Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (81 page)

For the past three
or four
weeks
she noticed she’s
been feeling a little off.
Being
a Balancer
has many benefits and the best is that she’s never gotten
sick.
She knew something was wrong
if she did.
The regenerative stem cells in
her
body are so advanced that
she’s
never had a single cold
in
her
whole life
.
She
checked and knew
her
energy level wasn’t the cause of
the
fatigue
and strange sensations
.
She
even felt a weird reflex
,
like
her
stomach was lurching. It was also odd that
she had a craving for apples. Sarah
smiled to
her
self
, knowing she
had
already eaten them all.
They were just so appetizing.

A
knock at the door
broke the streak of boredom
.
Sarah
pulled the cover off
her body and swu
ng
her
legs
,
she
stood up.
She
walked to the
front door and unlocked it. As she
opened it
she
saw that the snow
was still
coming down and Kara
stood close,
wearing a red parka along with thick pants and waterproof hiking shoes.
Her nose and cheeks were pink from the cold.
“Come inside and sit in front of the fire
,
you look almost frozen solid
.”

Her teeth chattered as she said “Thanks.”

After she walked in Sarah
shut the door and locked it.

Sarah
turned to see
Kara
kneeling in front of the fireplace and she
began
warming up her cold and shaking hands.
Sarah
walked to the couch and threw
her
warm blanket over her
sister’s
shoulders. “Would you like something warm to drink?” Kara no
dded and shook simultaneously. Sarah
walked over to the kitchen and put some water in the pot to boil. As the stove did its job,
she
pulled out two packets of hot cocoa.
T
wo mugs
were then filled
with
the
hot water and
she
mixed the
powdered
cocoa with
a spoon. Handing her a mug
Sarah
said
tenderly
“This’ll help, Kara.”

As she sipped on her drink Sarah
sat beside her and rubbed her back. “Thanks for that Sarah.” She sighed
when the warmth
finally
gave
the desired
effect
. “I would have been here sooner if I hadn’t lost my way. I tried following my
usual
trail, but with all this snow, it’s all so very confusing with all this white. Luckily I made my sense of smell stronger and I followed your scent here
…
Man, it’s so cold out there.” She shook again.
“
Even when I turned up my core temperature it was still freezing.
Thank you for calling me
by the way
. Mark had to go work at the diner today and
Gerry picked him up from the apartment.
I didn’t want to stay home all day and watch TV
and I like spending time with you
.”

Sarah
waited for her to finish her drink and stop shaking before
she
asked question. “Did you find
out
what I
might
need?”

Kara
smiled weakly as she sat up straighter on the floor. She unbuttoned and unzipped her Parka. She then reached inside the jacket and pulled out a plastic bag full of
small
boxes.
“If you don’t mind me asking;
why did you want
me to get you all of these things? You told me to get you anything that might help
figure out what y
our symptoms
mean
. Can
’
t you tell what’s wrong?”

Sarah
grabbed the bag as she handed it over
. She
shook
her
head slowly and said “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve never been sick before
,
like a human
I mean
.
It’s strange, I’ve never had such strange sensations before.
”
Kara’s
brow came together a
nd became a frown. “From now on,
you’ll never get sick again
either
.”

Her frown became a grin. “
Sweet.
” She finally stood and Sarah
joined her.
“So what are you feeling?” and she
told her everything about how
she
felt. A slow grin crept on
Kara’s expression
face and she said “Better go and find out what your ailment is.
If it’s bad we might need to see a doctor.
”

Sarah
nodded and sat
her mug on the table. She
had a firm grip on
the bag as she
walked into the bright bathroom
alone
.
She
shut the door and turned on the lights. The white tile bathroom seemed to greet
her warmly
, but it wasn’t for fun.
She
sat each box on the counter without reading any labels.

Sarah
looked into the mirror and felt like
she
was cold, but
she
was
slightly perspiring
. Pulling a strand of
loose hair behind
an
ear
she
picked up the first box.
It was a thermometer and
she checked to see her
temperature was
strangely
running normal. The next box
came with a
cup, a test strip and a guide. She
read the manual and followed the instructions to the letter.
T
he cup
was filled
halfway with
urine and
she
stuck the
test-
strip in. A
few moments later
,
she
pulled the strip out and matched the color with
the guide. She
said in
her
mind,
well that told me I’m clear
of
an infection.
Sarah
threw the strip away and picked up a tongue depressor. As
she
pushed
her
tongue
down with the wooden depressor she
looked at the back of
her
throat and
easily spotted her
tonsils.
Pink and healthy… What is wrong with me then?

She
went from one
testing
box
to
another
and another
without
getting
a single
clarifying
answer
.
Sarah
picked up the last box and about choked on
her
tongue as she
gasped
once the label
registered
.
Oh
my!
Kara this had better be a
sick
joke. Otherwise I’m
liable
to throttle you.

In her
hand
sat
a home pregnancy test.

Sarah
breathed deeply as
she
opened the container and tilted the box until a plastic rod slid out. There was still a
small sample in the cup from the
first test.
She
popped the cap to
reveal the thin testing area. She
took a deep breath and dipped the rod into the cup. As
she pulled it out she
fastened the cap back on
and waited
.

For the next three minutes she
sat on the toilet seat lid and waited
like a bundle of shaking nerves
. All of
her
thoughts were stunted like
her
breathing.
She
took maybe six
deliberate
breaths while
her
heart
continued
beating so rapidly
it
felt
liable to leap from her
chest
and run away
.

T
he three minutes were
finally
up
.
She looked down at the rod and her
heart
seemed to have
stopped
altogether
.

When Sarah’s
heart finally restarted
it was firing off faster than the pistons of a drag car with the accelerator
slammed
to the floor.

Ten minutes later
her
heart
beat
began to slow along with
her shallow breathing. Sarah
threw away all of the boxes and t
ests off the bathroom counter. She sighed as she
managed to finally get the door to open.

She
walked into the living room in a daze
, not acknowledging anything
. Kara turned her head and asked in a not so innocent voice. “Did you find the
source of the problem?” Sarah nodded because she was afraid of how her
voice would sound
at the moment
. “What’s the verdict? What do you have
?”

Without saying anything
she
handed the little rod over to
her
sister-in-law
’
s
eager
hand
s
. She took it cautiously
and
then
studied it. A grin came over her lips.
Kara spoke in a buoyant voice
“It’s
…
”

Jack called
Connor the
night
before
and asked if
he wanted to go see his shop. Connor
couldn’t have turned down this
unique
opportunity.

Connor
woke up early this morning and got out of bed. Sarah was sleeping soundly so
he
was able to get out of bed without disturbing her.
He first
walked outside
in the freezing snow
and brought in some firewood and added a few logs into the
mouth of the fireplace. F
ifteen minutes on the bicycle
were enough
to charge up the batteries for the day
.
As
he
was cooking breakfast Sarah walked into the kitchen with the blanket bundled
snugly
around her. She looked sick, but she ate quite well.
It was odd to see her in such a state and more so for how long she’s exhibited those symptoms.

He
gave her a quick kiss before
leaving to go over to Jack’s. When he
showed up on
Jack’s
doorstep he was
all
ready to go.
Jack came out
wearing a red shirt and a brown leather jacket along with blue jeans. His silver hair lay behind his shoulders and almost reached
the
bottoms
of
his shoulder blades.
They used the
truck because it could run better in the snow than Sarah’s blue car.

It t
ook about two hours to reach the
des
tination. It would have taken
about an hour if it wasn’t for the snowstorm a
nd the black ice on the road. They
had an idle conversation during the drive
with no significance
. It was nice to talk to
a man who wasn’t related
by blood
.
Jack
leaned forward in the passenger seat and pointed “That’s the place.”