Utopia: An X-Men Story

Chapter 13

My body was sore and the only thing distracting me from the pain was the awful smell of chemicals in the air and the soft voice of someone familiar. As I came to, rubbing my eyes, things began to make sense. There was a bright light moving from one eye to the other.

"Okay, so we have dilation. That's a good thing. Kyrany, can you hear me?"

I mustered up a groan and tried to shield my face it hurt to move. As the light was cleared, I was greeted by the smiling face of Dr. Nathaniel Essex.

If you compared Nathaniel to his father of the same name, they were practically identical. The only difference was that the Doctor was mature and had a soft, intelligent glint in his eyes. The man was the walking definition of attractive- but I would never dream of crushing on my best friend's dad! That's just weird and wrong. Of course, it was hard to not look at him. Nathaniel would look just like that one day and so would his sons and so forth.

Dr. Essex shined a light into my eyes briefly and smiled. "So how much of the drug did you take this time?" His demeanor seemed relaxed but I could tell he was worried.

"Two doses? I think. I can't remember." I sat up slowly and put my hand to my head. It was throbbing. "More importantly, how did I get here?"

"Alex likes to watch the fights on some dark web site. He told me that he got a text from you saying you were going, but I know he's lying. I don't think he watched the fight, but you never know with kids, am I right?"

"I guess?" I looked at him. "I can't say; I'm not a parent."

"But you do a good job parenting yourself." Dr. Essex brought me a glass of water and I drank from it deeply.

It was cool and it felt good to hydrate. "No, I don't. Honestly, I'm just waiting for me to do something that gets me killed."

Essex sighed and sat beside me. "I know for a fact of several people who would miss you if that happened."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. My friends."

"Myself and wife included." He put his hand on my shoulder. "Kyranny, you are practically apart of my family. I need you to promise me that you'll stop going to the fights."

I looked at the glass of water and said nothing.

"It's okay if you don't have an answer right now, but I don't know if you fully comprehend the dangers. Too much Antifeline is deadly."

"I know. That's why it exists."

"Straighten up, Kyranny." Essex said as he stood and moved to the door. "And rest doctor's orders. I'll go and tell Nathaniel and Alexander that you're okay and I'll write you a school note."

I nodded. "Thanks, sir."

"Kyranny."

"Yes?"

"Its okay if you call me 'dad.'"

I looked up at him in shock and smiled slightly. "Okay. Thanks, dad."