The Mutatio Disease

Sector Twenty-One

- - - - Sector Twenty-One - - - -
- - - - Part One - - - -
What A Lousy Woman

    Mae looked awful. Her blonde hair was matted down and heavy bags were sunken under her eyes. She was slumped over Logan's legs, snoring softly. I wasn't much better, curled up in a chair and dozing lightly. 

   Everyone was on edge. Logan was hanging delicately -- either he would never wake, or if he did, he would be a raging monster. Besides Felix, Logan was also incredibly dangerous. He could teleport out of anything we tried. Kallie might have been able to help, but she had limits and besides, she was gone. We were praying that if Logan woke, the sight of Mae would snap him out of it quickly.

     Penelope was also in the room, and the one on guard. Her reflexes were the best defense against a boy who could move to a place at will. Her powers knew danger better than she did. Ed had also wanted to stay, insisting his powers would help, but Logan had taken the rest of the recruits and forced them to go back to bed. He had tried the same with me, but gave up pretty quickly.

    Penelope looked over as I stirred, mumbling sleepily. Light streamed into the room, and she smiled tightly. "Mornin', sleeping beauty."

   "Ugh."

   She handed over a water bottle, Mae blinking herself awake as well. She looked at her twin sadly, brushing his cheeks with wet eyes. "He's still asleep."

   Penelope nodded. "His heart rate has been improving, though. I think he'll pull through, Mae."

   "That's all I could ask for," whispered Mae. 

    A commotion outside had Penelope jumping, hastily snapping her mask over her face. I did the same just in time for a woman to burst into the room, seething. The blonde hair told me that this was the last thing I had wanted -- Logan's mother.

   "Logan!" She shouted. "Mae! Where the hell have you two been?"

   Penelope looked as if she had flinched at the shrill tone. "Dial it down, lady. We're in a hospital."

   "Shut up!" The woman snapped. Mae rose to her feet warily, her fists clenched. I stood upright, alert.

   "Mae, is this your mother?"

   "Yes," gritted Mae. "Mom, get out."

   Their mother scoffed, arms crossed. "Don't you boss me, young lady. First, you two run off when this virus hits and now your brother is getting shot without a care! I'm sick--"

   I actually scoffed. "Wait a minute, did you seriously just walk in here and start blaming him for getting shot?"

   "He's thoughtless! Did he not care what it would do to our funds--"

   "I don't give a shit!" Mae screamed, startling both Penelope and I. Never before I had seen Mae so angry. "All you care about is money. Money money money. You didn't care that we were in danger. You didn't care that I disappeared. You didn't care that Logan vanished soon after. Now, all you care about is the fact that your dying son is costing you money."

   "Do you not understand how hard it is for me to get work around her?" Her mother snapped. "You ungrateful little brat. You're lucky I'm paying for this at all--"

   I stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "Actually, the mayor of Kansas City has offered to pay for this. This hasn't, and never did, cost you a dime."

   "Please!" The woman scoffed aloud. "There's more than money to this."

   "Too freaking bad!" Mae spat. "Get out."