Moving to the treadmill didn’t help matters. The pumping of his legs at the steepest incline couldn’t force away the memory of the look on his mother’s face as she listened to the prognosis for her three children.
He could not control his crisp mental image of Meg’s face when she realized it would be she who would pass away first. Her eyes gave away her feelings, and there was no doubt in Alik’s mind that she was flung into the Kubler-Ross stages of grief immediately. She flew past denial and was right in the middle of anger. Bargaining, depression and acceptance were the last three stages, according to the theory, but Alik was pretty sure Meg wasn’t leaving anger anytime soon. She ran out of the room with shadows of fury darting across her face.
Well, shit, Alik thought as he pushed himself faster and faster on the treadmill. I think we all have every right to be furious right now.
He allowed his pace to slow and the incline to drop so his muscles could begin to cool down. By the end of five minutes he was still steeped in thought, but finally ready to rest.
Alik lay still on the padded floor of the gym with his arm thrown over his eyes, his body only moderately spent after working out nonstop over the last two hours. Reliving the events of this morning was more exhausting than his entire workout combined.
With a muffled groan, he forced himself to a sitting, then standing position and slowly walked out of the gym ready to head back to the house and jump in the shower.
Just before he reached the screen door he heard someone call out, “Help! Hey, you! She needs help!”
Alik turned to see a guy, not much older than himself, carrying a girl. It only took half a second for him to realize, even from this distance, the girl was his sister.
“Oh, my God, MEG!” Alik ran full speed to the stranger who was carrying his limp sister. “What happened? Who are you? What did you do to her?” Alik yelled even as he ran so by the time he reached them, he looked like he was seconds away punching a whole through the guy’s neck.
“Wait, no…I just found her on the ground a dozen meters up that way.” The guy jerked his head back over his shoulder without letting his eyes leave Alik’s. “Honest, man. I didn’t do anything to her,” the stranger said wide-eyed as he gently passed the girl to Alik. Sensing the guy was no threat, Alik allowed himself to focus completely on his sister.
Meg was still dressed in the same running clothes and shoes she was wearing a couple hours before when she left the house. She felt heavy, like dead-weight. And even as that phrase jumped into Alik’s mind, he fought back panic.
“Meg?” Alik spoke her name sternly. “Meg. Wake up! Come on, Meg!” Alik was half running back up the path to the house, completely unconcerned that the strange guy who found his sister was right behind him. All he could think about was how much he wished his sister would snap out of it, push herself to her feet and start shouting and bossing everyone around like she usually did when she was upset. Instead, she didn’t make a sound, and she didn’t move.
Her head hung back and her long dark hair had come loose from the knot she tied it in to run. Her lean legs hung limp, as did her arms. She looked as alive as a rag doll, and she was burning up with fever. He could feel the heat searing through her thin clothing radiating off her like a bon fire.
“Oh, my God. Oh, God,” Alik kept pleading. “Oh, please, no. Not now. She is supposed to have more time! We’re all supposed to have more time!” Alik’s voice was creased with anguish even as he prayed.
Alik ran up the steps to Paulie’s house and began shouting, “Evan! Mom! Someone! Meg’s sick! Come quick!”
He opened the screen door, flew into the living room, and gently laid his sister down on the sofa, taking special care not to bump her head. The whole while, he kept alternating from yelling into the house for help and talking softly to his unconscious sister, trying to get her to respond.
“Meg, come on, kid. I need you. Mom and Evan need you. You can’t be sick, Meg. We have work to do. Remember? We can’t do this without you. Oh God, Meg, not yet. You can’t leave us yet!” Alik’s voice choked up completely so by the time he yelled into the house again, he was hoarse with tears.
23 Consequences
“What’s wrong with her?” Evan had been on the other side of the house in the laboratory with Margo, Andrews and Paulie, but had stepped out to retrieve some notes from his room. It was a good thing he did too, because the lab was essentially soundproof. Evan was at his sister’s side immediately.
“I don’t know, Ev. A guy found her like this up the path and…she’s burning up with fever. She hasn’t said a word; hasn’t responded at all,” Alik was watching his little brother’s skilled hands as he started with Meg’s head and began examining her.
“What’s all the yelling about?” Cole hurried into the room and looked around trying to determine what he’d missed. His eyes found Meg lying so fragile and small on the sofa.