Once Aaron was down to his boxers, Cadence helped him beneath the blankets, and then sat on the bed beside him. Beads of perspiration dotted his brow, and she took a second to wipe them away. "I've got Jamie on the IAC, and he's going to walk me through this," she explained.
"Tell him I said, 'hi.' He'll know what it means," he joked.
"Green Aaron is weird." She couldn't help but giggle in spite of his condition.
"At least he's not creepy," he teased her, reminding her of the term she'd used to describe him the first time she had met him.
She chuckled again for a second, but it was all she could do to hold back her tears. Her face settled into a serious expression, and she looked at him for a long moment before saying, "I love you, Aaron."
"I love you, too, Cadence," he assured her. "I'm so sorry."
"No, don't be sorry," she insisted. "In a few hours, it won't matter. You'll be back to your old self, and we'll get busy bringing in those bastards."
"I'm just... so tired. I've been so tired for so long. I didn't even care anymore... about any of it. All I cared about was you."
She leaned down and kissed him. "Right now, all I care about is you. You don't owe anyone any explanations. And if you don't want to be the Leader anymore, then don't be. I don't care. I just want to be with you. That's all that matters."
He nodded, and she wasn't sure if he no longer had the strength to speak or was at a loss for words. Jamie gave her explicit instructions for how to administer the serum, cautioning her to make sure both vials were ready to go before she inserted the first one, because there was a good chance he would be reeling in pain after the first, which would make it much more difficult to get the second one in. "At least I can clearly see his vein," she pointed out to the Healer. Jamie instructed her to climb on top of him and secure his left arm under her knee, holding his body down as best she could. "Are you ready, babe?" she asked.
He slowly indicated that he was, and she leaned down and kissed him one more time before placing the blunt end of the second shot in her mouth so it would be ready. She lined up the first shot and pushed the plunger all the way down quickly, as Jamie had told her to. Aaron's whole body immediately went completely rigid beneath her, and she knew he was in excruciating pain. Tears pouring down her face, she tossed the first syringe on the floor, and pulled the second shot out of her mouth. He attempted to pull his arm away from her reflexively, but she was stronger than him in his current condition, and she stuck him again, quickly. His reaction the second time was not quite as intense, as if he simply couldn't take any more, and she was fairly certain he lost consciousness, though it was hard to tell since he was already so far out of it.
She tossed the second syringe, and collapsed next to him on the bed, throwing her leg across his body, her arm across his chest, an attempt to reassure him that she was still there. His body began to spasm beneath her, and she was inconsolable, no longer able to push aside the possibility that she might lose him, too. She buried her head in his neck, begging God for mercy at last, wondering how she was ever going to make it through this. "Please, please," she began to plead. "I can't... I can't handle it. You've got to let him be okay. Please...."
Cadence had forgotten that her IAC was still on. She could hear some of her teammates crying as well, and then, Hannah's serene voice began to recite the Lord's Prayer. Christian, Jamie, Meagan, Aurora, Shane, and Cale all joined in. They were all there. She suddenly felt embraced by the love of her teammates, and eventually cried herself to sleep.
When Cadence woke up, it was dark outside. She immediately checked Aaron for a pulse. It was weak, but he was alive. At some point, she must have forced her IAC off because she was all alone. She kissed him on the cheek, and then carefully climbed over him, collected the used needles she'd tossed earlier and put them in her backpack for safe keeping, and then set of looking for some water and the restroom.
It was late evening. She had slept for over twelve hours. While she was aware it made no difference to Aaron, he was out either way, she felt horrible. What if he had needed her and she was asleep? She vowed not to fall asleep again until he awoke. She went back to check on him, and using her night vision, she could see that the green color had spread to the veins in his shoulder, but it hadn't gone any further. She wasn't sure, but that seemed like a good thing. She adjusted the blanket and kissed him softly on the forehead before taking a seat in the very uncomfortable chair next to the bed.
Turning the IAC back on, she was immediately greeted by her teammates. "How's he doing?" Jamie asked.
"He's still alive," Cadence assured them. "It's hard to say. He's out. The veins in his arm are green all the way up to his shoulder. What do you think?"
There was a long pause of consideration before the Healer replied, "I don't know, Cadence. Most of the time, if it's going to take, it does it pretty quickly," he admitted. "But then, I did some research, and there are only five noted cases where this has worked."
She didn't like that answer. "Well, there's about to be six," she assured him. "Besides, those were all Hunters, so it could be completely different."
"That's true."
"And you thought I'd Transform in a few hours, and it took days," she reminded him.
"All valid points," he agreed. "I'm not trying to discourage you, sweetheart," Jamie explained, empathetically, "I just want you to know what my experience has been, that's all."
"I know, Jamie. I'm sorry," she said quietly. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay," he said, his voice sounding a bit stronger than it had the day before. "I'm home. All of us are home now."
"That's good," she said. "I can't wait to see you--all of you."
"We can't wait to have you two home, either," Aurora assured her.
"Speaking of home," Cadence said, "has anyone contacted my parents? They don't even know where I'm at."
"I talked to your mom and your grandmother earlier today," Hannah assured her. "Your family sends their love."
"Thank you, Hannah," she said quietly. They were silent for a few moments, no one really knowing what else to say. "Jamie, do you think there's anything at all I can be doing to help?" she asked.
"Other than praying and making sure he's as comfortable as possible, I don't think so," he admitted.
She sighed, afraid that was what he was going to say. "Okay. Well, I know y'all want to know what's going on, but I'm going to turn the IAC back off. I just need to concentrate on what's going on here."
