The storm had finally come to an end. I now stood beside Bren on some rocks, where we were a safe distance from the beach. We silently watched the aftermath of the storm, the sea seemed at war with itself as it pushed back and forth angrily. The sound was deafening but it didn’t silence my thoughts about our uncertain future.

Bren turned towards me, we stared at each other in silence before he reached out and hugged me. He leaned forward resting his head on my shoulder. My heart pounded against my chest knowing we were about to leave our safe haven. He squeezed tighter and his hot breath made me tremble as it was encapsulated in the crook of my neck.

He released me from the hug and looked at me with one somber eye, red and glistening before grabbing my wrist and pulling me gently with him. I wanted to resist, run the other direction, to disappear into that raging sea. In truth, it might be less painful than what I faced ahead. Bren didn’t give me a chance to run or resist as his grip tightened and his pace quickened. I could see Fuchsia in the distance, her fading pink hair moving in the wind. A ball of black fur clung to her chest, its tail whipped rebelliously as it was restrained. A metallic hand glistened before tapping Nix on the head. It made a futile attempt to maul the hand that lingered in its space. Following the glistening arm to the perpetrators face, I was not surprised to find a sardonic smile on her face. Fuchsia swatted at Sina chatissing her for picking on Nix.

My mouth pulled into a small smile as I watched them argue harmlessly over Nix, a sight which offered familiar comfort. I turned my sight towards Bren who was still in front of me. I followed his arm down to my hand and noticed he was now holding it and not my wrist. I squeezed his hand slightly and he turned his head to look at me, his eyebrows pulled together tightly and his jaw was slack. His face quickly relaxed and he pulled me up beside him as we walked together towards the others.

Fuchsia and Sina stopped arguing as soon as we got to them. Fuchsia flashed me an irritated look, “I thought we were going to have to go look for you two. Everything is loaded and General Morgan says we need to leave asap.”

Behind Fuchsia and Sina I could see several men talking with General Morgan. I didn’t see Jackie or Lyra with General Morgan and just as I was about to ask I spotted them standing close to the cottage. Jackie was glaring at his father and Lyra was shaking her head while talking to him..

I looked at Fuchsia and asked “Is everything ok?”

Her mouth twitched as she looked at Jackie and Lyra and then back at me. She laughed a little and said, “Don’t worry hun, that father and son are always fighting. It's nothing serious!”

I wasn’t so sure if everything was ok because Fuschia had a strange look on her face.

General Morgan had spotted us by now and called out, “stop wasting time and let’s go!”

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We all hurried over to where he was standing and he sighed and looked at us all as he said, “I feel like I’m dealing with a bunch of goddamn kids”.

General Morgan looked at Fuschia and Nix and said, “you better keep that creature under control, I will throw it out if it starts to cause a commotion while we are flying”

Fuschia huffed as she held tightly onto Nix, she looked like she wanted to argue but instead kept it to herself. Instead her eyes looked like daggers directed at General Morgan.

General Morgan raised his voice and said, “I have you all and my men to think about while in the air. Do you understand?”

Fuschia stroked Nix’s fur and solemnly said, “I understand, there won’t be any problems!”

“Good let’s get loaded and get out of here!”

—--

We hadn’t been in the air for long before I started to feel sick.

The roar and vibrations from the helicopter made my head hurt and I felt a little dizzy.

Bren rubbed my back and said, “Jax, you look really pale are you ok?”

I nodded as I pressed a hand against my head and said, “I just have a headache.”

He shook his head and placed his hand on the back of my neck and said, “I think you are fevered.”

The pain in my head worsened and I felt like my body was really hot. I gritted my teeth and looked at Bren. I was about to ask him if he had my bottle of Blue Cryo when I felt something hit my leg. I was a little disoriented and reached mindlessly down rubbing my fingertips across it. I felt more drops hit the back of my hand. The bright red blood stood out vibrantly against pale skin.

Blood.

My heart thumped and I reached towards Bren with blood tinged fingers. I felt a rush of air as he pulled me towards him as he said, “oh shit! Jax you need to pinch your nose.”

My forehead rested against his chest while I did as he said.

I pressed my other hand against his chest and mumbled, “I must have forgotten to take my meds”.

My body felt like it was on fire now and I was having trouble focusing, sweat rolled down my face and back.

I heard a rattle of pills beside me as Bren pulled the bottle from his jacket pocket. “No. You didn't! I watched you take them earlier.”

I felt a squeeze on my shoulder and tilted my head back a little to see Fuchsia next to me. She pressed her finger against my wrist and then ran a hand over my forehead. She looked over her shoulder and nodded at someone. I pushed back a little farther to see who was behind her but the helicopter tipped and Fuchsia almost fell. She eased herself down beside me and fastened her seatbelt. The helicopter was descending rapidly and my dizziness became overwhelming.

With a thud we landed and the helicopter began to quiet down. General Morgan had left the cockpit and headed our way. He stood in front of Fuchsia as she tried to explain what was happening.

General Morgan crouched down in front of me. I didn’t want to make eye contact with him but he pulled my head up and said, “what exactly did that doctor do to you?”

I swatted his hand away, not in the mood to have a conversation. “What didn’t he do to me!” I closed my eyes, my energy was depleted and the pain was too great. I leaned sideways onto Bren. I just wanted to sleep.