappearing. The cops never discovered the drug and closed the case."

"How do you know that?"

"My brother is a detective. Anyway, I found nothing after the laboratory in Sweden was destroyed. I married Olivia and we travelled for a few years. Life got in the way."

"How did you end up here then?"

"Five years ago, our son was killed and Imogen was taken by Agents in the same month. We had nowhere else to go. We knew about Imogen's powers, and we reached out to the SSS. I've been a doctor here ever since."

"Then you know how to save her?"

Mark looked at Fearne. "All I know is that Feucotetanus has poisoned her. If there is some kind of cure for Feucotetanus, I don't know of it."

Joshua ran a hand over his face. He let out a long sigh and said, "I do. I know of a cure."

Mark gazed at him. "What is it?"

"It's called Ravenadium." Joshua reached into his pocket for the stone. "It's-"

He froze. His heart nearly leapt out of his chest. His pocket was empty.

Joshua looked around him. He'd kept the stone in his pocket ever since Hunter gave it to him in the jet.

"It's gone," he said. "The stone is gone."

Mark looked at Joshua and then his expression turned wary. "Is Ravenadium a cure for Feucotetanus?"

Joshua nodded. "If a person has the right genetic code, yes, it is."

Mark groaned. "Chevie ..."

"What?"

"Chevie took it," said Mark. "He's going to try to save his father with it."

Joshua had no time to question how or why that was even possible. He grabbed Mark by the collar again and shook him.

"That stone is the only thing that will save Fearne. Where is Chevie!?"

Mark nodded. "Follow me. I'll explain on the way."