Gemini

Chappter 33* The End of the Tunnel

Sam lies there, all on his own. His eyes are closed and his breathing is labored. The painkillers have been injected into his bloodstream, but all it does is slow his breathing from its roadrunner pace. They say it stops him from going into shock.

I hold his limp hand. It sears my skin with its feverish heat. His lashes cast shadows under his eyes, in addition to the ones that are already there. Running my thumb across his cracked lips, I lay my head against his chest and egg his heartbeat on.

“How is he?” A shadow falls across us. It’s Atermis, her face gaunt and pale. I still haven’t forgotten the way she tried to attack us in the realm of the gods, but I have forgiven her. And Apollo, too. She’s done all she could to help us, but even Apollo, the god of medicine, cannot help Sam.

“It’s too severe an injury,” he’d said sadly, when I screamed and begged him to save Sam. “I can’t do anything. His body has to fight this off on its own.”

I guess, even gods have their limits.

I close my eyes. “The same.” Atermis puts her hand on my shoulder and squeezes it in a comforting gesture. She doesn’t know what to say; the uncomfortableness in the silence is telling. Plastering on a smile, I shake my head, twisting to look at her.

“Don’t waste your time here. We’ll be fine.”

One last pat, and she leaves. I turn back to Sam, feeling hopelessness claw at me. What if he dies? Would that meant I’d used the healing square for nothing? Why wasn’t it doing its job?

I’d asked Apollo, but all he had said was that it had done its job by bringing him back from the brink of death. Never mind that he was still hovering at the edge, about to teeter over any moment. Never mind that any time I was away, any time, he could tip over like a statue into the abyss, never to be seen again. He’d be completely gone- there wasn’t even an underworld anymore.

Right then, there is a hitch in his breathing, and his eyes flutter open, staring wildly. His lips try to form words, and his grip on my hand tightens painfully. I let out a cry, and frantically beckon for one of the medics to come over. She hurries over, clumsily checking Sam’s pulse and feeling his forehead. “I don’t- I don’t know-” she stutters, clearly at a loss for words.

Sam pushes her away weakly, reaching for me. I lurch forward, grabbing his hand and cradling it against my chest. “Sam?”

“Kay…la…” His eyes roll back in his head and he slumps down. The medic disappears and comes back a few moments later with Apollo. The god simply rests a hand on his forehead and bows his head, deep in thought.

Finally, Apollo’s eyes meet mine. “He’s fighting. It’s… the last dash, of sorts. This is it, either he makes it or he doesn’t.”

My eyes slip back to Sam. His breathing is hard and harsh, rattling in his chest, coming in shaky puffs. His hand hasn’t let go of mine, but clenches it with strength I didn’t think he possessed in this state. C’mon, I urge. You can do it, Sam.

I don’t know how long we stand there, watching Sam fight for his life. The medic slips away, and eventually Apollo does too. Gemini joins me, resting a hand around my slumped shoulders. He understands. He’s the only one who understands. We don’t say anything, but we imagine we are slow, burning flame, a beacon for Sam. Hope. He had to survive…

A low moan slips out of him. My nails dig into my palms.

And a breath is violently expelled, allowing his chest to deflate, his breathing to slow… and stop.

“Sam?” I don’t bother trying to keep my voice down anymore. “Sam!” I shake his shoulders, hard, willing him to come back, to say something. Tears blur my vision, welling up hot and thick, dripping in fat drops on his face. “Sam, come back to me.” At least, that’s what I mean to say. The words are barely coherent anymore.