Story #216 - Fireman

Fireman

The weekly visits were getting to her, though Kara Tulman tried not to show it as she waved goodbye to her father. They still didn't know what was wrong with him, and the few times he'd been allowed to go home had resulted in an ambulance ride back to the hospital within hours or days at the most, so his room in the special care unit was where he was going to stay for the time being.

Kara was sure he looked worse than last week, but the petite nurse that was responsible for overseeing his day-to-day care told her that he looked the same as always. It was possible, she supposed, that she was just becoming hyper-concerned. The last few months had been stressful enough without her father taking ill – Jeremy leaving and the issues at work meant she barely had a moment of peace as it was, and then suddenly her dad was falling over at the dinner table on Sunday evening, gasping for breath.

Lost in thought, it took her a moment to realize that another woman was waving at her from across the ward. She waved back – Lily Thompson's father was in the same predicament as her own, and it had come on just as suddenly. They had never met before coming to the hospital, and Kara doubted that in another situation they would be friends, much less acquaintances, but parental illness made for strange bedfellows. Hopefully, both of their fathers would get well soon and they could go their separate ways.

Kara didn't feel like talking, so she slipped into the next corridor on her right to get away from Lily. She was fairly certain she could access the elevator from down the hallway she'd chosen, but didn't see any signs for it in sight. A door to her left stood out from the others around, and if she remembered the layout of the building correctly, should connect back with the main hallway. Slipping inside, she went four steps before she noticed she'd stumbled into another patient care room, albeit one very different from where her father was recovering.

There was a single bed in the middle of the room, odd since the hospital was already over-capacity, and even from a distance she could see that it was of a far heavier metal than the one that held her father. A young man was asleep on the bed, lying perfectly straight and still in its middle, and his wrists were bound by dark metal chains to both sides of the bed. His feet also looked to be locked to the bed, and she could see a silver collar at his neck. What could this man have possibly done to deserve such treatment?

Fear sparked in her mind. What disease could he have to warrant such confinement? Kara turned to leave, and could hear the man shifting on the bed. She had to get out.

“I know what he has.” The man's voice was weak, but confident, and Kara spun quickly.

“What did you say?” She expected to see him sitting up, but he was still on the bed, eyes closed, unmoving.

“I know what he has.” The voice came again. She could see his lips moving, but none of the rest of him. Kara shivered despite her best efforts to stay calm.

“What would you know about it? And what the hell is wrong with you, anyway?” It was rude, but she didn't care.

“We have the same disease, he and I, or at least that's what the doctors here are going to call it. I'm not sure something man-made and this invasive should really be called a disease, though.” There was a bitterness in the tone, an anger.

“And what exactly is that?

“It's...” the was a hesitation, “look, I'm no use chained down like this. Unhook my hands and feet, and I'll show you.”

“Hah!” She barked out a laugh. Trusting a man at his word wasn't something she was going to be doing anymore, unless that man was her hale and healthy father. Justin had proven to her the folly in that.

“Fine,” the bound man said simply. “Leave me here. Good luck as his disease spreads, as you see him waste away. I'm young, so the transformation hasn't been nearly as taxing on my system. How old is your man?”

“My father?” She asked, then realized he had no way to know – he'd been taking a shot in the dark to get her to listen, and he'd been right. “Sixty-two.”

The young man made a clucking sound. “Not good. It will be difficult for him.”

“What will?” She was getting impatient.

“Let me go and I'll show you!” There was real anger in the man's voice now, but despite the fear she knew she should feel, Kara found herself moving to unhook the chains that bound him. A chance at an answer was better than watching her father die.

Once the last chain was off, the man sat up quickly, rubbing his hands over his chest and arms, a small smile on his face.

“Much better,” he said, “thank you. Now, back up.”

Kara did as she was told, and watched as he reached up to grasp the collar at his neck. The silvery metal parted, and as it did, the man burst into flames, scorching the mattress underneath him and blackening the metal that surrounded the bed. As soon as the man let the ends of the collar go, they joined together with an audible snap and the flames died.

“That's what awaits your father unless we can find a cure – life as a human weapon. Come on, let's get me out of here before they notice I'm gone.”

Kara flinched when he reached out to take her hand, but was pleased to discover it was only slightly warm, like a stone that had been heated by the sun. It wasn't much, but at least she had hope now.

Small, but it burned.

- D