Gen One- Chapter Nine

I didn't know which way was up.

One moment, I was watching the snowball Amaranth threw rush at me. The next, all I could see was the sky. Then I'm blinded by the powdery, deep snow that flies around me as I fall into it. I had tried to prevent my falling, but the ground was slippery. My feet being buried so deeply also meant I hadn't been able to move them fast enough to steady myself. I wasn't hurt, of course. There was too much to cushion me. However, that didn't mean I was alright with the situation.

Amaranth's laughter was louder than everyone else's- and they were laughing pretty loudly.

     "Whoops! Sorry, Meadow! I thought you would have no problem dodging that one." he called.

My attempt at wiping the snow off my face failed. My gloves were coated in the stuff as well, meaning I only spread more over my skin. I blinked the water out of my eyes though to see Amaranth already turning away from me. The snowball fight my friends and I were engaged in had not lessened in intensity for one second because of my fall. Just the fact that Amaranth had stopped briefly made him get pelted from three different directions. In the time it took me to blink again, he was fleeing from his attackers.

I didn't bother to get up for a good while. I hadn't seen Amaranth's snowball coming, so falling over had taken the wind out of me. Then there was the plain truth that I just wanted the fight to stop. When Sunset had called that morning saying she and the others were planning the outing, I had been all for it. The six of us had been doing things like this everyday since winter vacation started. A day full of fun had been what I was expecting. There had been no way for me to know how off my game I would be. I was slipping and sliding all over the place in the snow. My shots went wild. I couldn't dodge a thing. I was spending more time pulling myself up after falling than I was enjoying myself.

The other five pretty much ignored me as they ran about. There was something I couldn't understand. How were they able to run so easily? I felt as if my body had suddenly doubled in weight or as if I had fifty pound dumbbells tied to my legs. Just moving at all was such a challenge. Then there was the fact that I was freezing. Maybe my body was actually turning into ice. I couldn't stop shaking. Sitting in the snow didn't cause any discomfort because I felt so cold that it seemed to be the same temperature as me.

Forcing myself to stand, I rejoined the fight. I thought the same thought in my head over and over again- if I kept trying the day might become enjoyable. If I kept at it and pretended as if I was having fun like the others, maybe my mood would shift. It was a rather hopeless wish, but one that I clung to for a while. I also got a bit of relief from getting hit by being, perhaps, secretly mean. Frost was one of the slower runners in our group.

     "Hey! Don't go past me! Then I'll get hit!"

That was what he called to me as I pushed myself to run faster despite that my dry mouth and throat were stinging with the iron taste of blood. Frost had no idea that me keeping just ahead of him was exactly what I was trying to do. By keeping slightly ahead of him all the time, I ensured that the others would go for the slower target instead. I had no chance of hitting anyone. Keeping the snowballs away from me was all I could manage.

Unfortunately, it couldn't remain that way forever. A teaming up of Amaranth and Sunset separated me from Frost. I couldn't go after him again, because then what I was doing would have become really obvious. Hoping I could keep out of reach of my friends was my last choice. It wasn't an option I preferred. My frantic running was burning my lungs. I simply couldn't move like normal. I was struggling to breathe when, of course, Allium of all people made me his constant target. He had been the relentless one so far that day. When he picked a person to hit, he dogged that person intensely until he got his shot. There was little effort I could make. Allium was almost as fast as Amaranth. I thought for a moment that I had lost him, but when I turned around to check he was right there behind me with his arm pulled back.

There was no point in dodging. I would have wasted more energy moving than I would have recovering from the hit. Allium struck me squarely in the lower chest. That blow really did wind me! I opened my mouth to breathe, but my lungs, which had taken the brunt of the blow, couldn't pull anything in. A strange, calm terror overtook me as I was unable to inhale for a few seconds. I gasped loudly when I pulled through the pain to get my lungs working again. Allium ran away when I stretched my hands towards the ground. He assumed I was going to make ammo to get him back. I was actually putting them out to catch myself in case I fell face first into the snow. It did feel like a strong possibility for a moment. Frowning when I stood up, I glared at Allium. He needed to learn how to throw softer! That one had really hurt!

I did make a sad attempt at getting back at him, but that didn't last long. With every passing second, it was getting harder to move. It was almost as if I was disconnected from everything. My sense of touch was practically gone I was so cold. Even warming my hands up did little. I tried not to be too concerned. Given that this was my first real experience with winter, I had been having a hard time handling the low temperatures.

I was standing there blowing on my hands again when Sunflower walked over. I flinched thinking another snowball was going to come my way, but she approached harmlessly. Sunflower gave me a sympathetic smile.

     "You alright there?" she asked.

     "I'm really cold."

     "Well, of course," she laughed, "It's winter! We're all cold."

     "But I mean really cold. Like 'hard to move' cold."

     "That's why you move more. I've been watching you. You're just standing around a lot. That's only gonna make the cold seep in."

     "I've been trying, but the deep snow makes it hard to run. It's like glue to me." I pouted.

     "I guess it's just something you've got to get used to then. You did say you moved here from Shiny Sands, didn't you?"

I nodded to confirm the lie.

     "That place barely even has winter. It's a big difference to go from that to this. I mean it when I say you just gotta push through it to get used to the change." Sunflower prodded once more.

     "Yeah." I mumbled.

I don't think Sunflower understood just how badly I was freezing, but she did have a point. I was probably making my being cold a bigger thing than it was. If only I could have believed that. No matter how much my brain said her explanation made sense, the rest of me was screaming that something was off. However, I got distracted from pondering the matter. Sunflower's eyes suddenly went wide. She hurriedly pointed behind me.

     "Watch out! Sunset is coming to get us!" she warned.

I turned as best I could; my feet dragging painfully slow. Sunset's aim was awful, but when she did get a hit in they were just as powerful as Allium's tosses. The last thing I wanted was to take another hit like that.

My frowned deepened when I turned around to watch for an attack. Had the bright shine of the sun on the white snow been playing a trick on Sunflower's eyes? Sunset wasn't coming for us. In fact, she was nowhere near us. There was no one in the direction Sunflower had pointed at all! I turned back around just in time to see Sunset far away behind Sunflower and for the snowball Sunflower tossed at short range to slam into my shoulder and roll into my neck. Fearing a quick retaliation just like Allium had, she took off the second her snowball left her hand.

I watched her back get smaller and smaller. She didn't glance back once. If she had, she would have seen that her snowball had done a lot more than send more chills down my spine as the snow slipped past my clothes and melted uncomfortably against my skin. My eyes were watering with tears. The hit hadn't hurt. Sunflower hadn't had enough time to pack the snowball tightly. A giant ball of fluff had hit me. It was the fact that she definitely didn't understand how ridiculously horrible I felt and had done something that made me feel a hundred times worse. That I felt like that made me feel worse. Even I didn't understand what was wrong with me. All I knew was that normally I would have gleefully chased after Sunflower until I got my revenge. I should have been running about pelting everyone and having the time of my life.

But I wasn't. The more I tried to be that way, the more I felt the opposite. I forced back the tears and regained my composure. Crying at Amaranth's party with only Eden and Amaranth seeing my tears was bad enough. Having everyone see me cry would be a nightmare. Remembering Eden, I glanced over to where he was. He and Blaze were overseeing our group like normal, even if they weren't watching us at all. They had made it very clear they were not participating in the snowball fight. Blaze said he would make anyone who hit him pay a $100 penalty. We all knew Blaze. He was serious. That was why my brother and his friend were free to make their igloo without any disturbances. It seems an activity much better suited for me at that moment. There was also a strong chance I could beg Eden enough to get him to buy me some hot chocolate. If not, I was usually able to get Blaze to buy me stuff I gave him enough puppy-dog pouts.

My mind was made up. I had had enough of the snowball fight. That was my plan until Allium came over. I heard him running up from behind me. Expecting him to attack me again, I just kept on walking away to show him that I had no interest in continuing to play. Like Sunflower though, he wasn't coming over with a snowball. He was coming over to see what was going on with me.

     "Where ya going?" he asked.

     "I'm going to help Eden and Blaze build their igloo."

     "What about the snowball fight?"

     "I don't want to play anymore. I don't feel right."

     "What?" Allium whined, "But you can't stop! Then we won't have an even number of players."

     "It's not like we're on teams. You don't need an even number." I countered in annoyance.

     "It won't be as much fun if you don't play though!" Allium whined again.

     "I don't want to play." I repeated firmly.

Allium pouted hard.

     "Okay. How about this? Just help me get Frost. I've been trying to get him for the longest time now, but he's gotten good at hiding behind the others and sneaking away. If you help me corner him, you can stop playing. I'll even buy you some hot chocolate." Allium bribed

I stared at the ground. Allium was offering me a definite choice at what I wanted the most at that moment. With him helping me, catching Frost wouldn't be hard at all.

     "Alright." I agreed.

It took the two of us a moment to find where Frost had gotten to. He was hiding behind some trees near the edge of the lot. He bolted away when Allium and I rushed him. He must have been desperate, for he was running faster than I had ever seen him run before. However, I was desperate too. Allium and I weren't the only ones who had joined up. Sunset and Sunflower had formed a pair, and Allium was their target. It made sense considering he had gone after them the most. They were getting retaliation. With the two of them on him, it was just me going after Frost. Unlike before, I could barely keep up. That was why I was running desperately. If I pushed myself for one moment, I could get the hit in and call it a day. The sooner I got what I needed the sooner I could quit.

What I didn't know was just how disastrous the consequences of me pushing myself were going to be. Frost grew closer. He was running out of energy. Unfortunately, so was I. I heaved harder than I ever had before trying to catch my breath. It was almost as if I was trying to breathe underwater. I could barely get any air in at all. The pain in my lungs from before flared with passion anew. It was too much. The edges of my vision tinted black. Frost got further away as I found myself stumbling.

Nothing about what happened next made sense to me. All I knew was that I stopped moving. The corners of my vision were truly dark, and all the colors of the world were muted. Frost was running towards me, which I found odd. Why would he be doing that? Maybe he was going to attack me back instead of fleeing like he had done all day. He was going to get me for sure. I couldn't move. My body wouldn't cooperate. The lone thing I could focus on was the darkening of my sight that grew stronger and stronger until black was all I could see.

In an eternity and in the briefest of seconds, I blinked and found that I was somewhere entirely different from the field in which my friends and I had been playing. My vision cleared after several seconds, but my mind still spun with confusion. It took a long time for me to figure out where I was. There was a scent on the air that froze my chest with fear. The room I was in was far too clean. It was an unnatural clean that reminded me of the place I hated the most in my isolated room. I clearly wasn't there though. I was lying in a bed and not on an examination table. A television was stationed directly in front of me, and if I looked to my left I could see the skyscrapers of the city part of Berrybrook jutting into the sky.

However, it wasn't to my left that I looked. My attention shifted to my right. The louder, angry voice of a person I could not see quietly filled my otherwise silent room. I had no idea who that person was. Eden's back was the only thing I could see as he stood outside in the hallway having that conversation. Well, I wouldn't call it a conversation. It was mostly Eden being yelled at.

     "Are you trying to get your sister sick?!" the man I couldn't see asked furiously.

     "Of course not." Eden answered back timidly.

     "It's hard for me to believe you! This medical record of hers is atrocious! Not a single vaccination! How was she even accepted into the Shiny Sands public school system with all of their vaccination requirements in place?! She was hardly brought in for any check-ups either! And all the rest of these blank pages- why has all the medical care she should have had done over the years been completely ignored?!"

     "Our parents thought she would be fine without vaccinations or check-ups."

     "But you've had all your vaccinations! Your record is near perfect! Why on earth would they keep up your medical care, but do nothing with hers?!"

     "I can't speak for my parents' actions, and they clearly can't explain themselves now. Don't forget that I was about to graduate from college and be on my own by the time Meadow was born. I had nothing to do with her lack of care." Eden tried to defend himself.

     "Do you believe that children should be properly vaccinated?"

     "Um, yes?" Eden answered in confusion.

     "Do you believe your sister should be properly vaccinated?"

     "Yes."

     "Well, from what I'm seeing here you've had her under your guardianship for over two years now. There has been all that time for you to bring her in to start fixing your parents' ignorance! But you haven't brought her in once! Explain that!"

Eden didn't respond. It was silent in the hallway for a moment.

     "I don't doubt that you love your sister, but with the condition she was brought to us in, that you had no idea how sick she was, and the clear fact that you are either too lazy or forgetful to get her the medical support she needs I'm beginning to think she'd be better off being taken out of your care!" the man warned.

     "That won't be necessary," Eden said really quietly, "Once she's better, I'll bring her in for whatever she needs right away. I promise."

     "You'd better! You know, you and your parents are incredibly lucky. That this is the first time she's experienced any sort of serious complication due to her compromised system is a miracle! It was more likely that she should have contracted a terminal disease by now!"

Eden nodded sheepishly. The man then lowered his voice and said something I couldn't catch. He then must have walked away because I saw Eden sigh really heavily, run his hand through his hair, and look stressed as he turned to enter the room.

He stumbled a bit in surprise when he saw that I was awake. His tense expression turned more positive as he smiled softly at me and rushed over. I was able to turn over somewhat, but that was the most I could handle. It was a hard enough struggle to even open my eyes.

     "Hey," Eden said gently as he sat down next to me, "How are you? I'm glad that you're awake."

     "I'm sick?" I croaked out.

Eden brushed my hair out of my face. Even with just his fingers lightly touching my forehead I could feel the intense heat of the fever that crippled me.

     "Yeah. Really sick," Eden revealed dryly, "You had a fever of 103 when we brought you here. It's hovering between 100 and 101 at the moment."

     "Oh."

     "I don't know how you were running around like you were. Surely you must have felt that something was incredibly off with you. Why didn't you say anything about how badly you felt?" Eden questioned with concern.

     "I thought it was just the cold winter temperature bothering me." I mumbled.

     "Well, I guess now you'll know the difference." Eden teased lightly.

     "Are you going to get in trouble?"

     "Huh?"

     "That loud, mean man- he said he might take me away."

     "Oh no, don't listen to that at all. He's not actually going to take you away. Those were just scary words he said to get me to see how important it is that we get you all caught up with your vaccinations. And he wasn't being mean. Obviously, he has no idea the truth of our situation, and it's not like I could have told him. From his perspective, I have been irresponsible. That I haven't brought you in for care because my friends and I are still solidifying 'Meadow Yonder's' medical records, which have been the hardest records to forge, in the system is the real truth he can never know."

I nodded almost imperceptibly. I hadn't been able to manage a verbal response because great pain stabbed through my lungs again that made breathing and talking difficult. Eden petted my hair as he let me rest in silence. However, the silence didn't last for long because the monitoring machine I was hooked up to began to beep faster and faster.

     "Hey," Eden repeated, "What's wrong? What's making your heart rate go up?"

     "I don't like it here. It reminds me too much of my examination room. The walls are blue too." I admitted, wanting to cry.

     "I see. Listen though, I'm staying right here with you. You don't need to be scared, kay? If it helps, keep your eyes closed or look only at me. You can even think of Frost instead of Eminence. Frost is blue, but you like him, remember?" Eden comforted.

I tried my best to keep calm, but it was impossible in the end. The constant increase of pain in my chest and my inability to fight off my fears due to my exhausted state sent my heart rate higher and higher. It got to the point where some nurses came to check on me to see what was going on. They did a lot of poking and prodding, I got a shot and some medicine, and they talked about all sorts of medical mumbo jumbo with Eden that I couldn't understand. The hour that passed and the medicine calmed me down and made me sleepy, but I couldn't fall asleep. There was something about being on that unfamiliar bed in a place I didn't like that kept me awake. Eden finally got the idea to settle me on his lap on the couch in the room instead. I fell asleep almost instantly, mostly because his heartbeat had long been a lullaby for me. I could just about remember when I was really little. I would throw a tantrum every time Eden had to leave. He would hold me and rock me to sleep to calm me and allow him to depart in peace.

Unfortunately, we couldn't remain that way for all that long. I had been given a break from being hooked up to the machines and the IV, but considering my temperature was rising again I had to be placed back on them. That meant I was confined to my bed. I watched television and slept some more while Eden took the chance to make a quick trip to our house to get the things we would need for the upcoming days. Eden revealed, rather hesitantly, that some tests were being done to see what I was actually sick with. Everyone doubted I had a mere, albeit ferocious, fever. The estimate was that I would be spending the next several days under the watch of the doctors. They were being cautious with me because my immune system was so weak.

I was starting to get nervous again with Eden gone, but thankfully a visit from two others had me completely distracted. Amaranth and Allium poked their heads into the room, smiling that I was awake. I had recovered enough to be able to sit up halfway decently to greet them.

     "Hi, Meadow." Amaranth said, his smile big and cheerful. It raised my spirits.

     "Hi. How are you two?" I responded back.

Amaranth laughed loudly.

     "You're not the one who is supposed to be asking that, silly! We're fine. How are you?"

     "I'm managing," I giggled at myself, "My temperature has gone back up a little, but the medicine helps to make this all not so bad."

     "Good."

I glanced at Allium. His smile was forced. He fidgeted nervously when he spotted my gaze on him.

     "I'm really sorry, Meadow." he apologized.

     "For what?"

     "What do you mean 'for what'? I should have listened to you when you said you didn't want to play and that you felt something was off with you. Instead, I annoyed you into doing what I wanted, and you fainted because of it."

     "You didn't know I was sick though. I didn't even know I was sick."

     "Still..." Allium pouted.

Amaranth gave him a friendly push.

     "Just let her forgive you- or else she'll walk into your room when you're still in pajamas to make you accept it." he warned.

I laughed while Allium gave Amaranth a confused stare.

     "Is there anything we can get you, Meadow?" Amaranth then asked me.

     "Hmmm....I'd still really like some hot chocolate."

     "Are you allowed to have hot chocolate?"

     "I dunno, but Eden's not here. The nurses and doctors aren't here either." I pointed out.

     "Got it." Amaranth smiled mischievously.

     "I'll go get you some then," Allium offered, "I know they sell some in the cafeteria area."

     "I was going to get it for her." Amaranth challenged.

     "I was the one who was going to buy her some originally. But, tell you what- if we get caught, you can take the blame for buying it for her. I'll be the one who lost out on a couple dollars, and you'll be the one to get in trouble. Sound good?" Allium taunted.

     "Oh no, Charm. We'll decide who does what the old fashioned way."

     "Does everything have to be a competition with you two?" I asked with a roll of my eyes.

The boys weren't listening to me. They had already gotten into a position for one of their incredibly common bouts of rock-paper-scissors. It was how they decided most of the stuff which they argued about. I knew there was no stopping them, so I sat back and enjoyed the show. Allium ended up being the winner.

Both he and Amaranth left to get the hot chocolate. They successfully bought it and snuck it to me without anyone seeing. I drank it merrily. I also drank it just fast enough as well. Eden seriously reappeared seconds after Amaranth threw the cup away in the trash. I cheered up greatly after that. Blaze had come with Eden as well. He had been the one who brought Amaranth and Allium over, but he had been doing something else at first when they had come up to see me right away. Getting Amaranth, Allium, and Blaze all together wasn't exactly the best for me though. They had me laughing so much my chest stung and burned more with every passing half hour. Even the nurses had to come in to scold them for getting me so excited. I was really disappointed when those three eventually left. Eden was good company, but he was much more smothering.

Then the bad news came. The boost I had gotten from seeing my friends faded quickly when not an hour after they left I was in a condition much worse than any I had been in so far that day. It started out with a lot of simple coughing and dizziness, but it soon got to the point where I became unable to get out of bed anymore. My fever soared to 104. The coughs became coughing fits, which were so intense that I hacked up blood. The doctor explained my diagnosis when one of the fits settled down. I had pneumonia.

Really, really bad pneumonia.

The few days Eden and I thought we would be at the hospital turned into two weeks- two horribly long weeks that almost made me like Mr. Blue's examination room more than my room in the hospital. My fever never dipped down below 101 for those first seven days. I had to be put on oxygen so many times to keep from passing out because my lungs couldn't win against the illness plaguing my chest. I don't even know how much medicine I was given, but it was a lot. The doctors became really concerned when the second week came around and the pneumonia wasn't easing up. Even they hadn't been able to predict how badly it would keep me down. There was the horrible truth though. My body had nothing to defend itself with. The medicine was doing what it could, but it was just barely enough. I had the energy one afternoon to remark on how ironic the situation seemed. The Company had picked me because I had been born healthy. It was them, who did everything they could to keep me in good health, who turned me weak. I couldn't even get out of bed to use the restroom most of the time. I had to go to the bathroom in a bed pan. It was a rare occasion when I had enough strength to use the actual toilet with a nurse's help.

I was an awful mess of tears when Eden relayed to me the doctors' message that there was going to be another week of me being trapped in the hospital at the very least. Everyone was realistically expecting my stay to actually last another two weeks though. I would be spending my first Christmas in the hospital. There were no words to describe how utterly upset and devastated I was. I hated all the mucus I coughed up. I loathed the sweating and clammy skin. I couldn't sleep, and I was increasingly becoming delirious due to my high fever and my exhaustion. The disappointment of missing out on what I could have been experiencing instead was heavy as well. Sap had gotten his parents to allow both me and Eden to join them on their trip to some tropical island over the holidays. Clearly, they had had to go without us. Then there was a certain event that was coming up. I had been making so many plans, but now they were all ruined! I was determined not to miss my chance for the event on that day though, which is why I recruited Sunflower's help. My friends hadn't been allowed to visit often because of the extra risk they brought in to the compromised me, so Sunflower being granted permission to see me that one day was the best news I had gotten in weeks.

     "You shouldn't be getting up!" she warned as I sat up.

I had been lying in bed gathering my strength and listening to her tell me of what the others had been getting up to while I had been in the hospital.

     "It's alright." I reassured, even though propping myself up with my elbow made me nauseous, "I really need you to help me with something, Flower."

     "What is it?"

     "This Saturday..."

Already I was losing my breath by pushing myself. I let myself rest against the pillow more.

     "The 17th?" Sunflower asked.

     "Yeah. There's something I want you and the others to put together then. I figure you'll have to get Blaze to be the one really in charge of it though."

     "What will we be doing?"

I was losing my ability to speak rapidly. I had to usher Sunflower over so I could whisper to her my plans. She eagerly accepted the task I gave her. She was then rushed out of the room by the nurses who came to put me back on the oxygen.

I rested as best I could so when Saturday came around I could be somewhat healthier for Eden's benefit. It was ridiculous that I could be overly ecstatic when my fever steadied at 100 degrees. I was also able to pull myself from out under the covers to feel just a bit more freedom from what I had been experiencing. I got really nervous when I heard Eden's footsteps heading towards the room. The nurse had just left after helping me get set up the small part of his celebration that I could have with him at the hospital. He frowned the instant he walked in.

     "What are you doing sitting like that? You need to stay under the covers resting." he chided gently as he walked towards me.

It took him crossing half of the room for him to notice there was something waiting for him.

     "What is this?" he asked with vast confusion.

     "It's for you."

     "Me? Why?"

     "C'mon Eden, you have to know why."

     "Uhhhh, I don't?"

     "It's December 17th."

     "Umm..."

I chalked Eden's absentmindedness up to his own exhaustion. He had been at the hospital nonstop with me over the past few weeks.

     "It's your birthday, you goof!" I explained in exasperation.

     "Oh," Eden chuckled and shook his head at himself, "So it is. I've been so preoccupied that I haven't been thinking about it at all."

He stared at the vase of flowers and the plate of fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, which were his favorite food, before looking all misty eyed at me.

     "Meadow, you really went through the trouble of getting permission and having this set up even though you've been feeling so awful?"

     "Of course! And, it's not like I did much of anything other than ask for some help. The nurses were willing to allow Mr. Glory to bring in the sandwiches as long as I promised not to eat any. My throat's so swollen I'll most definitely choke if I try downing one of those sticky monstrosities."

     "That's exactly what I was going to say if you asked for some." Eden agreed with a smile.

Eden brought the plate over and ate while we talked and cuddled. Eden did most of the talking. I did most of the cuddling. Sitting up was taking most of my energy away again. I wanted to pretend I was feeling normal for as long as possible. Sadly, that didn't last too long. My emotions had been as unstable as my condition for the past several days.

     "Ethereal," he whispered quietly, "Really, thanks for this. Given that I had forgotten today is my birthday, that you remembered and set something up is all I've ever wanted."

     "This isn't all I've done though." I revealed.

     "What do you mean?" Eden asked as his face narrowed in confusion.

     "I got Flower to recruit Blaze's help. They've set up an actual birthday party at the house for you."

     "But you know you can't go." he said with concern.

     "Of course! Sap and I were planning something really amazing for you on the trip, but since we couldn't go I wanted you to still have a party even if I couldn't be there for it."

Eden got misty eyed again, but he shook his head.

     "Seriously, Ethereal. You're going to make me blubber like a baby. However, I don't think I can go. It's you I want to spend my birthday with, and I doubt I'd be able to enjoy myself knowing you'd be here by yourself."

     "You can't not go! Everyone's waiting for you. They've put in so much effort."

     "I'll just call Blaze. I'll tell them to-"

     "Eden, you have to go!"

It was me who began to blubber like baby.

     "I'll feel horrible if you don't. You've done so much for me when I haven't deserved it. I know I can't ever make up to you what you've sacrificed. Even now you're bothering to worry about me on the day that should be all about you. I'm trying not to be burdensome, so-"

     "Ethereal, what are you on about? Where is all this coming from?" Eden frowned.

     "I was just some random baby. You could have gone about living your life normally, but you have to hold back because you have to take care of me. You're probably risking your life by stealing me away from The Company. How can I repay you for that? We're not even related, but-"

     "Hush now," Eden interrupted firmly, "I thought we agreed that wasn't something we were going to bring up anymore. In fact, I've completely forgotten about that fact. You why why? Because I love you. I love you so much that what blood we do or do not share holds no importance to me. And it's because I love you so much that I will do anything for you. You're not just some random baby I took a passing fancy to. You became my baby. I will admit that it's hard not to look at you strictly as a sibling. I was the one who practically lived at that Company building to look after you. It was me feeding, changing, and comforting you. I raised you. I could have let the others help with the work, but I didn't. Again, you know why? I took care of you because I wanted to. I stole you away because I wanted to. I'm living with you now like this because I want to. This has all been my choice, and I don't regret a single thing. There's no need for you to feel guilty for the consequences of my choices. You have never and will never be a burden to me. You have nothing to repay me for. I'm simply doing my job as any brother-slash-dad would do for his sister-slash-baby girl. Got it?"

I sniffled and continued to sob, but nodded. Eden hugged me much tighter than normal. Like always, he comforted me well. Eventually he spoke into the silence.

     "Is it really important to you that I go to the party?"

I nodded again.

     "Alright. I'll go then. I'll do my best to have as much fun as I can for your sake."

I hugged Eden tighter before I let him leave.

I instantly snuggled under my covers as soon as he was gone. Sitting up and crying had wiped me out. I didn't even have time to realize I was falling asleep. I merely fell asleep. There was no way of telling how long I had been out for. I couldn't see the clock nor turn my head enough to see it. My vision was too uneven to see how much the sky had darkened. The only way I could figure that it had been a while was Eden's return. In my blurry vision, he had been the long thing I had recognized instantly. What I didn't understand was why he was standing there talking to thin air.

     "Twenty-nine today, huh? Man, you are getting old."

But, he wasn't talking to himself. Another male voice echoed to me as if speakers set to their quietest setting projected the noise to me from all around the room. Eden's voice was the same way.

     "I know. It's seriously freaking me out. I still feel young, but next year I'll be thirty. Just like how I forgot today was even my birthday, I've been so preoccupied over these years that I didn't realize how many of them were flying by.

My vision grew blurrier as the man laughed. I couldn't recognize who he was at all. I began barely being able to keep up with the conversation. The two voices rolled, echoed, and meshed with each other. 

     "We're going to have to get some stuff going for you," the mysterious man continued humorously, "You don't have much time left if you want to get that professor gig of yours or find some lady friend to make your own babies with."

     "Honestly, U, I've given up on both of those things." Eden said much more seriously.

I imagined the mysterious, invisble man frowning.

     "Really? How come?" he asked in disbelief.

     "I should have started my student teaching right out of college. I should already have a job as a normal teacher by now."

     "I thought you were still taking classes?"

     "I...might have be lying a bit," Eden admitted softly, "I finished all the courses I need back in college. It was refresher courses I was taking to jog my memory of what I had learned. Those I finished two months after we moved here."

     "So why haven't you gone after a normal teaching job?"

     "You know how thoroughly they do the background checks for teachers. All the records we've created for Ethereal and all the ones of mine we messed with would be under a strict scrutiny that we can't risk right now. We already have to be careful enough since Ethereal's medical records are so shaky."

Eden's voice got even quieter.

     "And it's not like I'll have the chance even if we can out The Company. There's all that other stuff I had to do not related to Ethereal's project. I can't make the evidence go away. If we manage to take them down, I'll have to go down with them. I'll be lucky if I don't end up in jail for the rest of my life. That's half the reason why getting married and starting a family of my own is just as impossible. How on earth could I possibly drag an innocent woman into his mess? I would either put her at risk by telling the truth or have to lie to her- and how can any relationship last when almost everything she would know about me is a complete fallacy? It just wouldn't work."

The room was dead silent. I was no longer able to keep my eyes cracked open. I tried to listen desperately to what the man said next, but his words became nothing but garble. I was being pulled into another forced sleep by my exhausted body. As I drifted off, I wondered if the burning sensation in my cheeks was because of my fever rising again or if it was because of the weight of the harsh truth I had just discovered.

I was alone in the room when I woke up again. My sight was as bad as before, but I struggled and forced myself to sit. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. Eden had been lying. He had to have been lying. There's no way he didn't regret being involved with me. Working for The Company had lost him his chance of getting his dream job. Putting himself at risk by taking care of me was preventing him from having a family- a real family. Then there was the reality that Eden would lose the most at the end of the day. It didn't matter if our secret got revealed now, if we outed The Company, or if the truth came out after Eden's supply of the material that was keeping me green ran out. The other stuff he had done for The Company would have him going to jail. At whatever end our situation led to, his fate remained the same. We would be separated. I would have to survive without him, and he would lose his freedom.

I couldn't stand the thought. It wasn't fair! Eden would have never done anything wrong if he hadn't been stupid enough to care for me. He should have just left me alone. I would still be back in my room, happily isolated and ignorant. I had been perfectly content being that way until he forced his choice upon me. I probably wouldn't have minded the fate The Company had planned for me had he just done what they told him. If he hadn't shown me love, our lives would have both been better off.

I willed myself out of bed and somehow got my feet properly in the kitty slippers Frost had bought me to cheer me up. I stumbled and fell to my knees on my first step. I hadn't walked by myself in over five days. I used the bed to pull myself up again. My body protested my movement with every small inch I gained. My breathing was ragged, I swayed back and forth, and blackness faded in and out of my vision. I didn't care. I refused to let Eden ruin his life for me. I wasn't worth it. For me, there was only one solution on how I could get him out of all trouble. I had to return to The Company. If I promised to be good, they would surely take me back. Given that Eden and his friends couldn't even get information to expose them, it would be impossible to sneak me out again once I was back in my room.

Eden would have no choice but to give up on me and live his life the way he should be.

I grew used to the struggle my body was putting up. That was good because it took all of my efforts to focus on getting out of the hospital without being seen. I had to hide behind a lot of corners and sneak into a lot of empty rooms. It was a miracle and pure luck when I found a back entrance meant to be used by the custodial staff. There was no one around to catch me as I had contact with the outside world for the first time in two and a half weeks. The cold of the snow didn't bother my still freezing body. It was the frigid air that had me coughing like crazy. The taste of blood returned to my mouth. Still, I kept moving. I had to get away. I dragged myself towards a thin patch of woods behind the hospital. Finding my way out of Berrybrook was my first order of business. Eden had chosen this city because he was sure there was minimal if no Company influence.

However, I knew they had to be searching us out fervently. I'm sure all it would take was me getting to the next area over for them to discover me and take me to where I was always meant to belong.