The next day both Gohn and Caulin told me they were going to take the day off and rest, the fight had taken a toll on them and they need time to recoup. I on the other hand did not. Terry and Scyll both had work to do in the lab, and didn’t need my help. So that left me for the first time in a while with nothing to do. I was suddenly reminded again that outside my circle of friends I was very unfamiliar with the dome and the people inside it. When I thought about it to be honest, other than Terry, Caulin, Gohn, and Scyll, I really didn’t know anyone. I set out that day to explore the dome and maybe meet someone new.
The dome was really very similar in structure to that of a small city. There were a variety of jobs, most involved some sort of biology, but not all. Those jobs were located throughout the dome. Besides work people in the dome did do other things for entertainment. Some chose to work out like Caulin, but most participated in other activities. I found on some of the lower floors several children played strange games that involved some sort of chemistry and manipulation of a sort of biological cube. The children would place different types of mineral cards into the cube and manipulate it to perform certain tasks. I watched the children play for a while, but despite my best effort could not determine the rules of the game.
As I continued I saw there were a great many children, even young children running around with seemingly no adult supervision. My old instincts kept asking where those children’s parents were, but then I would stop myself. Those children most likely had no parents.
After walking on that floor for a while I decided to explore a different one. I went to one of the lifts that was on the side of the dome. I reached into my pocket to get a mineral card, but to my surprise I hadn’t brought enough. I stood there for several minutes contemplating what I was going to do with no mineral cards. I would be stuck here till someone came looking for me.
Luckily, at that same moment a familiar face walked up to that same lift. It was the nurse, Mahlah, that I had encountered when I first woke up in the dome. She a had a young girl with her no older than three.
I approached them and said, " Well I haven’t seen you in a while."
Mahlah turned and a look of surprise came to her face as she saw me. " Wow, David I have been hearing a lot about you. You have become rather famous around the dome."
"I have?" I replied a little surprised. " Why is that?"
"Well first of all you never gave those scientist the interview they wanted, so you are still quite an enigma to the majority of the public. On top of that news about you and your friend’s adventures outside the dome is becoming common small talk."
I scratched my head a little embarrassed about my new found stardom. Just then the little girl tugged on Mahlah’s arm and said, " Come on. I am bored."
I smiled, "So who this little cutie." I said and tickled the chin of the little girl.
She nodded, "This is my daughter, Antigone."
"Who’s the father?" I asked
"My husband, Hector." She said.
"So your Hector’s wife? Wow, I have to thank you, he saved my life out in the wild a few weeks ago."
She smiled, "Yes, he does that, they call him the hero of the dome. Though, sometimes I just wish he wouldn’t take so many risks, I worry about him."
It was then that I remembered why I had approached her in the first place. I hesitated for a second a little embarrassed about having to ask.. "Um…yea so I was wondering." I said awkwardly, " but I don’t have any mineral cards on me and I was hoping I could share this lift with you."
She eyed me strangely, confused by what I had just said. "But why would you be out of mineral cards?" She asked suspiciously.
"Well this is the first time I have really gone out around the dome on my own and I never know how many to bring." I replied. She arched her eyebrow for a second so I continued. "I was trying to look around and see the dome. I have been here for a few months, but I have never really been able to see that much. I had a free day and thought I would do some sight seeing."
Mahlah smiled and nodded her head. "well if you’d like I could show you a side of the dome most people don’t get to see." I nodded with interest. " Good, well come with me while I drop off my daughter at the nursery and then we will get started."
We talked for a while as we rode the lift to the floor where the nursery was. She asked me about my life before, and once again I found myself retelling what had become an all too painful tale.
"It must be hard…" she said after a few minutes of silence. "I can’t imagine what it must be like to have lost everything you lost."
I faked a smile trying to mask my pain. "It’s been hard," I admitted, "but everyone here has helped a lot. Living in this time has showed me how to be strong. You all are fighting this terrible disease, and yet everyone is still able to keep going."
She looked away seeming uncomfortable with the subject. I swallowed hard, chocking on the bitter taste of my own shoe. "ah-em, well," I said awkwardly, " Is this the nursery?"
She nodded. "This will take just a moment. How about you watch Antigone for me while I talk something over with the caretaker." she said slipping the young child into my arms.
I held the child awkwardly as her mother walked over to a lady and began to talk about something. I had never been comfortable holding other people’s children, it made me nervous. Suddenly with a giggle the small girl reached up and tugged hard on my ear. I was caught off guard. The child was surprisingly strong. " Oww!" I shouted, " Hey that’s mine."
Mahlah looked up from her conversation and brought her hand to her mouth stifling a laugh. The little girl in my arms eyed me curiously and then loudly said, "DOWN!" she looked me in the eyes with the surety and confidence that only a toddler can have, and then repeated herself once more, "DOWN!" this time she shoved me hard her tiny hands catching me in the neck. I stumbled backward tripping over a poorly placed toy and collapsing backward with a thud. The toddler landing on my chest knocking the air out of me.
I laid there stunned for a moment gasping. The toddler simply stood up, still on my chest and calmly walked over to the toy I had just tripped over and contently began to play.
Mahlah rushed over to me. "Are you alright!?" she asked.
I propped myself up on my elbows, and looked up at her. "Wow, you’ve got a strong little girl there." I said panting. With that me, Mahlah, and even the women she had been speaking to, burst out into an uncontrollable laughter.
Mahlah stooped down to help me to my feet. " Yea, she has a lot of her father’s strength in her, a fact he is quite proud of." She said still smiling.
I rubbed my bruised backside. "I imagine, she is only three and she can already beat me up." I said jokingly.
She chuckled and walked over to her daughter. "Antigone, now you apologize to Mr. David, for pushing him. You know better than that."
The small girl looked at her mother and then at me. Those sweet little blue eyes seemed to sparkle as the girl gave a shy little smile and said, "Sawy" then giggled as her mother tickled her.
"Come here you little rascal." Mahlah said sweeping the toddler up and giving her a big hug. "That’s my little girl, now mommy has to go to work. You behave yourself." She set her back down and patted her head and walked toward me. " Well, how about it? You ready to head out?" She asked.
I marveled for a moment. This women, Mahlah, she wasn’t much older than me. I imagine she was no older than 26 or 27, yet, she displayed the mothering abilities of someone much older. I was impressed at how mature she was. "I am ready if you are." I replied. "So where exactly are we going?"
"Well, if its alright with you I was going to show you where I work." She answered.
"and where is that?" I asked.
"I work in the health ward." she replied, " I am a nurse, remember?"
I was intrigued by this. Before the accident I had been a premed student. It might be interesting to get a look at what medicine was like here in the future. I nodded and said, "Sure, I would love to come along, I used to work in a hospital part time to help put myself through college."
"Wow, that would be great, we could use another helping hand." She said excitedly. With that we took off toward the health ward. She asked me tons of questions about what hospitals were like back in my time, while we walked. Each time I would say something she would have another question. As we talked I came to realize that the medical field I was used to was slightly different from this one.
When we arrived at the health ward, I was amazed at how large it was. It occupied an entire floor of the dome. As soon as we arrived Mahlah went straight to work. I spent most of the day following her around, trying to learn the bizarre treatment methods they practiced.
Some of the treatments were fairly similar to the one I had seen from my time. They used a battery of medicines and shots to counter the illnesses and infections we saw, but on top of medicines there were also many biological symbiots that the doctors and nurses used. Unlike mine these came on and off easily and different ones were used for different tasks. I saw one doctor performing a surgery in the middle of a crowed room all by himself. His symbiot attached to his shoulders and acted as four extra arms. Except at the end of each arm was a different tool that the doctor would use to either cut, sew, or even cauterize veins. Some of the nursing staff also used symbiots to aid multiple patients at once.
The whole scene was unreal. There were so many sick people. As I followed Mahlah I helped as best I could. After a while I got used to several of the treatments and was able to do some by myself. I was able to do this mainly because most the people here were suffering from the same disease. As I went from patient to patient the symptoms made it painfully clear what we were dealing with. I was used to a lot of diseases. As I had said before, when I was a premed student I worked in a hospital to put myself through college. I had worked in several wards, from intensive care to oncology. I had seen my share of terrible diseases, but …..nothing like this. My mind flashed to the vivid description Caulin had given me of the disease., but now seeing it first hand I realized that Caulin’s earlier words paled in comparison of the truth. There are no words that can fully describe the horror of this disease.
I understood why Mahlah had been hesitant before to talk about the illness. We treated as many as we could rushing from bedside to bedside, doing the best we could to ease their pains. I watched Mahlah, her mothering instinct shown clear as she treated the many sick patients. Even in the midst of so many people that she had to care for, she was able to talk to each and everyone of them. She was more effective at her job than simply giving out medicine. She gave out love. To be honest as I watched, I think it was that love that helped the patients more than even the strongest of the medicines.
After eight grueling hours her shift ended. I dragged my feet exhausted from simply trying to keep up with her, but she seemed utterly unaffected. She still walked with an air of pure life flowing from her. I felt like she may have even been more lively then when we had started the shift. I guess helping others was what she truly enjoyed doing.
We stepped onto another lift heading up from the health ward. "Thank you so much for all your help David." She said to me. " I am going to be meeting my husband for diner in a little while. He said he would pick Antigone up from the nursery so I have to head home and cook something for when they get back." She reached into her purse and pulled out a mineral card. "Here I know your out so use this one to get to the floor you need to go to."
I took the card, and said, " Thanks, for everything. This was a really good experience." her cheeks reddened, as I continued. "You were really amazing up there. The people are really lucky to have a nurse like you. I know you all don’t like to talk about the disease, but I know it is hard to deal with so much pain and suffering day in and day out. The fact that you are able to do that and still have so much joy and life to give. I find that truly incredible." I felt awkward after saying that like maybe I was being to forward.
She stood there in silence for a long time before finally saying, "Your right…it is hard for any of us to talk about the disease. There isn’t a person in this dome that hasn’t lost someone to it. Though I’m glad to finally be able to talk about it. I just know it can’t be healthy to lock up so many difficult emotions. You know, you’re the first person I have ever been able to talk to about
t. It is something no one ever talks about here. Thank you."
Suddenly my cheeks were the ones that were red. The lift we were on slowed as we came to the floor she was to get off on. A gust of air whistled past my face as the doors of the lift rushed open. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mahlah," I said holding out my hand.
She smiled and threw her arms around me in a big hug. I froze for a second a little shocked, but then I let myself embrace her. "It was very nice to meet you too. David." She said seeming to choke back tears.
As she walked away I called back to her. "You had better come and find me again. I want to spend another day helping out at the hospital with you as soon as I can." She smiled back at me, but her smile was sad.
A terrible feeling burned down in the pit of my stomach. Something wasn’t right. I continued to watch her as the doors on the lift closed, with an unreal slowness. With only a sliver of her form visible through the closing crack I saw her fall. I felt my heart falling with her, like a glass vase knocked off its pedestal, and when she reached the floor, I felt my heart shatter . Everything was in slow motion now. The doors had closed completely, but I had to get out. I grew a blade from my symbiot. With one violent slash the doors tore back open. A viscous gray slime oozed from the dome’s wound.
I ran to Mahlah, shouting her name all the while. I dropped to my knees and slid to her side. Her pale skin had turned to a ghost white, and she was colder than ice to my touch. I gasped for air, my heart pounding so hard I swore it would burst. I didn’t know what to do. I looked around frantically for help, but there was no one to be found. I screamed for help, but no one came.
She started convulsing. Every muscle in her body tightened at the same time. I saw blood starting to drip down from her nose, eyes, and ears. My mind reeled. Suddenly without warning she vomited blood. It was everywhere. My vision seemed painted red.
Finally I knew what I had to do. I scooped her up into my arms, and ran. The lift I had come from was clearly no longer an option. I looked around frantically. Then I looked to the edge of the floor we were on. I rushed to it and peered over. The health ward was five floors down. On that floor was a moving platform, that connected through the empty space in the dome. If I jumped at the right time I could land on it. I saw the platform rush from the other side. I didn’t think, I just jumped.
I fell for an eternity, and as I fell I prayed that I would hit the platform because if I missed, Mahlah and I would both surely die. I shifted her to hold her with only my left arm. As we approached the moving platform I reach out with the blade on my right arm. I dug it into the platform, and we made a gut-wrenching stop. I felt my shin bones crack and the muscles in my right arm tear, but we had made it.
I ignored the pain and the shocked stares of the other platform riders and as soon as I reached the other side I jumped onto the floor and fell to my knees. I screamed for a doctor, and then I passed out.
The only sleep I ever seem to get now is when I pass out, and the same voice plagues me each time. This time it’s echo said only one thing. "good" . I shook myself back to consciousness, now was no time to sleep.
I awoke in one of the hospital beds, with a nurse standing over me. " Where is she?" I asked still groggy from unconsciousness.
The nurse answered. "Mahlah is in the intensive disease ward. They are doing all they can for her, you need to go back to sleep that was quite a fall you had."
I struggled back to my feet. The nurse fought with me trying to get me back into bed. "I don’t sleep." I said. "I am fine." I hobbled away toward the intensive disease ward, my right arm still hanging limply at my side.
I looked at each bed as I limped down the hall, until I found her. A steady flow of medication was already hooked up to her with a strange heart-like thing pumping the medications into her like an IV. I walked up to the bedside. Her breathing was shallow. A doctor walked past me and saw me standing by her. He noticed my injuries and said, "You really need to get off your feet, you look like your going to fall apart."
I ignored him and asked, "Is she going to be alright.?"
The doctor sighed, "I don’t know. The disease affects everyone differently. There is no telling how this will turn out. From our records it seems she has only been displaying symptoms for about a month. This is only her second attack, but it is much more serious than most attacks are at this stage."
I looked up in disbelief. "So she has had this disease for that long, but she was just here running around full of life. How could she do that if she already had the disease?"
The doctor looked at me quizzically. "The disease is episodic. It attacks in waves usually each one is progressively worse until it kills you. I have seen people live with the disease for four years before it killed them, but I have also seen some who died on the first attack. There is just no telling."
With that the young doctor walked away to treat another patient. I looked down at Mahlah’s now seemingly lifeless body. "only a few minutes ago, I had commented on how full of life you seemed. How can this be!?" I muttered under my breath.
I kneeled down by her bedside waiting, hoping, praying for her to wake up….
Her death was quiet. She didn’t scream, whisper, or even gasp. There was a monitor hooked up to her. It swung a pendulum back and forth measuring her pulse. All at once it slowed….and then stopped. She was the first person to ever stand up for me in this new world. I had seen her now on three separate occasions and on each one she had done something to help me, and now seemingly without warning she was gone. I had only really known her for a day, but I cried like I had known her all my life.
When I finally had time to dry my tears and stand, I saw Hector hurrying across the hall leading Antigone by the hand. He stopped ten feet away. He collapsed to his knees and sobbed. Antigone, looked around frightened and confused, she waddled up to her mother still lying in the bed. She reached up and tugged at her mothers hand. "mommy." she just said…. over and over, while her father continued to cry uncontrollably.
My eyes were dry now. I had no more tears, but that scene was burned in my memory forever. It made me glad I never slept anymore because if I did this moment would surely haunt my dreams.
After a while, Hector was able to stand. He grabbed the doctor and shook him violently saying, " You said… You said she would live another year or two!! What happened to my wife!!?
The doctor placed a concerned hand on his shoulder. "You know how this disease works, Hector." the doctor said. "it affects everyone differently. Maybe if she had been brought to us sooner. Maybe then we could have saved her, but as it is. There was nothing we could do."
I felt the doctor’s words pierce my heart. I looked down in despair at my still blood stained hands. I had gotten her here as fast as I could. Hector looked to me. Hatred and anger still burning in his eyes. "What are you doing here?" He asked coldly.
I choked on my words. I tried to explain everything that had happened. I thought her husband deserved to know everything that had happened the day of her death. His eyes narrowed, and in two strides he was on me. He grabbed my by my shirt and shook me. "What was this just a game to you!!!??" he said screaming now. "What you just take your time. No hurry it’s just her life!!!"
I shook my head, "No." I tried to say, but he wouldn’t listen to me, and at that moment, I felt maybe I did deserve this…maybe it was my fault.
"How do I know that this isn’t your doing. She wasn’t suppose to die yet!!! Not yet!!" he beat his fists on my chest. The doctor tried to pull him off me with no success.
I looked over Hector’s shoulder and I saw my friends running towards us. As they approached, Hector threw me to the ground and stormed off leaving Antigone still standing there balling. A nurse picked her up and ran after him.
I sat there on the floor. I rested my head into my hands. Terry walked slowly up to me. "We heard what happened. Are you alright?" I looked up into her caring eyes. All I could manage was a small nod. "Come on, lets get you back." She helped me to my feet and with her arm around my waist guided me away.
Caulin walked over to the other side of me and said. "Don’t worry about Hector. He is just upset. He won’t hold this against you." I nodded as if I agreed, but the truth was, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t hold it against myself.
As we walked away I stopped and looked back. The doctors had covered her now, and were preparing to move her away. I choked down more tears and force myself to say, "We have to stop it." they all turned to face me. "We have to stop this disease. For good."
Terry looked me in the eyes and nodded. "David is right. This is it. We have to get serious about our mission. No more training missions. It’s time for us to move out and start exploring the uncharted areas." The others all nodded. After that we walked in silence.
When we reached my room, I told them I would need to be alone for a while. So they left me there. Terry stayed for a little and held me "Are you sure you are going to be ok?" She asked not sure if she should leave me alone.
"Yea. I will be fine." I lied. I didn’t think I would ever really be fine. That kind of experience changes you. I just hoped that this change would be enough to push me to end this disease, once and for all.
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