Paroxysm (Book 2): Paroxysm Aftermath

by Ashleigh Reynolds

  “I can explain,” Dr. Jefferies started but Jaxton wasn't in the mood to listen.

  He ran toward the doctor, his hands grasping the front of his shirt. He used his momentum to throw him to the ground. Dr. Jefferies hit with a satisfying smack, but didn't attempt to fight him back.

  “What did you do to her?” he screamed mere inches from the doctor's face.

  “Nothing! She did that to herself.”

  Jaxton's fist connected with the side of his face sending his glasses flying before clattering to the floor.

  “Chill, dude.” Sann grabbed at him in an attempt to pull him off, but he wasn't budging.

  “How did you even get to her?” Jaxton landed another blow to his face, this time splitting the doctor’s lip wide open.

  “She came after me!” Dr. Jefferies spat.

  Jaxton halted midswing, his gaze dropping to the doctor's hand where he too had a bandage wrapped around it. In fact, he looked as though he had been through a struggle before he got to him. His shirt had drying blood down the front as if he had used it to stem bleeding and had a giant tear at the hem.

  This time when Sann pulled on him he didn't resist and stood up off the man. Sann gave him a sidelong look as he offered the doctor his hand and helped him to his feet.

  “I understand you’re protective of her,” Dr. Jefferies said as he blotted his lip with the collar of his shirt. “She's sedated again, and I took care of her injuries. The ropes are merely a precaution.” He stooped and picked up his glasses. He held them up to the light and examined the lenses for cracks before placing them back on his face.

  “What happened?” Jaxton asked.

  “She wandered in here in a daze. She was mumbling and staggering around. When I tried to assist her, she went ballistic. She shoved me to the floor, then found a scalpel. By the way, she is far stronger than she looks.”

  “You're saying she hurt herself?”

  “After she came at me with it. She got me good too.” Dr. Jefferies held up his bandaged hand. “Then proceeded to go to town on her own arm. I was able to sedate her with one of our tranq guns. I had just finished cleaning us both up when you stormed in.”

  Jaxton ran his fingers through his hair, tugging as they reached the tips. The situation could have been so much worse all because he would rather have slept than keep an eye out.

  “Why did she leave us there sleeping?” Sann asked the same question that Jaxton was suppressing.

  If she was making conscious choices, it implied she wasn't suffering from the same thing that took Callum and Allon down. There was something else seriously wrong with her. Worse than information overload.

  “I have no idea,” Dr. Jefferies said, “but I made some headway before being interrupted.” He walked back to his computer and turned the screen in their direction. “Obviously the frequency differed from what the chips are supposed to put out. It's running off something else entirely. Not controlled by the mainframe.”

  Sann leaned on the table with his face bent toward the screen. “Are you saying we have black market chips in our head?”

  “It would be difficult to say without actually seeing the chip. It's meant to mimic it however. There’s a signal going to it. That's why the scanner freaked out. You said you went through some type of test. Can you explain it to me?”

  “Not much to tell.” Jaxton bent to study the information on the screen even though it looked like gibberish to him. He angled his head toward Gemi and wished once again that she was with them. She would know how to decipher it.

  “Not much to tell?” Sann scoffed from his side. “They ran us through a hundred tests to demonstrate how the chips would affect everyone if they were shut off. Only it was actually a plot to scramble our minds and block out our real memories. It was horrible.”

  Dr. Jefferies ran his thumb over his chin as he took in the information. “What memories are coming back? Your real ones or the tests?”

  “It's hard to even tell,” Jaxton said.

  The doctor made a clicking sound in his throat then turned back to the computer. “Was it just you three?”

  “No. There were several others. One ran away, two others have had…issues...”

  Jaxton glanced at Gemi again, his gut clenching at the thought of her following the same path.

  “They went insane. One killed himself while attacking us. The other ripped out the throat of a member of the base and attacked Gemi. So I shot him.” Sann doled out the information Jaxton preferred not to say out loud.

  “When did this start happening?”

  “Shortly after the base was overthrown. It was a pretty fast decline.”

  “Is it safe to assume she is on a similar path?” Dr. Jefferies said gesturing toward Gemi

  “No,” Jaxton snapped right as Sann blurted out “Yes.”

  Jaxton narrowed his eyes at Sann and clenched his jaw. “No,” he repeated. “The others had seizures first. She sort of lost it out of the blue.”

  Dr. Jefferies nodded and typed something on the keyboard.

  “Didn't you say she had seizures when she first remembered things?” Sann asked.

  “That was months ago.”

  “So it could be a delayed reaction.”

  Dr. Jefferies stood up from the desk and approached Jaxton with the same scanning device hooked up to a small tablet by a thin white cord. He rested it on the back of his neck and watched the screen as information populated on it. He pocketed the device and pulled up a dial on the screen. His fingers glided over the tablet as he made eye contact with him.

  “Did you feel that?”

  “Feel what?”

  “Interesting.” The doctor strode back to his computer not even bothering to answer his question.

  Jaxton glanced at Sann who raised one eyebrow in response. The room fell silent except for the doctor's fingers on the keyboard. He was growing increasingly agitated with the man, but if he was on to something that might fix Gemi he would rather bite his tongue than bite his head off and distract him.

  “I have a theory,” Dr. Jefferies said as he stood up. “I think those chips were inserted when you were under to control what you saw. Dagmar already manipulated the levels of the chips. I wouldn’t put it past him to try to manipulate this.”

  “Are you saying he planned out the things we saw?” Sann asked.

  “In a way. I believe he used it to manipulate things to his advantage. Tell me, did any of you find yourselves violent with each other during the testing?”

  Jaxton and Sann looked at each other. He had already heard about the numerous times that Sann had attacked Gemi, hell he even witnessed one event. Gemi herself had mentioned how she had attacked him or in some cases killed him. Jaxton was the only one who couldn't remember doing anything violent unless it was to protect someone.

  “I'll take that silence as a yes,” Dr. Jefferies mumbled. “It's possible that someone is still controlling these chips. It would make sense that you can't remember that much about your real lives and that you get increasingly violent before well...” He motioned to Gemi before meeting their gaze again. “I don't believe you’re out of his game.”

  Anger flared in Jaxton. Leave it to that bastard to still have his grasp on them. It made sense that things didn't go downhill with everyone until the base was brought down and the mainframe was destroyed. After that they lost all communication. It was possible that someone broke Dagmar out of jail and he was attempting to finish cleaning house, in a very slow, drawn-out manner. There would be no one to stop him now that the world was in disarray for real.

  “What would happen if you took it out?” Jaxton asked.

  “I have no idea what that would do to your brain. You would most likely be slammed with all your memories, real and fake at one time. I’m not sure if anyone could survive that.”

  “Then turn them off.”

  “I can't. Not without having one of the chips. I need to extract information from it. If it’s the regular chips with modifica
tions, I should be able to make a program that can control it. Perhaps reverse the damage that's been done.”

  “But you said the chips couldn’t be altered.”

  “I was wrong.”

  “Do you suppose that's the real reason that the regular folk lost it as well when the mainframe shut down?” Sann asked

  “It's possible he wrote his own code, and it’s affecting everyone. It would be one hell of a diversion.”

  “Well we need to do something.” Jaxton slammed his fists on the table, letting his rage boil over. “You have two people here with chips you can study. If it means that we can correct everything that went wrong, then I don't care what the outcome for us is.”

  “What about her? She's already on the decline. I can take hers out and—”

  “Absolutely not! If you want someone, then I will volunteer. It would be nice to remember my life as it was before all this shit.”

  “Well, that's the thing. You’ll remember everything. Your life as it was, the tests, and now—all at once. I don’t think the human brain could handle that. You may die.”

  “We’re all going to die if we wait here and let things get worse. Besides, a part of me died the moment I lost her.”

  Dr. Jefferies looked from him to Gemi and back to him, realization showing in his eyes. “She's your…?”

  “Wife. From a life I can't remember.”

  “And what will she do if you go through with this and you die?”

  “In her state she isn't even going to notice. Unless the chip gives you something to help the others, then she’ll understand why I did it because she would have done the same thing.”

  “Think twice about this, man,” Sann said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “You might not come out of this. Or worse, come out just like the others. These are mere theories the doc is throwing out.”

  “It's better than nothing.” Jaxton shook off Sann’s hand. “When can we do this, Doc?”

  He glanced between Sann and Jaxton, his eyes growing larger. “I mean, at any time I guess. But—”

  “Good. Let's do this then.”

  Jaxton walked over to the gurney that Gemi had laid on when they first arrived and removed his shirt, swallowing hard when his heart began thundering in his chest. He could put on a convincing front that he wasn't scared, but he was terrified to die and leave the world and his wife the way they were.

  He tossed his shirt on an empty chair next to them and hopped up on the bed, watching as the doctor pulled an IV stand over and prepared a saline bag. Sann leaned against the desk and stared at him, his face falling when he met his gaze. Jaxton gave him a reassuring smile and looked back over to what the doc was doing. Just as he was about to insert the needle Jaxton pulled away and jumped off the bed.

  “One second,” he said as he strode over to where Gemi sat unconscious.

  He caught her head in his hands and planted a kiss on her forehead before resting his own against it. “I will come back to you and I promise that I'll bring you back with me.”

  He reached around and unclasped the chain at the back of her neck and dumped the rings into his hand. Trying his best to ignore the two sets of eyes fixed on him, he slipped his wedding ring onto its rightful spot on his left ring finger, then did the same to her. His lips found hers for a split second before he stood up and walked back to where Dr. Jefferies waited for him.

  Jaxton pulled himself onto the bed with renewed determination and extended his arm for the doctor.

  “I'm going to sedate you and then remove the chip,” he said as he pushed the needle into his vein. “After that, it's up to you to find your way back.”

  Jaxton nodded his head and lay down so he was staring at the ceiling. He closed his eyes as he felt the fluid run through his veins. Pushing out everything else he focused on Gemi's face. He conjured up memories of the last night they spent together at the base, focusing on her beautiful smile.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Gemi sat across from him on the worn hardwood floor. They were in the living room of his parents' house. He had dreamed about it a few times and always in small snippets. However, this time from his spot on the floor, he could not only see it, but feel the warm air emanating from the fireplace. The room smelled like damp soil and spices. If he tilted his head toward the shaded window, he could hear the rain beating down on the rooftop.

  He was home.

  He focused his attention back on Gemi. She was sitting with her legs crossed, her icy blue eyes burning a hole through him. Her expression was haunted. She looked so frail, so scared that it caused his heart to ache. Jaxton reached out for her, but right as his hand was about caress her knee an earsplitting scream filled the surrounding space.

  His hand froze midair and her eyes widened so much that it was mostly the whites he was staring at. Jaxton broke her gaze and twisted around. The room was cordoned off in the center with a set of white drapes. When he leaned to the side, he could see a shadow of someone moving behind it. As he was trying to make out who the person was, the small space filled with the shriek once again causing him to jump to his feet. He staggered toward the sound, but Gemi reached out and wrapped her hand around his wrist, yanking him around to face her.

  She shook her head at him, the terror visible in her eyes and the way she shrank away from the noise.

  “What's wrong?” he asked.

  Her grip tightened on him in response.

  “It's okay.” He kissed the top of her head and stepped away from her toward the white curtain.

  As he approached, the cry intensified, but was mixed with a deep rumbling laugh. Jaxton threw open the drapes and instantly felt as if all the air had been pushed from his lungs.

  His father was bent over Adaline, his hands dripping with her blood. She was white as a ghost, her lips turning blue from blood loss and shock. If someone told him she was dead, he would have believed them.

  A scream filled the small space again. Jaxton pressed his palms over his ears to block it out. Up close it was a supernatural sound. As if it came from a terrified creature rather than a human. His father chuckled at the pain in the cry and dug his fingers back into Adaline.

  Jaxton's gaze darted around the room searching for the person in pain since it was not coming from the unconscious Adaline. He pivoted around the table and his eyes settled on a young Gemi. She was curled up in the corner, her face as white as her sister's. Her entire body was shaking so hard it looked as though she was struggling to breathe. He rushed to her side and draped his arm across her trembling shoulders.

  “Hey, it's okay. Don't look at it,” he whispered in her ear, but she stared straight ahead as if his words couldn't reach wherever she was in her head.

  “Rethinking accompanying these two morons, aren't you? Too bad you've already seen too much,” his father spat at her.

  Jaxton sprang to his feet. He couldn't believe his father was taunting a terrified child. He remembered he was a bastard, but not completely heartless.

  His father slammed down the tool he had been using and wiped his hands on a grimy rag. “This is your fault, you know that, right?” He turned toward him, his eyes devoid of any emotion. “She's going to die because of you. Most likely that one too.” He nodded toward Gemi before exiting through the curtain.

  Jaxton dashed out after him, but the only person on the other side of the divide was Gemi. His Gemi. She had her arms hanging at her side, her hands clenched so tight her knuckles were white.

  “It's okay,” he told her as he stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the grisly scene. “We get out. We survive all this. I should have never brought you here. I’m so sorry.” He pulled her into his chest, but she remained stock-still with her arms still rigid at her sides.

  The wail from the other side of the divide swelled and then stopped just as every window burst inward and gunfire erupted outside. Even over the pounding of the rain he could still make out the screams coming from somewhere outside. His grip tightened on her as his heart
beat at a dangerous pace. He needed to get her out of there. Get her someplace safe.

  She drew a short and unsteady breath against his shoulder. It was strangled, as if she was having trouble getting air into her lungs. He pushed her to arm’s length and was startled to discover his shirt stained red on the shoulder and blood oozing from her mouth. She moved away from him, clutching her stomach as she tried desperately to breathe.

  Jaxton took a step toward her as something whizzed past his ear and hit Gemi with such force that she stumbled backward. Her breathing was haggard as his arms found her. A green arrow protruded from the left side of her chest, the feathers fluttering in the wind that blew through the shattered window.

  Her eyes were wild and unblinking as they scanned the room behind him. Trembling fingers found his shirt and held on to it as if he was the only thing anchoring her to the world.

  “You’re not leaving me like this again.” He caught her head in his hand as it lolled to the side, drawing her body into him in the same movement.

  “You never could protect her,” a familiar voice hissed so close to his ear he could feel the hot breath on his skin.

  Kai stepped out in front of him, a wicked smile twisting her features. She slid her knuckles across Gemi's cheek and shushed her.

  “There’s no way around this fate.”

  Gemi gasped and her grip on him loosened.

  Kai shifted away from her, holding up a blood-soaked knife in his field of vision, and laughed.

  Another explosion rocked the house, causing dust and chunks of the ceiling to fall to the ground around them. He sidestepped with Gemi in his embrace, just barely dodging the debris. When he glanced up, Kai was gone.

  Jaxton reached down and scooped Gemi into his arms as the last bit of strength left her body. He sank down with her in the midst of the living room and chaos and cradled her limp form.

  “Stay with me,” he murmured as he rocked her.

  She had so many wounds, including ones that appeared out of nowhere, that he didn't know where to apply pressure. So instead he held her close and continued to rock her. Her breath was coming in bursts, each exhale producing an appalling amount of bloody froth from her mouth.