Sickness

~Part 8~

~ Part 8 ~ Valas P.O.V ~

"Where am I?" The words slipped out before I knew I was saying them. 

"Shhhh. Vala just be quiet." I feel a hand stroking my hair. I look up. It was boy.  My age. Tall, dark and handsome. 

"Who are you?" I ask, reaching up and lightly touching his cheek.

"Vala, it's me Gale." says the boy.

"Gale? My neighbor Gale?" I ask. The boy gets an upset look on his face.

 "It's only temporary. It'll wear off in about an hour." he smiles and kisses my forehead. I sit up and look around. I'm on a stretcher... in a train. 

''Why am I on a train?" I ask nervously.

"We're going to the clinic." 

"What?" I get a confused look on my face. "Why am I going to the clinic?"

"They only do pregnancy tests at the hospital. You'll understand soon, I promise." 

"I'm pregnant?" I jump out of the stretcher and look around for an exit or bathroom or something... I think I'm going to be sick. 

It was just Gale and I. The train cart we were in was set up like a mini apartment. There was a small kitchen space, a double bed, a couch and a fridge. "Why is this cart so fancy?" I ask.

"Well," Gale stands up and lightly sets his hands on my waist from behind. "The clinic is far away from the city so that if a sickness breaks out in the city, that the possible pregnancies are far away from contamination."

"Well what about the pregnant girls already in the city?" I ask as I run my hand along the counter.

"There's a shelter for those girls. Once they get there, they get the cure for free just in case." 

"Oh. So who is the father of my baby?" I ask, still trying to contemplate the situation. 

Gale looks around cautiously. "It's me Vala." he said lightly touching my arm. My jaw drops open. 

"You?"

~ GALES POINT OF VIEW (P.O.V) ~

I hated lying to Vala since her memory was temporarily swiped, it made me feel like I was taking advatage of her. But I knew they had cameras in this cart... so I had to play along.

"Yes." I walk up to her and lightly set my hands on her hips. 

"Well.. when did that happen?" she looks at me surprised yet satisfied. I laugh a little inside. 

"About a month and a half ago." I lie.

"Oh. Well how old are we?" she asks confused. "Like 20?"

"No..." I say. "We're only 17."

Vala gives a surprised look then sets her hand on her flat stomach. "Well, that doesn't matter. Our baby will have a good life." she smiles at her stomach. "I love it already." 

My heart sunk. She'd be an amazing mother. And I couldn't stand to see her like this. She doesn't know what's going on and I can't tell her the truth. She has her hopes up and she's just going to get hurt. 

"Vala Mininger, please use the phone to contact the General Officer. Thank you that is all." The system on the train echoed loudly.

Vala walked over to the phone. She nodded a couple of times then said, "Okay I will." 

"They said to tell you it may take longer than they thought since I blacked out? Whatever that means." 

"Oh that's just great." I mumble.

"How long is this train ride going to take?" she asks me.

"About a day and a half. We should be there by tomorrow morning." 

"Oh okay, well how long was I out? Because I'm still really tired." she says rubbing her head. 

"You were out for a long time, but they said you might be tired still. Why don't we go to bed?" I suggest.

"Alright." she says with a sleepy smile.

 I walk over to the couch and fluff the pillow. "What are you doing?" Vala asks me.

"Getting the couch ready." I reply.

"No, we can both fit in the bed." she says looking through the drawers for some clothes to sleep in. 

"Are you sure you want us to both squeeze into that little bed?" I ask confused. 

"I'm pregnant with your baby... what's the big deal?" she says pulling a gray tank top and shorts out of a drawer.

"Oh.. that's right." I say slowly taking off my shirt.

"I'm going to go change. I'll be back." She says as she walks to the bathroom. 

I keep forgetting her memory has been wiped. 

I awkwardly climb into the bed and roll over. I hear the bathroom door close and the lights go out. I tense up when I feel the blanket lift. I just stare into the darkness as I feel her crawl into the bed next to me. I tense up more when I feel her chest against my back. "Gale?'' she says. 

"Yes?" 

I feel her hand on my back. "What's wrong? You seem nervous?"

"Oh, uh, nothing." I say nervously.

"Well obviously something. You're really tensed up." she says worried. "Aren't we a couple? Why are you so nervous?" 

I roll over and face her. Her blue eyes filled with emotion. I don't want to lie to her, but I have to. "I'm sorry Vala. I don't know why I'm like this. Guess I'm just nervous to find out." I lightly touch her flat stomach. 

"Oh." she lightly touches my cheek. "It will be alright. Just go to sleep." then she rolls over to face the wall. 

 I lay there for a few hours, but I can't sleep. At about 4 a.m. Vala starts screaming and kicking and punching in her sleep. I shake her. "Vala wake up! It's just a dream! Wake up!" she wakes up in tears. I pull her into my arms and stroke her hair. "Calm down. It was just a dream. Shh." 

Vala falls back to sleep within 20 minutes. I finally manage to fall asleep around 5 a.m. 

~ VALAS POINT OF VIEW (P.O.V) ~

7:00 A.M.

An alarm screamed throughout our small train cart. Just one fast, loud blow. I sit up and look around the room. Where am I? The last thing I remember is blacking out in the memory room. I look over and see Gale in bed with me. I jump out of bed screaming. He jumps out with a startled look on his face. He's shirtless in night shorts. I look down at myself. Short shorts and a short tank top. Oh my... what happened last night? Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. I just keep screaming, not even thinking. Gale rushes over to me and wraps his arms around me.

"It's okay Vala. It's okay. It was just another nightmare." he says. 

I push him away hard. "Not a nightmare! Why the hell were we in bed together!"

"Vala calm down." Gale says rushing for his shirt. 

 "Calm down?! I will calm down when you tell me what happened last night!" I point to the bed. "Did we...?"

Gale threw his arms out. "No! No, no, no, no! None of that." He rushed over to my ear. "They think we are together. Play the part. Last night you had a temporary memory swipe. You really did think we were a couple and I couldn't tell you otherwise because we are under constant observation. We still are. That was the 1 hour warning bell. We will be there soon. Until then you need to play the part." he whispers.

I'm still sort of angry that he didn't atleast whisper like that to me. "Fine. You want the part played. I'll play the part. But don't forget... I'm mad at you." I whisper in his ear then bump him as I walk by to the small dresser. 

An hour. Only one more hour.