Hiraeth [GxG]

Chapter 22

I didn't move from where I was standing except on two occasions. The first one was when I hugged the kids before they left to go home with Mila's mom and right now sitting in the chair. I just sat there staring at her. That's all I could do is just fucking stare. I wanted to walk through this plexiglass bubble and be right next to her. I don't care if I got sick, even though I knew that I should.

My thoughts started traveling to the kids. As much as I wanted to risk it all, even my life to be with Mila right now, I know it isn't the right thing to do. Mila basically gave up her life to save our daughter, and I couldn't throw myself on the knife in return. The kids are going to need me; they can't lose two parents. They really shouldn't even be losing one.

With that, my thoughts traveled back to Mila. I never thought I would ever lose her, but now looking at her, as she is basically on her deathbed, I don't know what to do. I never thought I would have to prepare myself for a moment like this moment shouldn't have ever existed.

"Mrs. Ambrogio." I looked over my shoulder to find the doctor I had picked up by their collar from earlier.

"Yes?" I didn't continue looking at him, and I just focused my eyes back on Mila.

"We have made some progress." This made me look back at him.

"Well, what is it?" He cleared his throat.

"May I?" He gestured to the seat next to me. I nodded, and he sat down. He looked in the direction of Mila, and I focused my gaze back on her too.

"She is truly remarkable. She should be dead." I rolled my eyes.

"Can we not talk about my wife and soulmate being dead? Can you please just tell me the progress?" He shifted his body to where he was facing me. I just watched him out of the corner of my eye.

"We have finally narrowed it down to how patient zero became exposed. We have confirmed that it is a manmade virus." This got my full attention. It also added fuel to the fire that was burning inside of me.

"What do you mean it was manmade?" The intensity of my stare and voice caused him to flinch a little.

"Someone created the virus. It did not naturally occur." Why does this guy always seem to be pausing for dramatic effect?

"So, what does that mean?" I waved at him to go on.

"It means that someone specifically made this virus with the intention to harm supernatural beings and supernatural beings only." He stood up from his seat. "It means that we have a bioterrorist on our hands." I stood up, too, matching him.

"Okay, do you have any idea on how to track them down?" He scoffed.

"No, and that's not really my expertise. What I can help you with is giving you the exact location of where patient zero became infected. From there, you can narrow the list down to people who have the knowledge to create such a virus and go from there." I was tapping my foot on the ground, trying my best not to snap on this guy.

"Okay. So, tell me, where was patient zero infected?" He lifted up his clipboard, unclipped a piece of paper, and then handed it to me.

"This tells you who patient zero was, where they were, and all the places they visited the day they became infected." He pointed to each section of the paper as he was talking. After he was done mansplaining to me how to read a piece of paper, he headed back in the direction of the research lab. I looked down at the sheet of paper, just scanning it; for now, I'll go over it in greater detail later. There it is, the city and country patient zero was infected.

"Hamburg, Germany," I whispered out to myself. Then, I pulled out my phone and immediately called Lance.

"Meet me in the lab." I didn't wait for a response; I just hung up. It didn't take but five minutes till Lance was standing in front of me.

"I heard about Mila. How is she doing?" I just simply pointed in her direction.

"How do you think she's doing? Obviously not fucking great." I shook my head at him. "Now I called you here because they've made some progress, unfortunately, not on the cure but about the virus. Apparently, it was man-made to target supernatural creatures specifically. It specifically targets the supernatural gene within us, which is why it does affect humans. The doctor gave us this paper with information on who patient zero was, in what city and country they were infected in, and all of the places they had visited the day of infection." He was nodding along with me reading over everything.

"Hamburg, Germany. Well, Emma, I'll take over from here, okay? You focus on Mila and your family. I'll make sure that we find the person who did this." He started walking away with a purpose but paused and looked back at me. "And Emma, take care of yourself too. We'll get this person in time to get a cure, I promise." I just crossed my arms and shook my head.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Lance. Let me know as soon as we learn anything new." He sighed out and nodded his head before making his way to what I presume will be the tracking department of our building. I put my hand up against the wall.

"Keep fighting, Mila. Please." I whispered out, hoping she would hear me. I then sat back down in the chair and continued doing what I've done for hours now, just stare at Mila. Hoping for her to make up and be perfectly fine.