Cataclysmic Evolution - 13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

“You need to go see the doctor.” Revi stared at Barron. The night before he’d been able to see the oval of Revi’s face, his hair shoved back into a ponytail. Barron hadn’t said anything—afraid it was fluke or something—but he could see even better when he woke up. Everything appeared as though he was looking at it through a veil of water, but the bright white radiance was gone.

“What if it goes away?” His chest was tight, as if he couldn’t draw a deep breath, and the itching had intensified.

“What if it doesn’t? I’m happy you can see again, but Barron, something really weird is going on with you. I don’t care what the hell my dad thinks, and you shouldn’t either.” Revi scowled. “Get up, get dressed, and get the hell over to see Dr. Samuels!”

“I know. I know you’re right. I just… I’d hoped the look on your face when I saw it again wouldn’t be you glaring at me still.” He’d never gotten to see Revi’s smile directed at him. Other people, sure, but he’d never gotten to see that happy look just for him.

Revi leaned in and kissed him. He held on to the back of Barron’s neck, pressing their foreheads together. “Really look in my eyes. I’m not mad at you; I’m worried. So please do what I ask. Go see her.”

“Okay, I’ll go.”

Those gorgeous pink lips captured Barron’s attention as Revi finally smiled just for him. “Good.”

“God, you’re hot.” Barron brushed his thumb across Revi’s full bottom lip.

“Yes, I am.”

Barron laughed. “So modest, too.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault you’re stunned by your first sight being the vision of the hunky manliness of me.”

Barron wrinkled his nose. “Ha, ha. Well, I’m definitely not into you because you’re funny.” He smacked Revi’s ass.

“Hey!” someone objected sleepily. “None of that when I’m a foot away from you.”

Barron leaned up on one elbow. “Like I haven’t heard you doing far worse over the years out camping when you thought we were all sleeping.”

Creed was always horny. It used to be even worse when they were younger. He was their main source of porn and other illicit material. William’s brother was too straitlaced, and Thavin only had one sister. Creed had lived with his dad, and he was a pretty cool guy who didn’t worry about the sort of thing he said normal teenage boys were into.

A slap on the ass? The tamest of things Barron had seen in Creed’s video collection topped it.

“Well, hit him quieter then. I’m sleeping here.”

Revi shook with suppressed laughter.

“So glad we could amuse you,” Barron said. “I’m getting up.” The itching was getting to him. He could deal with pain, but damn… feeling like he wanted to peel his skin off to make it stop crawling was the worst.

“Do you need me to come with you?”

That was right. With Barron’s vision back—at least somewhat—he didn’t need a guide. “Maybe you should. I wouldn’t want your dad to think he can separate us.” He might anyway, if the damage was fully repaired, but Barron would soak up every minute of Revi’s time that he could before then.

“He can’t separate us. We’re from the same section, and we’re together now. I’m not going to abandon you. We are together… right…?”

Barron knew he was committed for as long as he could keep Revi. He opened his mouth to tell him exactly how he felt, sappy sentiment and everything.

“Oh my God, yes. He’s so into you it’s disgusting. Now go away!” Creed flopped over, turning his back to them.

Barron and Revi snickered. So much for a magical moment.

“He’s right. I’m into you.” The heat Barron put in his voice made those five little words so much more important than they sounded.

“Good,” Revi whispered.

“I’m just gonna go like this.” Barron snagged his jacket. “You can change if you want.”

“I’ll be quick.” Revi took his bag and went to the makeshift bathrooms set up off to the side of the room, with changing stalls and some cleaning cloths. They didn’t have running water, but medical and the cafeteria did. Everyone else used the shuttles for personal needs.

By the time Revi came back, Barron was digging at his arms. He couldn’t stop scratching. The skin on the back of his shoulders, down to his fingertips, was tingling, and it felt like millions of little biting bug were crawling on them. He spun on his heel. “Let’s go.”

“Whoa.” Revi grabbed his jacket from where he dropped it. “You need this.”

“No, I don’t. I’m fucking hot.” He couldn’t wait to get outside. “Let’s go,” Barron repeated.

By the time they made it to medical, Barron was doing his best to writhe while staying on his feet. He could only breathe in pants. He couldn’t get enough oxygen, couldn’t stop scratching. He barely felt the wind that had Revi hunching his shoulders and burying his face in the collar of his jacket.

“Is someone here?” Barron shouted when he got inside. Most of medical was still dark. A figure hurried around a panel.

“Shh. There are people sleeping in here.”

“Well, I can’t. I swear to God, I’m going nuts here.” Barron dug at his arms.

Revi gasped. Barron looked down. He’d dug furrows in his arms and skin was sloughing off in strips. “Holy fuck. What’s wrong with me?”

“Dr. Samuels! I need you out here, now!” The guy rushed over to Barron. He hissed when he touched his skin. “You’re already burning up. Fuck.”

“Nolu? What’s going on?” Barron recognized Dr. Samuels’ voice. The tall woman had her white hair pulled back into a neat bun, even though it was the wee hours of the morning. She looked older than Barron expected from her voice.

Nolu looked a lot like he’d expected, though. His skin was dark, nearly as dark as his hair held back in tiny braids. Barron wondered absently how long it took to braid hair that long as he did his level best to rip his skin off.

It itched so bad!

“Is he okay? What’s going on?” Revi followed them as Dr. Samuels and Nolu grabbed Barron by his elbows and wrists, forcing him to stop scratching. They pulled him back toward the screened area where the lights were blazing bright.

“He needs to get into a tank immediately,” Dr. Samuels said.

“A tank?” Those were reserved for people with life-threatening injuries or illnesses. Barron twisted his fingers, trying to itch between them.

“We need to bring down your fever and keep you from getting worse. We can deliver what you need to breathe far beyond what Paradise’s atmosphere can provide. You’re going to need it.”

“He’s going to stop breathing?” Revi’s voice rose. Barron wanted to take Revi in his arms until he calmed, but the urgency with which the doctor reacted to his appearance scared Barron, too.

“Strip.” They stood before a tank. Dr. Samuels turned and tapped furiously on the control panel. Nolu and Revi helped Barron get his clothes off. They had to fight him as he kept trying to scratch. Barron knew he needed to stop, but he couldn’t seem to, no matter how hard he tried.

Revi leaned up and captured Barron’s face with both hands. “I’m not going anywhere. Remember that. You can’t leave me either, no matter what’s going on. You fight it.”

Barron nodded. He was gasping and couldn’t talk. He rubbed his cheek against Revi’s hand, staring into his eyes.

“Good.”

He stepped back and let Nolu and Dr. Samuels insert Barron into the tank. By that point, Barron’s head was spinning and he needed their support so he wouldn’t fall over. Barron opened his mouth for the breathing tube, swallowing when he was told. The influx of pressure forced his breathing to slow and deepen.

The dizziness started to fade. His arms and legs grew heavy and then the feeling in his limbs went away. The loss of sensation in his entire body usually would’ve freaked Barron out, instead of a localized pain blocking like the bands provided, but in this case it was a relief.

“Barron.”

He blinked.

“Can you hear us? Blink twice for yes, once for no.” Dr. Samuels’ voice filtered through the fluid in the tank.

He struggled to do what she asked.

“Good. Feeling better?” He blinked once, then rolled his eyes. Then he blinked them twice.

“Okay. I’m guessing that’s a smartass remark about feeling… and yes, you feel better. Or at least you don’t feel anything, right?”

Barron blinked twice again. Lifting his lids took monumental effort. The tank made all but the tiniest movements impossible. He couldn’t even twitch his fingers.

“I need you to stay calm. I have a few questions. Revi’s still here, just like he promised. If he knows something about what I ask you, do I have permission to talk to him about your health?” she asked.

Blink. Blink.

“Thank you. That helps. Now, Barron, I need you to answer this question honestly. The water’s cordoned off. Did you sneak past the markers?”

Barron blinked once.

“Are you sure?”

Two blinks.

“This is important, Barron. You won’t get in trouble. Wait. Revi says you fell in the water before it was cordoned off. You fell into the shallows. Did you get your wound wet? I noticed your hand is healed.”

Yes! Finally, she was getting to the damn point. He blinked twice for yes, again.

“Damn it.” Now she sounded tired. “I was afraid of that. There’s something out there, something in the water. When it infiltrates a wound, even a tiny one, on a person’s body they begin to display all the symptoms you do. Usually much sooner, though.” She paused. “The itching, breathing, and fever… did those start this morning?”

Barron blinked twice.

“Have you noticed anything else?”

Barron blinked twice. He fluttered his lashes and waited. He knew Revi would explain.

Dr. Samuels’ voice came through the tank again. “You can see again?”

It took all he had, but Barron managed two more blinks.

“I know you’re tired. I need you to stay relaxed, okay? The monitor will alert us to any change. If you need anything, we’re right here. Feel the tube in your mouth? On the underside is a small button. If you press it even a tiny bit with your tongue, an alarm will go off, and we’ll be over in seconds. For now, just rest.”

Barron couldn’t do anything else. Time in the tank meant very little. Every speck of skin on his body was immersed in fluid infused with whatever medicine the doctor deemed necessary. He caught flashes here and there, but nothing understandable.

Even though he shouldn’t have been able to feel anything, slowly the pressure inside Barron’s body changed. It felt like the tube feeding him oxygen was failing. Breathing grew harder.

He forced his eyes open. Barron could see in the tank, a first for him. He shouldn’t have been able to see through the murky fluid, but it was easy. Two figures stood on either side of his tank. They wore security uniforms and had weapons.

What the hell?

Using his tongue like Dr. Samuels told him, Barron set off the alarm. The doctor appeared in front of his tank by the monitor.

“Would you please move? You’re in the way!” Dr. Samuels snapped.

The security guard moved when she prodded at him with a tool of some kind that looked pretty pokey. “Thank you. Barron, are you okay?”

He blinked once.

“What’s wrong? Do you hurt?”

Barron shot a look side to side at the guards, and then blinked once for no. Dr. Samuels bit her lip. “How’s your breathing. It looks a bit labored.”

Blink. Blink.

“I can help with that.” She tapped the monitor. Barron watched her. The other night her hair had been immaculate, her clothes tidy. It was a far cry from how she looked now. Her shirt was wrinkled, and she’d tucked several strands of loose hair behind her ears.

What was going on?

The pressure in Barron’s chest eased. A man appeared behind Dr. Samuels. “What did you do?” he asked.

“I increased the hydrogen again.”

Again? Why were they giving him hydrogen? Barron tongued the button again, setting off the alarm. He fought to move, but he couldn’t.

“Barron, calm down. You’re stable at the moment. I know you want answers, but don’t panic. I don’t want to have to increase the hydrogen mixture so soon.” She looked so worried Barron knew that was something she really didn’t want to do.

“This is Dr. Lunquist. He’s one of the scientists from the ship. We’ve been monitoring your condition. Barron, you’re undergoing a metamorphosis, and it’s almost complete. We believe this began when you landed with your injured hand in the ocean the first night you were down here.”

“I still don’t believe it could’ve happened that early,” Dr. Lunquist argued.

Barron blinked twice deliberately.

“And I told you my theories on that. He was blinded back on Earth rescuing a little girl, and he had a severe gash on his arm. Deep tissue UV damage, plus the eye and palm injuries, slowed down the replication and repurposing of the cells in his body until he was reasonably healthy enough to make a suitable host.” Dr. Samuels’ voice took on the tired tone of someone who’d repeated themselves, a lot.

“There’s no proof of that supposition.”

“God damn it, what else is there? We can see it happening, healing and changing him, but at a much slower rate than the others. They all changed so fast we couldn’t keep up. And. They. Died. He’s alive. There’s a reason for that!”

Dead?

They’d had other people in there who touched the water? Who’d been changed?

Who died?

Barron slammed his tongue against the alarm again and again. He wanted out. He wanted out of the tank right that second. He strained and finally managed to move one hand. He pressed his palm to the glass below the monitor.

They had to let him out. Where was Revi? He’d know.

He’d get him out.

“I’m sorry, Barron. I didn’t mean to say all that in front of you.” Dr. Samuels pressed her hand against his on the outside of the tank. “I’m doing my best for you. I swear. Try to stay calm.”

Calm?

She wanted him to stay calm!

Barron blinked once, squeezing his eyes shut.

Out.

He… wanted… out.