Dynasty ~ Final Book in the Elite Series

Chapter 17

Stunned, Emma's body was wracked with guilt, a tear sliding down her cheek as the berg flew off, away from the destruction.

But did she even have the right to cry?
To morn a person she once hated with her very soul?

Even with what Teresa had done, that just......Emma wasn't sure how to react. If she even could allow herself to grieve.

I'm sorry.

Why hadn't she done something?

I did, I tried, she tried to tell herself, but in a small corner of her brain echoed with the words, not enough, not enough, not enough.

Now, one more person had been added to Emma's personal death count. Soon, all the names were going to bury her under their weight.
And some of the names, she couldn't remember or didn't even know, but the pain on the faces of each had been clearly etched into her memory, as had Teresa's.

Had she really done enough? Did she really try as hard as she could?

Gally broke Emma out of her daze.
"Hey, Em, why don't you go sit down."

Barely nodding, she went and sat back down by her love.
Glancing down at Newt, Emma looked him over as if trying to memorize his features even though she knew every inch of him by heart, attempting to distract herself from feeling.

The bay door had been closed, and distantly she heard someone shouting orders, someone panicking.
But Emma ignored the commotion, setting her head in her hands, tears begining to leak through her fingers.

She was such a horrible person. Why couldn't she have saved Teresa?
Why?
Why?
Why?!

Feeling someone walk up, she lifted her head slightly.
"Em?"

It was Henry, an urgent sort of expression on his face. In his hand he held a syringe, a tiny vial of blue liquid set into it.
"Thomas had it in his hand when he passed out. I think it's the cure, Em."

Wordlessly he handed it to her, but her hands weren't shaking now.
Gently she pressed the needle into the side of Newt's neck, and injected it.

Newt's body visibly tensed for a few moments, and Emma hushed him, rubbing his cheek with her thumb.
After a few, he relaxed with a soft, scarcely audible sigh, all signs of the black veins fading from his body.

It appeared as though he'd never even been sick.

Tears of gratitude and very relieved, exhausted happiness was in her eyes as she looked back up to Henry.
"Thank you," she whispered.

He smiled, a little more this time.

"He's probably going to sleep for awhile," he said, answering her silent question,
"his body's going to need time to recover, especially after what he went through tonight."
Giving her a another faint smile, Henry went back over to where the others were still helping Thomas.

"Just rest love, I'll be here," Emma murmured with a sigh, brushing her fingers through his hair.
She never realized just how often she did that, it had just become a habit whenever she was feeling more than just a little stressed.

She felt bad she wasn't helping the others with Thomas, but there were plenty of others to help. Besides she knew he would be okay.....and she didn't feel like she should anyways.

Emma's guilt was making her feel a load of klunking nonsense, but to her it didn't feel that way.

An hour later, they were well on their way back to the Right Arm camp, and most of them aside from Emma, Brenda, Vince, Minho and Gally were asleep or nearly so.