Deathly Contagious (15 page)

“Hey, Orissa,” he said brightly. “How are you doing?”

“I’m…I’m good,” I said honestly. “Glad to be back and get back to normal.”

“Me too.” He beamed.

“I have a question for you,” I said quietly, stepping to the side of the hall. “How come no one told Hayden I was missing?”

Padraic sighed. “It was Fuller’s idea; Hayden was in critical condition…he didn’t want to take any chances.”

“Oh, wait, critical? I thought he was doing better when I left.”

“He was,” Padraic said and leaned against the wall. “Surgeries can go well and there can still be complications. There was a time I didn’t think he was going to make it.” He paused, gauging my reaction. When I didn’t say anything, he continued. “And I don’t know if you’re aware that Hayden suffers mildly from PTSD. The trauma of getting shot triggered his symptoms. No one, not even Fuller or Ivan, knew what he had been going through. We were worried he’d become more upset if he found out you were dead. Physically, he was too weak to risk it.”

I nodded, feeling horrible I wasn’t there to help Hayden get through is nightmares. “You look tired, Padraic.”

“I am,” he sighed. “But that will change, I suppose. I haven’t been able to sleep since that night the A1’s came back without you. None of us could.”

I felt awkward. “Well, I promise I’m one hundred percent ok. No worries about me anymore, promise?”

“I won’t worry until you go back out again,” Padraic added with a half smile. “Ray too. She was a wreck.”

“I kept thinking about what you guys must have thought. I hated being sick and trapped.”

“Sick?”

“Oh, right,” I scuffed my shoe on the floor. “I guess I haven’t told anyone yet. Walk with me?” We went down to the B level and into Padraic’s room, which was one of the few places that provided a bit of privacy.  “I got blood poisoning and found these crazy hillbillies who took really good care of me and I thought they were just nice, but it turned out they only wanted to use me as a baby maker for their inbred son,” I said in one breath. “Once I was better, Olivia and I escaped, ran into a bit more trouble with a haunted house full of zombies but now we’re here.”

Padraic opened his mouth but was at a loss for words. “Blood poisoning?”

“Yea,” I extended my left arm and showed him the scar. “They gave me medicine. It was medicine for cows but apparently it worked.”

He ran his finger over the wound, looked at me in horror and laughed. I looked at him like he had gone mad. Then a smile broke out on my face and I started laughing too. It felt good to laugh. Though the situation was far from funny, neither of us could control our laughter.

Someone knocked on the door, which had been left open. Still chuckling, I looked up to see Hayden. His lips moved into a smile. He looked from me to Padraic.

“Come in,” Padraic called, taking a deep breath.

“Hi, Hayden,” I said and a feeling of butterflies fluttered inside of me.

“Hi,” he said almost shyly.

“Are you alright?” Padraic asked, going into doctor mode.

“Yea, I feel great,” he responded, still standing in the doorway. “I was leaving the hospital ward and heard your voice, Riss,” he explained and looked embarrassed. My eyes met his and I smiled again. I stood. “Olivia was asking for you.”

“She was?” I stood.

“Yea, she’s moving into her room.”

“I’ll go find her. I’ll see you later Padraic. Oh, and don’t tell Ray what I told you. She doesn’t need to worry about something that already happened.”

He frowned. “I hate lying,” he reminded me.

“Don’t lie, just don’t mention it. Please?”

“Fine,” he agreed. “I’ll see ya later.”

Hayden walked with me back to the hospital ward. I stepped close to him, remembering what Raeya had said.

“What does he know that you don’t want Raeya knowing,” Hayden asked, his voice level and calm.

I shook my head. “Nothing important.”

“Really, Riss?” he said, stopping short.

“No, not really. You don’t need to know either.”

He opened the door for me. Once we were in the semi-privacy of the hospital ward, he put his hands on my waist. I instantly felt warm. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I don’t want to lie. It’s just-just I think it will upset you and I don’t want you upset.” I put my arms around his neck, careful to avoid putting pressure on his left shoulder.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Ok. The reason it took me so long to get back was because I got sick and stumbled my way to this house. I thought it was a miracle because they nursed me back to health but they definitely had an ulterior motive.”

His hands gripped me tightly. “Go on.”

“That’s where I found Olivia. They treated her like a breeding cow, thinking it was their duty as men to repopulate the earth.”

“And they wanted to do that to you?” he asked.

“Yes.”

He squeezed me so hard it almost hurt. “Did they?”

“No, no. I promise. Trust me, I wouldn’t let them. We got out of there just in time.”

He kissed me. I pulled myself closer and kissed him back. We quickly broke apart, went into the sick ward and found a B3 who directed us to Olivia.

Polly Ender was helping her pick out clothing. She was more or less in charge of keeping the little ‘compound store’ as she called it in order.

“Oh, this would look lovely on you, dear,” she said and held up a short, baby blue dress. I knew the feelings it evoked in Olivia right away.

“It’s still pretty cold, how about some pants?” I quickly butted in. Hayden leaned against the door frame, patiently waiting while Polly and I helped Olivia gather what she’d need. We went with her to her room, which was on the opposite side of the C level as Raeya’s. I’d yet to see Sonja since my return, and when I finally hunted her down, she threw her arms around me.

I let her gush for a few minutes before telling her I had a favor to ask.

“Of course, whatever you need!” she replied.

“I don’t know if you heard about the girl I brought back,” I started.

“Yea. I think everyone has. You know how word gets around here.”

“I do. Anyway, she really could use a friend. And she’s close to your age and I think she’d really look up to you.” Though Sonja had annoyed me at times with her constant crying and screaming while we were on the run from zombies, she really was a sweet and caring person. I trusted her and hoped Olivia could too.

I introduced her to Olivia and was both surprised and happy when Olivia agreed to go off with Sonja and meet the other teenage girls. Hayden and I went back up to our room. He closed the door and sat on my bed. I knelt over top of him.

“Hayden,” I began.

“Orissa,” he replied, his voice alluring. He put his arms around me and leaned back until we were laying down.

“You know what you said yesterday?”

“Possibly. I remember saying a lot.”

“About me? Well, I do too.” I sucked at this. My cheeks flushed and I looked away.

“Could you be any more ambiguous?” he teased. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I’ll tell you later,” I said and pulled myself off of him. “I’m gonna brush my teeth and hair.” I pressed my lips against his, and went into the bathroom.

We still had a few minutes before it was time to go to the cafeteria. We laid down next to each other, silently enjoying one another’s company. It was comforting to be in his arms. We were among the first to arrive in the cafeteria. Hayden and I got our trays and walked to the back to sit at our usual table. There weren’t any assigned seats in here but the back two tables had unofficially become reserved for the A1’s.

Wade and Rider joined us, along with Raeya, Olivia, Sonja and Jason. Raeya kept looking at Hayden and blushing; I rolled my eyes and kicked her under the table.

We were conversing like a normal group of friends when Hayden suddenly jumped up. Without explaining what he was doing, he quickly marched to the serving line. Alex had just gotten his tray. He was saying something to Noah, not paying attention to anything around him.

And then Hayden punched him.

Chapter 7

The tray went flying from Alex’s grip, food splattering the floor, and he crumpled to the ground. Noah jumped in, restraining Hayden. A hush fell over the cafeteria and all eyes were on Hayden. Wade was by his side in seconds, pulling him back.

Alex jumped up and took a defensive stance. Noah took his hands off Hayden and stood in between him and Alex, doing his best to stop a fight from breaking out. I watched, in stunned awe, still holding my fork with several green beans skewered on it. Was Hayden having another flashback?

 “We
never
leave a comrade,” Hayden spat, his face full of anger. Wade let him go and he walked calmly back to our table.

“What the hell?” I whispered when he sat next to me.

“He left you,” Hayden said, not minding the volume of his voice. “We never leave a fallen comrade. He didn’t even see you die, he didn’t know. He assumed and left you.”

I put my hand on his arm. “I know, but it’s ok. I’m ok now. And thanks. I wanted to do that the second I realized the asshole drove off without me,” I told him quietly, aware that everyone in the cafeteria was listening. He faced me, his hazel eyes drilling into mine. My heart hammered in the few seconds it took for him to nod.

I let out a breath and went back to eating. The conversation slowly started back up amongst the residents. It was hard to stomach the rest of my flavorless lunch. I was eager to go up to our room and pig out on junk food. I devoured the rest of what was on my plate so we could get out there.

Fuller and Gabby’s father, Hector, came into the cafeteria just as we were putting our trays back. Fuller’s eyes met mine sternly for a brief moment. I wanted to give him a big ‘I told you so’ about not needing to be quarantined. I took a deep breath, not wanting to publically disrespect him.

A second hush fell over the cafeteria, though this time it wasn’t as obvious, as eyes went from Alex to Hayden, everyone wondering if Alex was going to report the incident. But Alex kept his head down, concentrating on his food. Fuller came up to Hayden, a smile behind his stern eyes.

“It’s good to see you up and around,” he told him sincerely.

“It’s good to be up and around,” Hayden responded with a slight smile.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better. A lot better, Sir.”

Fuller failed at hiding his smile. He nodded curtly. “Good.”

Raeya and I walked out into the hall while Hayden chatted with Fuller.  Padraic and several other B’s rounded the corner. He smiled and waved at us.

“Fuller has—or had—a son that looks like Hayden,” I told her.

“Really? How do you know?” she asked.

“I saw a picture on his desk.” I shook my head. “I’m surprised he didn’t yell at me, honestly.”

“Why would he yell at you?” Raeya asked.

“I got into a fight with him,” I confessed.

“That makes two of us,” Padraic said, stopping close next to me.

“You got into a fight with Fuller?” I asked incredulously. “Why?”

Padraic ran a hand over his hair. “He wanted to keep medicating Hayden. I refused.”

Raeya put her hand on his arm and looked at him empathically. “You didn’t tell me that.”

Padraic nervously smiled. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Why did you refuse?” I asked, curious.

“Fentanyl is a schedule two controlled substance; it’s very addictive. Fuller wanted Hayden kept calm and told me to administer a large dose every day. I’m the doctor here, I knew the risks. I refused to do it.”

I felt proud of Padraic for standing up to Fuller. “Thank you for doing what is right.”

“You’re welcome,” Padraic said, his cheeks reddening a bit. “It’s what you would do; stand up for what’s right.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. Though some of the reasons for your actions are less than orthodox, they were always done with the best intentions.”

“I…I guess so.”

Padraic laughed. “Don’t doubt yourself, Orissa. Remember who brought us here, whose quick thinking saved Hayden’s life, and who rescued that girl from a real-life nightmare.” His blue eyes met mine and I smiled.

“Hey, Padraic,” Hayden said, coming up behind us. My smile grew. I turned and looked at him, feeling warm inside.

“Hello, Hayden. How’s the shoulder?”

“As good as it can be.” He stepped close to me.

“That’s good to hear. Well, I’m gonna get something to eat, see you all later.”

“Padraic,” Raeya said suddenly. “Want to watch the Friday night movie with us?”

“Sure, if I can. We had four people admitted to the hospital with the flu this morning; I’m afraid it’s going to quickly spread around. If they’re stable enough, I’ll watch it with you. I’d love that.”

“You should,” I told him. “You deserve a night off. There are other people to help you, remember?”

“You’re right. Ok, I will. See you then.”

The three of us headed toward the game room.

“He’s a really nice guy,” Hayden stated.

“Yea,” I agreed. “He is.”

“What do you guys want to do?” Raeya asked quickly.

I shrugged. “I don’t care.”

“Me neither,” Hayden told her with a yawn.

“Tired?” she asked.

“Yea, I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Hmm,” she said, pressing her lips together. “Wonder why?”

I rolled my eyes; Raeya couldn’t keep a secret to save her life. We found a table and sat. Raeya got a puzzle off of one of the bookshelves and carefully dumped it onto the table. We sorted through it, located the edge pieces first. Olivia and Sonja came in, waved hello and took seats at a table across the room with a few other girls their age.

I pulled my hair to the side, raking it with my fingers, and braided it, snapping the hair tie off of my wrist and into my hair.

“Thanks for punching Alex for me,” I told Hayden with a smile. “But everyone’s gonna think you’re crazy now.”

“I don’t care. He shouldn’t have left you.”

“He shouldn’t have,” Raeya echoed.

I picked up a puzzle piece, turning it around in my hand. “Guys, I’m glad I was missed, but I’m back. Can we go back to normal?”