Little Dove | Daniel Hayward

38.

A mixture of dirt, sweat and blood blankets my forehead. The darkness is hot and humid.

I open my eyes and everything is out of focus. The world around me is dark, dusty and dull. I'm in the cave. And I'm alone. Leo must've gotten out.

Pins and needles attack my legs. I look down. Rocks cover my entire lower body.

I lift my arms and pause. My veins are black. This can't be normal, I think to myself as I use all my remaining strength to push the rocks.

I roll over and try to stand up. My legs shake violently and I grab a nearby wall to steady myself. My entire body is caked in sweat, dirt and blood.

I'm so thirsty.

A shimmer of blue catches my eye. There's a small pool of bright, shining water. I limp over and bend down, collecting the water in my hands and drinking from it.

I lap up the water continuously. It tastes so good. Fatigue embraces my body as I lay back down. My eyes close against my will and everything slowly goes black again.

When I wake up again, all the fatigue is gone. The pain in my head is gone. The aching in the rest of my body is gone. My veins are back to their normal colour. I feel great.

When I stand back up, my legs don't shake. However, the cave around me starts to shake. A few small stones fall from the ceiling.

Someone is drilling into the cave.

"Help!" I call out. "Stop drilling! Help!"

No response. There's no point in trying to yell again. My whole body trembles as multiple large rocks fall from the ceiling.

"Fuck," I mumble. "Not again."

I look around, desperately searching the cave for a way out. A small cavern catches my eyes. I smile triumphantly as I run to it, just managing to crawl through it before the entire cave collapses.

More dirt. More dust. More sweat.

I crawl through the small cavern, eventually finding a weak patch of dirt. I push through it.

Sunlight stretches through the small hole I've created. I push through even more and find myself above the surface.

I stand up, ignoring the migraine that the sunlight has caused. In the distance, I see people.

I limp towards the people and catch a glimpse of my mom, dad and Alex.

And Daniel.

Daniel's eyes lock with mine. A mixture of confusion, surprise and disbelief passes through his face

"Lexi?" He questions, as if seeing a mythical creature for the first time.

My family's heads snap in my direction. Mom lets out a sob of relief. The three of them run towards me, entrapping me in their embrace.

Alex kisses the top of my head, "thank God you're okay."

When they pull away, my eyes meet with Daniel.

It's like seeing him for the first time all over again.

Those butterflies, that I know all too well, swarm my stomach. My heart pounds against my chest. My fingertips are tingly. I feel lightheaded.

"Hey," he says.

"Hi," I say.

Without hesitation, his arms wrap around my shoulders, holding me tightly against his chest.

I return the embrace, listening to the familiar, comforting sound of his heart.

Tears fall from his eyes. Tears of joy, of course. And for the first time in months, I find myself crying too.

"You're okay," he whispers. "You're safe. You're with me."

"I'm home," I reply softly before pulling him in for a soft kiss. He returns it, cupping my face gently.

"Did Leo get out? Is he okay?" I ask, hoping he made it out of the cave in time.

Daniel glances at mom, a look of uncertainty crossing his face. I look at mom, who smiles half-heartedly.

"He made it out," she answers. "But he's in the hospital. He seems to have contracted some sort of virus. Hayley is with him right now."

My mouth forms a straight line. Classic Hayley. Ditching her potentially dead sister for Leo.

I nod, "so, what now?"

In perfect timing, an ambulance pulls up. Paramedics come out of it, holding a stretcher and asking me to lay on it.

...

Daniel stays by my side in the hospital. When Hayley hears about me being alive, she rushing into the room.

She pulls me into the tightest hug I've ever received from her, expressing her regret for that going into that cave instead.

I tell her it's okay and ask about Leo.

"I'm not allowed to see him," Hayley says. "The virus could potentially be contagious."

"You, however," the doctor turns to me. "Seem to be doing just fine."

My dad breathes a sigh of relief, "my biggest fear was that you might've had the same virus as Leo. That's why we tried so hard to get you out of the cave as soon as possible."

"I think I did have the same virus as him," I say. "My veins were black and I felt frozen- it was hard to move. Then I fell asleep and when I woke back up again, I was fine."

"How?" The doctor asks.

"I don't know," I reply. "Before I fell asleep, I drank some water from a pool in the cave. It was the same water that was dripping all over the rocks."

The doctor looks at my mom, "you said the magnetite was in this cave?" When my parents nod, she continues, "I wonder if somehow the earth and rocks reacted to it and formed some sort of antidote to it."

Daniel smiles, "that's great! We need to get Leo to drink some of that water."

Mom shakes her head, "there's no way. The second explosion buried everything. It's completely caved in."

The doctor shakes her head. "I don't think we need that water at all," she looks at me. "The antidote to the virus might be right here in this room."

"Me?" I ask.

The doctor nods, "we can take bone marrow from you and transplant it into Leo's blood." She leaves quickly, needing to discuss her idea with her colleagues.

My parents leave the room to call Alex. Daniel turns to me, "you okay?"

I nod, holding his hand in mine. He smiles, "you really scared me. For a while, i thought you were dead. Seeing you walk across the field was the happiest moment of my life."

Before I can reply, the doctor returns with my parents. "Leo's about to go into surgery. We're ready to take your bone marrow."

"There are two ways to extract bone marrow," she explains. "One is quick, but because of your allergy to lidocaine, it will be very painful. The other one is slower, but it won't hurt as much."

"The quick one," I say. "We don't know how long Leo has left."

The doctor nods and leaves the room to get the supplies. Daniel turns to me, "are you sure?"

"I'm tough," I say in a joking manner. "I'll be okay."

The doctor returns with an assistant and prepares the needle. "You ready?"

"Always."

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