Defiant: Quantic Dreams Book 2 by Elizabeth McLaughlin (reading list txt) 📗

tumors, giving me the appearance of growing tusks. I tried to turn my head and found that I couldn’t. I couldn’t even wiggle a finger. That made me wake up. It felt like I couldn’t breathe. I tossed my head back and forth and screamed, but what came out of my mouth was nothing more than a hoarse cry. One of the curtains whisked open and Dr. Naylor rushed in.

“It’s all right Jacob, it’s all right. Take it easy.” He put his palms on my shoulders and pressed gently. “You’ve been dosed with a paralytic. You’ll get the feeling back in the rest of your body in a couple of hours, though you might not like it when you do.”

“Wha-wha-“

“Try not to talk. Is your mouth dry? You need some water?” I nodded. Dr. Naylor left my cubicle and returned with a basin of water and a small sponge on the end of a stick. He soaked the sponge and pried my mouth open gently with a gloved hand. The water felt good-more than good, as I started to feel a little lightheaded. More painkiller, no doubt. I was thankful that I couldn’t lift my head. The rest of my body was covered by a sheet anyway. They would have covered every inch of me they could-they had to if I had any open wounds. “Now, I expect you’ll be wondering what’s gone on.”

“Mm.” Even with the painkiller, my throat still felt like it was on fire.

“First things first, your family is okay. Fiona has been ill, but her case seems to be relatively mild. She’s been placed in our field hospital, which I’ll explain to you in a moment. Out of an abundance of caution, I promise you. Her blood pressure has been up and down and we’d like to keep an eye on her. We’ve had a couple of dozen go critical, and a couple dozen more die. The severely ill are being provided hospice care. Pain relieving measures only. The dead have all been placed into cold storage or burned. It’s been rough. The medical team are all right. We’ve been adhering to your schedule as closely as possible.”

“F-fi”

“Yes. We set up a field hospital in the athletic areas. Only those who require medical supervision. Everyone else is still confined to quarters. We’ve got the fancy machines going now, synthesizing what we believe will work as a vaccine. You can thank Phoebe for that one. I don’t think she’s slept since you disappeared. Smart woman. I just hope she makes it through this. She deserves a chance at life outside.”

“Sophia. Daisy.” I winced, the short words being more than my mouth was ready to produce. Dr. Naylor looked away before meeting my eyes.

“Gone, I’m sorry to say. Both of them. Her husband and Daisy’s sibling survived. It was peaceful, Jacob. Towards the end. They both slipped into a coma before they passed. They didn’t even know what was happening.”

I shut my eyes as a wave of grief and anger crashed into me. I hadn’t known the Caruso family very well before all of this, but Sophia and I had formed a special bond, and I had started to look at Daisy like a surrogate granddaughter. It wasn’t fair. Memories flashed through my mind like movie clips. Sophia had been integral in freeing the shelter from their simulated prison. If we made it through this, I would ensure that she and her daughter received the honors they deserved. That all the dead deserved. I felt something wet on my face. Tears. Dr. Naylor produced a tissue and dabbed at my face for me.

“I’m sorry, Jacob. It’s clear they were dear to you.” I nodded weakly. The painkillers were starting to hit me in full now. My eyelids felt like they were made of iron. The effort of keeping my eyes open was getting to be too much. “Rest now. I’ll tell you the rest of the story when you wake up.”

“Okay.”

I don’t know long I was out. The next time I woke up Dr. Naylor was gone. Shift change. It was Shannon who sat at my bedside, scrolling through medical charts on a tablet. When she noticed that I was awake she smiled. “We really have to stop meeting like this, you know.”

I rolled my eyes and tried to stick out my tongue but it was a chunk of sandpaper in my mouth. “Do you think you’re feeling up to swallowing some water?” Shannon produced a cup and lifted my head to gently pour cool water into my mouth. At first the water hit the back of my throat and I coughed, splattering her scrubs. She didn’t skip a beat and tried again. The water gave me more relief than the painkillers had, the cold of it sliding down my throat like a balm.

“More.” Talking was easier now. My lips and throat still ached, but speaking didn’t leave me with the feeling of shoving a hot coal into my windpipe anymore.

“No, ‘fraid not. Not yet. You’ve suffered some pretty nasty burns and your throat is damaged from smoke inhalation. To be more specific, you’ve got second degree burns on your legs and some first degree ones on your torso and arms. They didn’t bother to try and figure out why. You might have passed out close enough to the flames that if they hadn’t found you, you’d be toast. Literally. If you ask me, not your best plan ever. Though perhaps better than nearly frying yourself after flooding Gabriel’s server room.”

I stuck my tongue out at her and she laughed. The laughs gradually turned into sobs, her face a grimace of pain as she held her face in her hands. The paralytic had started to wear off by now and I reached out to take her hand. She seemed to jerk out of it then, letting go of me to wipe the tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s been a lot.”

“I’m sure.”

“Dr. Naylor told me that I