Eight Lives

"You…" Cole breathes in and out, calming her heart which was beating too fast for her to focus. "You said you were a doctor." She mentioned.

"Y-Yes." Vincent reaches into his back pocket. "I can show you."

Cole tensed, but when Vincent took out his work badge and wallet her shoulders relaxed. "Look", Vincent spoke as he held up the badge. "That's me… Vincent Lance."

She studied the badge with her eyes. His name and picture were on it. "Saint Hallman?" Cole read the top of the badge. "Saint Hallman's Hospital was destroyed four years ago." She looked at him curiously, remembering how the building glowed in the night. Like a torch against the night sky, Saint Hallman burned while Cole and Doctor Isla viewed the horror from the safety of a helicopter.

"You were there?" Cole wore a look of disbelief.

"Yes." Vincent pressed his lips together after admitting it.

"Then you knew a doctor…" Cole hesitated, then decided to describe the doctor. "She's not very tall… Brown hair, long, usually with a white clip in it. She's got brown eyes, olive skin, mole near her left ear, a voice that can cut right into your soul."

"Isla?" Vincent looked at her seriously as the description of her was clear. "Doctor Isla Mayfield. She's four feet and six inches tall, her husband's name is Rodrigo, and she h-has a dog. Pluto."

"You know about Pluto?" Cole suddenly smiled.

"Yes". Vincent slowly moved to place his hands over where hers were currently on his mask. "Because Pluto was a birthday gift from me…" He reveals.

Cole felt the warmth from his gentle grip as he carefully pulled away her left hand. Then the right.

The man to the right of the bed slowly lowers his gun. "Thank you, Eris…" Vincent breathes in relief when he decided to back down.

Eris grumbled as he left the room to cool off. "You're outa your fucking mind, Vinny."

Vincent paid him no mind and got up to clean some things. Which were laid out on a table covered with cloth. From where Cole was sitting in bed, she could see old bandages and gauzes. Mixed with wrinkled plastic, ripped fabric, some towels, and old tubes. She watched as he bagged up the things and took them out. Meanwhile, the unknown man to her right went back to his tampering. He wasn't as tall as the other two and looked boyishly young. Perhaps no older than fourteen. He continued his tampering until machine noises echoed, coupled with hissed breaths and hums.

Cole was about to sit up when a strong pain spread through her chest.

"There…" The young boy stood up, just as Vincent returned with a duffel bag.

A cool draft flowed into the room. The coolness brushes over Cole's face, cooling her pink cheeks as she suffers through the wave of pain. She lay stiffly against the bed and her eyes began to water. The others stood by clueless as they started to chat. Vincent began changing gloves, throwing the stained ones out and slipping on a clean pair.

"Cole?"

Her eyes went wide as a figure slipped through the layer of plastic, separating the room. "O-Oliver?" Cole's heart filled with dread when she realized he was not wearing protection.

He smiles, holding out his arms to her with love in his brown eyes. "Cole, I was so worried".

"N-No". Cole lay stiffly on the bed. Paralyzed by pain, she began to cry the closer he got to the side of her bed. "Oliver, don't touch me… Don't…" She shut her eyes and pleaded. Tears stream down her pink cheeks. Cole's greatest fear was coming true… Another person she loved would suffer from exposure.

Meanwhile, a clueless doctor eyed her current weak state. Looking around when she speaks, then back at his patient. A look of concern forms on his face when he realizes.

"Oliver". Her soft sobs echoed as Cole turned her head away from him. Cole felt her energy slipping when she began to shiver with fever. Then all at once, everything went black.

--

"Vin, I'm telling you we have no more to spare!" Shouts erupt from behind the dividing plastic curtain. Cole opens her eyes slowly to see a fog in her vision. The room was dark now, but she could see shadows beyond the curtain.

"You're out of your mind! This girl is not worth it! She's of no value to us! She is a burden! There is no cure for what she's got, and you are wasting all our resources!"

With hazy thoughts, Cole sat up and tossed the blanket off her as she swung her legs over the edge. She found herself breathing feverishly from the small act.

"She's not worth it." Eris repeats, crossing his arms over his chest. The words stung worse than the physical pain. She felt it everywhere, but her heart ached the most. Cole watched in silence. Feeling helpless while the doctors were deciding her fate.

"She's weak." Eris bites out. "We could be using resources to help reestablish safe communities. Help the families who really need it..."

"How many patients have we lost?" Vincent was calm as he spoke.

"...Too many" Eris lets out a sigh.

"How many loved ones have we lost?”

Eris looked away, holding his chest as if someone had struck it.

"If we stop trying for a cure there will never be one." Vincent continued. "Those safe communities will crumble like all the rest. Medicine will run dry... More death-h... T-There won't be anything le-"

Vincent let out a shivered breath, his eyelids closing while his body began to tilt.

"Vin?" Eris barely caught him as Vincent collapsed to the floor. Cole got up from her bed, fully awake now as she watched three other shadows rush in and question Eris. "What happened?" The young boy questions as he shook Vincent by the shoulders. "Vin?"

"He's…" Eris hesitated, glancing toward the curtain as if he could sense that the patient was awake. "He just needs rest… Been a long day. Help me get him to his room."

Eris took a breath and lifted him by his shoulders, while the other two got his legs. Cole watched as they carried him away to another part of the house. Cole wasn't sure what part of house they were taking him to, but by the sounds of their footfalls Cole knew the home was large. She listened until the footfalls were too far away and began looking around the room. Cole spotted the light switch and turned it on. Bright lights beamed from above as she took in her surroundings. All around the bed was medical equipment and to the left was a table full of clutter. Cole peeked at a duffel bag that was open. Inside It was a change of clothes, a few folders, and a bunch of other things. Cole's gaze drifted elsewhere to a pile of cases to the right. Then to a door a few paces from the pile. She opened it and found a spacious private bathroom. It was much bigger than the one in her old hospital room.

White and gold. The bathroom floor was shiny white tile with soft rugs placed in front of the counter, bathtub, and toilet. The walls were white with gold moldings. White cabinets and crystal knobs, with a marble countertop. Cole approached it and felt it with her fingers. She lifted her gaze to a large round mirror with a gold ornate frame. A row of vanity lights gave a warm glow from above. Tears pool in her gray eyes as she stares at herself in the mirror.

Wild cedar hair falls around her small face. She was thin and weak, barely filling the shirt that covered her body. Cole's complexion was an unhealthy pale. This was not shocking since Cole couldn’t recall the memories before the years of isolation. Gaunt cheeks, dry lips and skin. Even if there was a cure tomorrow, Cole knew her weak heart wouldn’t last. The only person that could get her through it was Oliver… He made the time go by. Cheered her up when she felt hopeless… Now there's only strangers.

"Cole…" A tap on the door makes her turn around. The young boy stood there, his brown eyes shimmer with emotion… Perhaps worry for his friend. He was slightly taller than Cole, but shorter than the other men and less muscular. Youthful brown skin like honey and peanut butter. Innocent round eyes that shift nervously with indecision. A boyish face that Cole found adorable as a baby fox. He was thin and wore loose clothes, with his shoulder-length hair tied in a low ponytail; while some loose pieces dangled around his face.

"These are clean." He held up a folded stack of clothes. "I'm going to put them in here for you." 

"Thank you." Cole's voice came out gentle and hushed.

The young boy added the clean clothes to a tall cabinet. Afterward, he leaves the bathroom and softly closes the door.

Cole took a clean gown from the cabinet and changed. Tossing the old one which was stained. She carefully slipped into the new one. Minding her left shoulder as she does. The pain was barely there, and she guessed the doctor had given her something for it. Cole cleaned her face and left the bathroom. Stopping when she closed the door behind her.

Cole's gray eyes widened as a tall shadow appeared near the bedroom window. A startled gasp left her lips as she tensed. Fear filled her core. Cole kept her gaze fixed on the window, unable to tell who was lingering outside. All at once, Cole felt a rush of heat to her head as her heartbeat struggled in her chest. "S-Somebody." She tries to speak, but her voice is a hoarse whisper. The more she tried, the harder it was to breathe. Rapid breathes huffed through her lips while pain returns to her chest. "Help…" Cole tries to scream again, while her mind relived the moment a shadow appeared beyond the glass of her hospital room window.

Spots enter the corners of her vision as she opens the bathroom door. A moan escapes her lips as a sting of pain shoots through her body when she steps. Cole's grip slips away from the knob, then everything goes dark.