The next part
1818 Words
I paced restlessly as the doctors worked tirelessly on my dad. I was tired. I had been awake for more than 24 hours. The doctors had suggested I sleep. I had tried, too. I knew my dad would want me to sleep. To rest so I'd be fresh. But I couldn't. Evil thoughts plagued my mind.
What if he died? How would I ever live with the guilt? I... maybe he had been right. I should've listened to him and not gone to the academy. Who knew how long he had been lying there?
Memories plagued me. What my mother had said before she died. My eyes were dry. I hadn't had water in some time. But it didn't matter. Your fault, your fault, your fault.
No, she wanted to scream at this voice. It wasn't! But was that true? Forget it.
"Hello, ma'am?" A young man, 20 years old? Barely 5 years older than me, said.
"We're going to need you to leave. We promise we will update you on anything and everything.
But you are worrying other people and putting your own health in danger. Please." I was being kicked out. Great.
I could argue, but the security guys behind the doctor were tough to imagine fighting.
"Fine." I grumbled. I called a cab. By the time I reached home, I was drained. When I walked in, I saw the whole house was in a mess. Not a huge one, but big enough for me to notice that something was wrong. Was this here earlier?
Yes, I believe. Walking through the house, I noticed the whole house was messy. The study, more than other rooms. My eyes widened as I pieced together everything that happened. Oh no.
I looked around at the files and in the drawers. Something that would show me what had happened. My dad had been attacked. By whom? Thinking as hard as hard as I could, I remembered something my dad had said to me.
"Looking under a person's bed can tell you what kind of people they are. If there's nothing, they're neat. But if they have stuff, go through it and find out what they do. Its fun." He had told me once. Under his bed. It was hardly anything but it was a clue nevertheless.
I ran and I tripped and fell. My vision had turned slightly blurry. Perhaps it was a good idea to get some sleep. Just a little until I..
Hmm. What was I thinking? I'm not sure. But I just needed to...
And I fell asleep. I woke up the next day in the morning . I was starving. I knew that I had been thinking something before I fell asleep, something important. What was it, again?
"Dad?" Oh, he was at the hospital. Terrible guilt crushed me for forgetting. Still, I was hungry. I could've had toast. But the chocolate lying on the table was too tempting. Once I finished my breakfast, I went to get ready. I got out, brushed me hair, and checked my phone. 9 missed calls from the hospital? Oh no.
I ran out and quickly hailed a cab to the hospital.
"Yes?" I said when I saw the doctor who had escorted me out yesterday.
He looked uncomfortable. "We found out what's wrong with your dad."
I waited, my silence questioning him to elaborate.
"He's come up with a new disease. Its much like AIDS..
Except instead of not being able to produce WBCs, He's unable to produce- RBCs."
I had a feeling I was about to break down. How, oh, how did this happen? And if the house was ransacked, shouldn't he be hurt physically? How did he get this disease? Why-
"We know this is hard for you. But I'm sorry. We are doing all we can. And no matter what we do, he will stay bed ridden for the short remainder of his life. We can try to wake him up once, but that will take up all his energy. We're leaving that up to you."
I was angry that he had interrupted my thoughts but what he said had been important. I could end dad's life quicker, but I'd get to talk to him. A little bit, at least. Or I could let him live longer but we would never talk.
"H-how l-long can I decide?"
The doctor looked at me kindly. "You have a month. Only then can we do anything."
I nodded politely and left.
A month. I was good at deciding. A month was plenty of time. A month. I couldn't shorten my dad's life. I couldn't. It was wrong. See? Decision made. But it couldn't help but feel wrong.
I went to my favorite book store and bought a lot of books. I loved books. They made me feel as if anything was possible. A week passed. I sobbed at night, as nightmares, thoughts and memories plagued me.
2 weeks. I still couldn't get over what had happened. 3 weeks. Soon I'd have to visit my dad for the last time. And finally the day came. I got dressed and nervously remembered what my decision was. But..
No. I had decided. I went and met the doctor. He warned me I was only giving my dad an extra week. It was fine. It was OK.
As I saw my dad laying peacefully, I couldn't help but think about how my mother lay in her coffin. Just as peacefully, and one might be thought her asleep if it wasn't her funeral we were at. But this was worse. Not alive, but not dead either. How could he continue this?
"I want to talk to him." The doctors looked at me, surprised at my sudden decision.
"OK. He'll be with you for 20 minutes, roughly. Enjoy."
I sat at my father's side. He awoke suddenly and saw me.
"Honey, that you? Really you?"
"Yes, dad." And them he hugged me as if this was the last hug we'd ever share. Well, I suppose it was.
My eyes welled up. "Dad, I'm sorry, I should've listened.. I-"
"Baby, I-"
His eyes widened. "I'm going under. I.. I love you, be careful. Don't tell anyone. Find out about the Aurae and the doorway and be careful. Don't stutter. Trust your instinct. Trust you-"
The heart rate monitor showed that my dad was no more.
Don't stutter.
"You said that we'd have longer." My fierce stare caused everyone to look down at their shoes.
"Miss, we tried everything to keep him as long as we could. You should be happy that he sustained himself as long as he did. We would've thought it impossible.
I couldn't control my anger. "And how would you say he sustained himself? With the power of love and friendship, am I right?!" I yelled.
He was there for lesser time than we expected because your calculations were wrong. So don't tell me he was able to do that himself." And I stormed off, tears streaking down my cheeks, people staring at me. Once I got home, everything was cleaned up. Oh, no. I had left the door open. I couldn't handle any more sadness like that of being robbed. But why would a robber clean my house?
I don't know. I was crying, my hair were messy and my brain was mushy. I wanted to go feel sad, but feeling sad and angry was a great option too. Finally, I settled on feeling sad and guilty. I was going to my room when I saw a familiar face.
"D-dan? W-what are you doing here?"
"I thought you'd need a friend. Also, we're moving in. Congrats!"
His smile was wide, but his eyes were sad, as they should have been. He hugged me. I wasn't a touchy person, but I was sad.
I sunk into the hug and sobbed more.
"D-dan, he's-he's gone." And it was my fault. I wanted to add.
"Hey, hey. It's all going to be fine. We'll take care of you. We-" he stopped himself from saying whatever he was going to say.
"Yeah and we were going to tell her we were moving in together. I suppose she didn't react to that much, so never mind."
"Jen!" Behind her stood a tall lady. "Mrs. Kowalski!"
"We heard. How are you doing?" Mrs. Kowalski asked me.
"I'm sad."
"And we see you are still as lovely with words as you were." Dan joked.
"Give her a break, Dan." Jen rolled her eyes.
They were here. For me. I was more grateful than they could've imagined. I would've been under a mile of sadness if they weren't here. Under... the bed! I remebered. Don't tell anyone, dad had said. I had to keep it quiet.
"I'll take your dad's old room. Is that ok?" Mrs. Kowalski finished.
"No! I mean, no. I just wanna sleep there. Just tonight. Could you please take my room?"
"OK, if that's what you want, Olivia." She said.
That night I looked under the bed. Finding a file, my curiosity got the best of me and I opened it.
DR. COBALT LIBERINE
LEVEL 4 THREAT
AGE: 25
MASTER: ARCHAELOGY, MODERN SCIENCES, MYTHS.
MARITAL STATUS: MARRIED TO NATALIE LIBERINE.
CHILDREN: NONE
He is a hardworking employee and has the most knowledge on the doorway. We are proud to have him. But he has been acting as if he has a secret. We value trust over everything else. He will have to be interrogated.
What? This made no sense. The doorway, though. Dad had mentioned it. I checked the next file.
DR. COBALT LIBERINE
LEVEL 4 THREAT
AGE: 30
MASTER: ARCHAELOGY, MODERN SCIENCES, MYTHS
MARITAL STATUS: MARRIED TO NATALIE LIBERINE
CHILDREN: NONE
He has been more and more secretive over the years. There is something wrong. We cannot find any proof. His knowledge on the doorway has increased. He is working on a way to steady the doors.
Ok.... this was crazy. I was 5 by then. Why was the children part still none? I was there. The next file was even more intriguing.
DR. COBALT LIBERINE
LEVEL 4 THREAT
AGE: 36
MASTER: ARCHAELOGY, MODERN SCIENCES, MYTHS
MARITAL STATUS: MARRIED TO NATALIE LIBERINE
CHILDREN: NONE
He has disappeared yesterday. We cannot locate him. He was one of our best scientists. He has gone, but we cannot find where. His wife is missing. But she left a trail of clues. Sorry, old friend.
My heart was racing. Who were these people? Dad worked as an archeologist, it's true. But what was he doing with these people?
I took the papers and stuck them in my journal. This was some clue all right. Only one paper remained. It was crumpled and burned at the edges. On it were written only nine words.
We got your wife.
Don't mess with the Aurae.
- Writer
