Falling Skies Invasion Alone

Transplant

I leant against the wall, arms folded, listening to Ben talk to Hal. He was in disbelief that we had tried to inject Maggie with spike fluid. It would have sounded more ridiculous if I wasn't so devastated by the situation. My eyes were trained on the damp ground but snapped up when I heard Ben speak.

"What about a full transplant?"

A full transplant of spikes?

Hal slowly looked up. "Ben...If you're saying what I-"

But Ben interrupted and turned around to face Anne, not daring to look at me. "We did extractions in Charleston, you can do this." Anne didn't respond until Ben prompted her again.

"Extractions are a lot less complicated than transplants. We don't have the equipment." She muttered, walking away to the other side of Maggie.

"Cochise could help. There must be some sort of field medicine or something." Ben shook his head, acting like it was the only option. Maybe it was. "Take my spikes, put them in Maggie."

Instinctually, I was against the idea. It was too dangerous, too risky, too wrong. Maggie wouldn't be able to cope. Even if she did survive it, she would be tied to him, they would share a connection and she wouldn't be able to deal with that. I knew her.

But there was also a small pang of jealousy. Tiny, miniscule even. But it was there. A spark of jealousy at the thought of Ben being connected in such a way to another person, to think of him sharing a deeper connection than he would ever have experienced with me.

"Denny could barely stand having her spikes tapped. Removing yours might actually kill you. I'm not risking losing both of you." She stared at him incredulously.

"I don't care." Ben shook his head. "I couldn't save Lexi. Let me help Maggie." His face turned to look at Hal who, after a moment, conceded. Of course he did, he needed Maggie. I couldn't imagine Hal without her.

"We'll need to get Cochise." Anne said and then left to fetch him and any device which could help the process.

I still hadn't spoken, but Ben, it seems, suddenly remembered I was there. He turned to face me, solemn but unwavering.

"You're going to risk your life for this?" I croaked softly. "Try and be a hero again?"

He blinked and pressed his lips together, staring at me. "That's not it, Cass. It's Maggie. She would do it for us. I don't think you would survive without her, Cassidy. You need her as much as anyone else."

My head tilted back. He was turning it around on me, acting like he was doing it for me. To an extent he was right, I didn't know how I would deal with living if I didn't have Maggie by my side. But I would, because I didn't have any other choice. And I saw where he was coming from, I could understand his actions.

But I had a weird feeling in my stomach. It was like a pit of hatred, of angry, of irritation. It was just rumbling within me. But I didn't know why.

Rationale controlled me, thankfully. So I just kept my mouth tightly knitted closed and walked over to Maggie's side to sit. It felt like I had been in that chair, by her side, for years.

It wasn't long before Anne had come back, Cochise in tow with a contraption that looked like the travel version of the extractor we used in Charleston. Turns out it was.

Faster than I had time to think, Ben was lying on a table alongside Maggie, his layers pulled off to just reveal his bare skin and the spikes protruding from his spine.