Radiation Point

Twenty Seven

I found Jackson in the nurses station attached to the gym. He sat behind the oak desk, meticulously writing in a notebook sprawled in front of him.
"Come to check on her?" He asked, without looking up.
My eyes shifted to Miracle, who was asleep on a leather cot pulled up to the wall. Her once tan skin looked pale under the fluorescent lights. A steady hum of low breathes escaped her tightly clamped lips.
"Actually no," I said, tearing my gaze away from her small frame.
Jackson stopped writing, his pen poised in mid air.
"I need a favor," I said, flushing. Jackson didn't say anything, simply waited for me to continue, his calculating eyes never leaving my face.
"You were right about the infirmary. My sister's not going to get taken care of there and I was--"
"Wondering if you could bring her here?" he finished for me.
I shrugged. It sounded as selfish out loud as it did in my head. No wonder Tyler and Jackson had been getting fed up with me. Not to mention Bubba. But something told me Bubba got fed up with everything, so I wasn't too concerned about him.
Jackson looked at me with critical eyes, his mouth down turned. Maybe I was pushing my luck, asking him to help both Miracle and my sister.
Jackson surprised me by shrugging and motioning me in. "Sure. Grab one of the cots from next door and put it against the wall."
My surprise must have been obvious, because Jackson chuckled. It was a strange sound. With a start, I realized that it was the first time I'd heard him laugh since we met. Not that there was much to laugh about anymore.
"This is what I do. I take care of people. I always have," he said simply.
I would have never guessed, based on how he originally reacted to Miracle coming with us. He had been so opposed to her being brought to the camp, saying that no one would take care of her. And now, here he was taking care of her himself.
"I used to be a good doctor, you know," he said, with a hint of a smile. "But there's more people needing killed than saving now. We adapt."
I nodded. That I understood; adapting to survive.
Then the moment was gone and he returned to his notebook, jotting a few notes as he glanced at Miracle.

Back in the infirmary, Ellen stood over Mia's bed, gently stroking my sister's blonde hair back. Ellen's face was taunt with concern, her dark eyes never leaving Mia's face.
Swallowing a wave of emotions, I moved to stand beside Ellen. I'd kept myself busy on the run and getting Mia help, so that I wouldn't have to think about how bad she really was.
As I watched her dark lashes twitch, I knew she was fighting. I was tempted to lay my head against her chest to make sure she was breathing. But her chest rose and fell with each labored breath she took.
Mia simply looked fragile. Her skin washed out; cheeks lined with tears. Her lips were dry and cracked. The blankets were tucked around her frame, making her look even more like a child than she did before.
Tears burned in my eyes as I let myself be still. Still in a way that I rarely let myself. You had to move to survive. Adapt. But watching Mia lay still, fighting for her life, I felt paralyzed.
Ellen's warm hand pressed into my palm and squeezed.
I glanced sideways at Ellen, but she was still watching Mia. Tears of her own lined her face.
"You know, she looks just like my youngest."
Her words hung heavy in the air between us. Was that why Ellen got attached to us so quickly? How could she bare to risk losing someone else she cared about-in the same infirmary setting?
"My husband always joked that we needed a dang paternity test," she said, a giggle escaping her throat. She covered her trembling lips with her hand. "Cuz my daughter had the same blonde hair your sister has. Her hair was as blonde as the sun."
Her voice trembled as she spoke, tears still streaming down her face.
"But we both knew, she got it from my mama. My mama had the blondest hair and a smile to light up the room," Ellen said, biting her lip. "God, I miss them both sometimes. My mama didn't stand a chance."
"Did she-what happened to her?"
Ellen heaved a sigh. For a moment, I thought I'd gone too far by asking.
"The radiation killed her. She was in a nursing home just outside Chicago. They didn't even send rescuers there because the levels of radiation were so high."
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't know."
I spent so much time thinking about the radiation affecting the people in the camps, that I didn't even think about what the radiation did to people who were closer.
Ellen shook her head.
"You couldn't have known. But I just like to think of her as my sunshine. Just like your sister."
I smiled at the thought. Mia was a ray of sunshine. She could light up the room with a smile, too. But would I ever see her smile again? It'd already been so long.
As I stared at Mia's pale, still face, I let my mind wander back to when she never stopped smiling.
Her face would split into a wide toothed grin that spanned the whole of her face. Instead of pale, sickly skin, I could see her with tanned, glowing skin.

Waves lapped the shore behind her, as she giggled uncontrollably.
"Nessa, come on!" she had called, waving me forward.
She was only nine and I was twelve. At twelve, I was just beginning my self conscious stage. I was a head taller than all my other classmates, with long, gangly limbs. Not to mention the nest of curly red hair on my head. At the age where being pretty started to matter, it was hard to feel that way sometimes.
That day on the beach, I felt even more awkward next to my young sister. Mia was a ray of sunshine with her long blonde hair and radiant smile.
Hugging my arms across my chest, I stayed close to my parents.
"Mia, no. Wait for Mom and Dad."
Ignoring me, Mia ran forward into the surf, the water smacking against her feet. She looked so care free and happy, giggles pouring from her lips.
"Mia," I called with a frown.
"Come on, crabby," Mia said, sticking her tongue out at me. She put her fingers together in her best impression of a crab's pincer. "Crabby, Nessa!"
I remember my face getting hot as my parents grinned and Mia laughed. Mia's voice carried across the surf and others turned to look at us. Anger coursed through me, as I stomped after Mia.
As I reached her, the water almost to my knees, I fell, tugging Mia along with me.
Her teasing turned into hysterical laughter as the both of us were soaked with cold water. Laughter of my own bubbled inside me as I hugged my sister close, all anger washed away in the tides.

I let the memory slide back into place in the back of my mind. Things had changed. The only thing that mattered now was getting her to Jackson to save her life.