Of Illnesses And Antidotes

Chapter Nineteen

"When?"

"Tomorrow morning. Nine o'clock."

Renée looks at me worriedly. She clasps her hands together tightly, the skin paling around her knuckles. "What are you going to do?"

"Go to it. I can't skip it. They'll suspect something if I refuse to have a mere blood test."

"Tell them that your axons are playing up and you don't want to risk damaging them further."

I chew my lip thoughtfully. "I suppose I could say that." I pause, then shake my head firmly. "No, I have to go. I need to go. You never know, I might even find out some more information."

A glimmer of a smile appears on Renée's lips. "True."

My eyes drift over to the other side of the dormitory. They rest upon the twins, chatting away on the bottom bed of their shared bunks. Lana laughs at something Jas says, her grin lighting up her face. I smile.

"Are we going to tell them?"

The smile quickly fades off my face. "I guess we have to, don't we?"

Renée nods her head grimly at me.

I sigh. "I wish we didn't, but it's only fair. They've come this far with us, it's not right to leave them out now."

Catching Lana's eye, I incline my head to encourage them over. She frowns, but stands up nonetheless and crosses the room, Jas in tow.

"What's up?" Lana perches on the edge of the bed and Jas takes a seat on the opposite side.

"Do you know something?" Jas' eyes light up.

"Shall we go to the showers?"

I shake my head. "The other girls will start to suspect something's going on if we keep on going to the showers. We can talk here."

"What's happened?"

Renée and I explain our adventure through the air vent. Lana and Jas remain relatively calm but their expressions change throughout our tale: their eyes were full of intrigue and fascination, but when the final words leave our lips, they both look partially horrified.

"Then, earlier today, I received a note from the reception." I swallow back a lump in my throat. "I've been booked in for a blood test tomorrow morning."

Lana's eyes widen. "You can't go."

"That's what I said," Renée mutters under her breath.

"I have to go," I say firmly.

Jas grabs my hands and squeezes them. "What if they do something, Naomi?" she whispers, her eyes alive with fear. "Anything could happen. They could do something terrible like..."

"Like what happened with Val?" I fold my arms, narrowing my eyes. "They wouldn't dare. Doctor Sullivan said it for himself. For whatever reason, they need me. They're not going to try anything... stupid."

"Maybe it is just a blood test," Renée suggests, a half-hearted attempt at optimism. "Maybe we've been worrying over nothing. A blood test is completely ordinary. We're all sick, remember?"

No one says a word. My eyes drift down to my lap and I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

"Yeah... of course."

"We're just overreacting. Naomi has nothing to worry about."

I glance upwards at the sound of my name. All three of them are staring at me, curiously yet evidently concerned.