Brian lay in the dark in the infirmary for the longest time with his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling slowly. He could feel his chest being tight and the sweat on his face. He was in a lot of pain and just wanted it to stop. This was the first time in a long time that he felt sick on his own without Nick being there.
Nick…
He thought that maybe if he tried hard enough, Nick would be able to hear him.
“Brian?”
Kevin's voice sounded almost strange to him because it had been so long since they'd seen each other. It had been a while, since Brian had taken Nick and fled. Since they'd lived together happily on the island in peace. Opening his eyes slowly, he groaned and looked up at his cousin. Kevin almost crumpled when he woke, falling to his knees at his side. He buried his head in Brian's chest, sobbing.
“I'm so sorry…I-I'm sorry…”
“I'm sorry too.”
Kevin looked up, smiling though the tears running down his face. They sat in silence for a long time.
“I shouldn't have left when you told me not to…I was selfish and stupid-”
“Brian, I don't blame you for leaving. You had every right to go when you wanted- but me, now me…well, I really have a right to be sorry for what I've done. This is all my fault..”
“Where is Nick? What have you done?”
Kevin buried his head in his hands and sighed, his throat shaking.
“Kevin…”
“He's gone, Brian. Sienna wants him and I let him go…he hit me and he ran. She's got everyone looking for him and she threatened to kill us all if she doesn't find him.”
Nick, please….
Brian kept trying to reach him, but the connection was gone. He worried that it was too late to try anymore. He felt so weak that he couldn't even get his own powers to work let alone communicate with Nick. He wished he'd just told him the truth. He closed his eyes, trying to steady his own breathing but his body hurt too much.
“What did the nurses say when you were brought down here?” Kevin asked, taking his hand in his own.
“That they'd never seen anything like this before and had to find out what was wrong with me in order to cure me. What is happening to me, Kevin? I haven't been sick like this before. I feel so weak…”
“Brian, I should have told you but you have been sick like this before. Right before we found Nick. You were sick all the time and we didn't know about your powers then. We couldn't find anything to cure you. You spent a lot of time in the infirmary. My dad and I were living on the base and we were attacked. He told me to take you. As we were fleeing, I found a little boy.”
Brian looked at him in surprise. He'd never heard the story about how Nick came to stay with their family, but he'd had his suspicions.
“You…found him?”
“I was holding you, you kept crying and when we found him, you stopped. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. You just stopped crying like nothing happened and looked at him. He looked at you. I took him and ran. My dad said to keep both of you safe and I did. He didn't make it.”
Brian nodded, allowing him to keep telling his story. Kevin's voice shook again.
“Then something weird happened. You stopped being sick.”
“Stopped? How?”
“It was like you were never sick at all, Brian. Doctors couldn't explain it.” Kevin said, his voice dropping to a whisper. Everything seemed to get quiet and Brian just stared at his cousin, trying to process this information. This explained so much but so little all at the same time. The second Nick had left, he had started to feel ill and it was only getting worse as time went by. He felt as if his energy was being sucked dry through a vacuum.
“Do you think….do you think Nick somehow healed me? That he kept us safe from harm? Maybe that's what his power is…”
“Yes, I do…Brian, if we don't find him you could die.”
*******************
I'm coming to get you, Brian. I'm coming….
Nick ran, checking any room he saw for the infirmary. He had no idea where he was but he was being hunted. He wondered where all the people he'd seen earlier had gone.
“This way!” someone shouted at him softly, causing him to trip in surprise. Getting up, Nick dusted himself off and hesitantly went towards the voice. He had a bad feeling, something didn't seem right at all.
“Hello?”
“Nick, this way. Come this way!”
“Kevin?”
“Yes, come this way…”
Nick stopped, closing his eyes. He didn't sense Brian anywhere nearby, remembering how back on the ship he seemed to just find him. This was a trap.
He turned around and ran.
Nick… Please… Help me...
Suddenly his head hurt and he stopped, the pain too much to even hear himself think.
“Nick, we have to hurry. Get your things!” Brian yelled as he ran into the room cursing and startling him out of a dead sleep. It was late and although they'd started packing a day or two ago, there was no reason to leave right away. Brian always told him they'd be prepared to flee on a moment's notice.
“But why?”
“Just trust me!!! We have to go.”
Nick never questioned him again, they'd gone to the island and lived there for a long time, so long that they had lost track of time because they didn't have calendars or clocks. Nothing to worry about and nothing to do but keep each other company. Brian wasn't sick then. How had he gotten ill so quickly? Nothing made any sense.
“Nick…please just follow the sound of my voice.”
Something didn't feel right. Nick turned around and ran again, but he ran right into the one person he didn't want to see.
“It's been awhile, Nick.”
Nick looked up at her from the ground where he'd fallen. All he could think about was getting to Brian before it was too late.
“What do you want, Sienna? I don't trust you. I am never…never going to trust you.” he said through gritted teeth.
Sienna laughed.
“I don't expect you to.” she said, picking up his head and holding it up by his chin. He pulled away, falling backwards and grunting.
“What do you want, then? Where is Brian?!”
Please come find me, I need you…
“You don't need Brian.”
“He needs me.” Nick reasoned. That was what he assumed, anyway.
“Don't you see? You're the reason he's so sick in the first place. He's better off without you. That's what he didn't want to tell you. He didn't want to tell you that you're killing him.”
“No….”
Sienna smiled and laughed again. Laughed like nothing was wrong. Nick just blinked up at her in disbelief. He had to find out from Brian, had to see the truth. He didn't believe it. How could he be killing him?
As long as we are together our lives are in peril.
Nick thought about when Brian had said this back on the ship. Is that what he meant? That being together was making everything worse?
Maybe he'd have to do what was right on his own.
Getting up, he ran….blinking away tears. He ran even though Sienna was yelling for him to come back…threatening to kill him. At this point, he didn't care if he died or not.
He had to know the truth.
Author's Chapter Notes:
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