Through the Haze - Part Nine

Life is an hour glass, glued to the table. You can't change it, and your time slowly slips away. --Greymicha Singahla, Book of Endings
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Isaac waited outside of Ember's room, pacing anxiously as the doctor and Roo checked over his friend. He wanted to know what they had to say, but at the same time he simply dreaded knowing. He didn't want to hear anymore bad news; he wasn't so sure he could handle it. If only he could learn what to do to help Ember, but his knowledge of the gift was little, and his experience none.

If only he knew what would have happened to Ember. If only he'd known sooner. Maybe he could have done something. What, he wasn't sure, but he might have been able to do something instead of sitting around, worrying. Ember hated having people worry about him, but Isaac couldn't help it.

He didn't want his friend to die, and that was the way things seemed to be turning out.

With a heavy, tired sigh, he closed his eyes and stopped pacing, leaning his back against the hall wall. Slowly, he slid to the ground, feeling somewhat defeated. He couldn't help Ember. There was nothing he could do. If he knew more about the gift, maybe it wuold be different, but he only knew so much. There was absolutely nothing he could do.

But maybe if the others showed up. Each night he prayed for them to come, for his friend was getting worse, but he wasn't sure if they would sense him. Surely they could, he tried to tell himself. Surely they knew he needed them and were on their way. Surely.

But what if they weren't? What if they couldn't sense that he needed them? What if they were ignoring his call? What if they never showed up?

Ember would die, surely. No doubt about it.

He blinked back tears and focused on the far wall, trying to block out reality. He wished Ember wasn't so fatefully ill, that he'd neve gotten sick in the first place. He wished he wasn't a gifted. He wished he knew what to do to help his friend. But wishing didn't change anything, it just made the pain eat away at his soul all the more. Wishing never solved problems.

He was no longer hopeful. At first, he'd been full of hope that Ember would get better. Now, that hope was fading more and more each day, clouding his mind with doubt. He hated thinking Ember wouldn't live, but he had to face the truth. He had to face reality.

No matter how much he hated and loathed it.

The door to Ember's room opened slowly. He looked up from his seat next to the door and saw Roo standing there, his expression somber. Something twisted in Isaac's gut as he anticipated what Roo would say to him. Surely Ember wasn't dead.

Surely he was alive.

Isaac swallowed thickly, forcing the lump in his throat down. "Well?" he asked, his voice a mere, dreadful whisper.

Roo sighed heavily and bent down next to him. "I'm sorry," he said.

Isaac's eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat. "What? Why?" he asked, not really wanting to hear the answer. 'Please don't be dead,' he thought to himself. 'Please, Ember, don't be dead.'

"He's fading," said Roo, shaking his head slowly.

He was still alive. But fading wasn't good. "How..." he swallowed. "How bad?"

"He's fading fast, Isaac. I don't think he'll make the week."

Isaac clenched his eyes tightly closed, not saying a word. The thing in his gut twisted all the more, and guilt gripped his heart tightly. 'Not fair,' he thought to himself. 'This is all my fault, it's not fair.'

Roo stood up again. "I'm sorry," he repeated. For a moment, he hesitated, then said, "You can go in. The doctor's just finishing up." and then he turned, quickly, and walked down the hallway, before he turned. Isaac heard his footsteps echoing down the stairs.

Isaac stood up slowly. He took in a deep, calming breath--for all the good it did--and slowly opened the door. The room was dark and cold, making him shiver as he entered. The doctor was packing his bag, and looked at him as he entered.

"Isaac," Mr. Lambart said softly. "I suppose Roo told you?"

Isaac nodded his head, slowly. He didn't want to acknowledge it and thus make it real. "Yeah...he told me."

The doctor sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. I'll come back later today and check on him." he turned and headed toward the door, where he exited slowly and quietly.

As the door shut, Isaac took in a deep breath and edged his way closer to the bed. Ember looked so pale, so dreadfully pale. His breaths came out in short rasps which rattled in his chest. Even in his shocked state, Isaac could hear them deteriorating.

He went to his knees once more. This was all his fault. He didn't want to be the reason for Ember's death. He didn't want there to be ANY reason for Ember's death, because he didn't want his friend to die. It just didn't seem fair. It wasn't fair that Ember was dying just because the chill came with the gift.

It was all his fault. He had the gift. He probably had the means to help his friend, but he didn't know what to do. That made him useless.

He couldn't do anything while Ember lay dying.

"I'm so sorry..."
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Karaya frowned as she watched Cassius. Her brother was usually overly active and ready to go, up at the crack of dawn and badgering her to get up and fix him some breakfast. Not today, though. He was still in his sleep bag when she woke up around nine. It was now noon, and he still wasn't up.

He kept shivering in his sleeping bag, and there was sweat beading his face. She wondered, briefly, if he was having a nightmare. She'd tried to wake him, but he wouldn't wake.

But then, Cassius had always been a deep sleeper. She remembered those nights when he was having a nightmare and she couldn't bring him out of it, no matter what she did.

Perhaps it was the same here.

She hoped so, for if it wasn't, then there was something terribly wrong, and it made her stomach get knots.
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"So, are you going to try to see who that voice was?" Loukoi asked Gabriel as the two of them ate lunch in the kitchen. Gabriel looked up from his sandwich and eyed him for a moment, before he went back to eating. "Seriously, Gabe, you can't just ignore this. Honestly, you have to think about it. What if it was another gifted? They may be in trouble."

Gabriel sighed heavily and slammed his sandwich down on his plate. "Fine," he snapped. "Want me to check it out so bad? I will."

Lou flinched at Gabriel's tone of voice. "I didn't mean-"

Gabriel sighed again, seemingly calming down. "I know. I'm sorry, Lou. Didn't mean to snap at you. I'll try to figure out who it was. I don't know how, but I'll try."

Lou smiled. "That's all I ask."

Gabriel grumbled something under his breath that shouldn't be repeated in the presence of children. Lou gave a laugh and took to eating his sandwich and drinking his drink.
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Isaac sat next to Ember's bed, his back against it. He wasn't going to leave his friend unless he absolutely had to. He was the reason Ember was like this; the least he could do was stay with him.

"Remember when I got sick when I was six?" Isaac asked into the silence of the room. "I worried I'd never get better, but you kept saying I would. And I did, eventually...." he blinked back tears again. For hours, he'd been talking to Ember, trying to somehow get through to him and make him join the land of the living again, but nothing he did seemed to work.

It was as if he wasn't there. Ember didn't notice.

But like the saying said: it was the thought that counts.

"Please get better, Emb...Please, I'm sorry...I'm so sorry. I'll leave, I'll go away, but...please, you have to get better..." he whispered into the silence of the room.

The only answer he got was the sound of Ember's rasping breaths as they rattled when they came out.

"I'm sorry...Please, Emb..." he pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "Please get better..."

The silence in the room was deafening.

"I'm so sorry, Ember...this is all my fault...please, you have to get better...please don't die..." a tear trailed down his cheek, and he wiped at it furiously. "I'm sorry...."

He just wanted things to go back to the way they were before anyone realized he had the gift. Back then, everyone was safe. Ember was perfectly fine, and the two of them hung out every night. Ember was only about eight years older than him, but it seemed that he'd always been around to look after him.

Ember had moved in with his father to care for the farm and Isaac. Isaac had never paid it much mind. Not until now.

Now he realized how much he'd taken for granted, and how much he wanted it back.
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Karaya gripped Cassius's shoulder tightly. "Cass? Hey, wake up, okay? You're starting to worry me." she flinched. Her brother was cold to the touch, but, upon feeling his forehead, she found that he had a high fever. Her eyes widened. "Cass?"

Cassius didn't answer. He remained ever the silent.

Karaya frowned. "Cass, c'mon, you're starting to scare me."
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There was an icy chill in the room. Only Gabriel could sense it, could feel it. Lou seemed unaware, eating the remainder of his third sandwich. Gabriel had stopped eating after his first, but Lou always seemed to be hungry. He had a very high metabolism. Gabriel did, too, but he found that, here lately, he just didn't have much of an appetite.

Maybe it had something to do with the chill. That was his guess, anyway. The chill and the dreams.

The dreams were the worst. Each night they seemed to be getting worse, and he wasn't sure why. He'd always hated the dreams the gift brought with it, but these were different.

So very, very different.

"You okay?" Lou asked, looking at him as he finished his sandwich. "You're awfully quiet."

"Yeah," Gabriel grunted. "It's cold."

Lou blinked. "Again?"

Gabriel gave a small nod. "Yeah. Again. I don't think it'll ever stop."

Lou frowned, but said nothing.

"Come, please...." the voice, the new voice, said again. The whisper echoed through the room, but he was the only one who could hear it.

"That voice again," he mumbled. "It's back."

Loukoi blinked. "Really?"

He grunted in response.

"Please...please come...I need you...."

Gabriel frowned greatly. Who was this voice? He wanted to know. If this was the voice of another gifted, he wanted to find them and figure out what was going on.

There were three gifted. They were the only ones who could understand each other. They had the dreams, the nightmares, they heard the voice and felt the cold. If he was ever going to figure this gift out, it would be with the two others.

He made up his mind. He had to find them.

"I'm going to find them," he said to Lou. "I have to."

Lou nodded. "I'm coming with you, then."

Gabriel shook his head. "No, you're not. You can stay here and take over my room."

Lou shook his head. "Don't think so. You're not getting rid of me that easily, Gabe. Where you go, I go. We've been through this before. We both know I'm going to win," he said with a smirk.

Gabriel sighed heavily. "Fine," he growled, but inside was relieved. He'd rather not go looking for these people alone. He may never find them, anyway. It was a long shot at best.

His friend smiled and bounded out of the kitchen. It amazed Gabriel, sometimes, how active Lou always was. He sighed and followed after his friend.

This was going to be a long trip.