Winner!
Third Place Sci-Fi Winner on The Dream Awards July 2020.
What would happen if one day you were infected with a virus that ate at your brain, your skin, and all your internal organ all while you were self-aware?
Would you still feel? Want to...
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Irate, the petite figure wobbled back to her room.
The conversation between them went from good, to horribly wrong in a matter of seconds. She'd been so close to telling him how she felt and then he had to interrupt her, messing it all up.
Teal huffed a warm, little breath mumbling to herself. With difficulty, she got back up on the hospital bed. Based on all those psychology books she'd read at home, as a human, he must've been bipolar. Or maybe, multiple personality disorder, because of his unpredictable, hot, and cold personas.
Now she certainly had no idea where they stood because she couldn't pretend what happened five days ago, didn't happen.
The irrefutable fact, he would have died, to save her life.
Were they friends with benefits? Only friends? Business partners? Or, was he going to kiss her whenever he thought it was okay, regardless of their status or whether or not she wanted him to?
Although she always seemed to want to. And, she couldn't blame him for that reaction. That was an entirely different matter, she must deal with herself.
He was always so guarded. Perhaps, it was a good thing he'd interrupted her when he did. How humiliating would it have been for her to say yes to his suggested relationship, to then have him confess what he just had?
Laying on that hospital bed, she tossed and turned for a while fuming at herself, and at him. And, although she didn't want to, Teal also simmered over her birthday, her mother, her brother, and yes, even Samantha.
She was vexed at the world!
"Teal?"
"Marc?" She sat up stunned by the softness in his voice. Her raven hair a matted mess of waves floating around her pale face.
"Can I come in?" his voice was quiet but strong. Almost as if saying "I'm coming in" instead of asking the question.
She hesitated and peered at him skeptically from under the covers.
"Sure."
He was without a shirt. The veins on his chest roads under the thin, translucent skin. Both of his arms sported tattoos but one of his shoulders was bare. She saw where he'd been shot once, some time ago.
It was obvious to her he did not want to ink that part of his body. As if he wanted to forever remember that it happened. The other shoulder had intriguing, black inked tattoos spiraling down his arm.
Using a single crutch for support and with some effort, he made it to the chair beside the bed. As he stood facing her, she gazed over his trim, firm body.
Probably shaped that way from all that running around saving zombies and lifting heavy things, she digressed.
Studying the profile of his face, Teal took a sharp intake of breath. A shudder controlled her body from crown to pinky toes, making her feel weirdly aware of his presence. As she watched his stone-cold face, she thought that even at his weakest point, he looked handsome and fearless.
