Somewhere In The Middle

by Lucas Coon

  “Hey, uh, Andrei. What kind of tests are you needing to do? Like, what are you planning on doing?” He remained in front of the doctor and asked his question.

  “There are a few things that we'll need to do.” He didn't break his stare from the room. “Come on, we need to--”

  “Like, taking blood? With needles?” Darren put his hand on Andrei's shoulder. Andrei stopped and looked at him.

  “Yes, we will be taking blood, why?”

  “Uh, before we do that, could I go to the restroom?” He looked at Andrei with what almost appeared to be pleading eyes.

  “No we need to get--”

  “Andrei, man, seriously. I freak out over needles. I'm not arguing here, I just really don't want to piss myself in front of my wife and daughter.” He changed his tone to a whisper. “Let me keep my pride man. If I die, I don't want that to be a memory.” Andrei squinted his brow at Darren and sighed.

  “Fine, King.” He waved King over. Andrei spoke with a volume and tone that made it obvious he wanted everyone to hear what he was about to say. “Take Darren to the restroom, keep on him the entire time.” He paused and looked back into the room at the other two adults that were listening. “If he does anything stupid, shoot to kill.”

  “Yes sir. Come on, Darren.” King and Darren walked out of the room and Andrei entered.

  “Your husband had best not be trying anything Kayla. I'm on my last thread here and really not wanting to put up with any more stupid ideas.” He walked over to where the others were standing.

  “I don't think he's...” She paused. Mitchell could tell she was being honest. She looked confused. “It's not a trick; he hates needles. They freak him out. ” She confirmed to him that Darren was being sincere.

  “Alright, I believe you.” He turned towards the chair. “Who is going first?” Mitchell and Kayla stared at each other. After a second of silent debating, Mitchell raised his hand. “Ah, good. Please have a seat Mitchell.” Mitchell sat down in the chair and put his arm out. He'd watched he doctors take blood from Aria enough at her appointments to know how it went. While he knew the routine he had never been in the hot seat and he wasn't looking forward to what was going to happen. Andrei sat in his own chair at a slight angle from Mitchell. He opened a wrapped syringe and a tube from the table next to him and started to press on Mitchell's arm. He could tell by the look on Mitchell's face that there was a slight bit of worry about him. “You've never done this before, have you Mitchell?” He laughed.

  “No, no I have not.” Mitchell wasn't as amused as Andrei was.

  “It's fine. It doesn't hurt much. Just don't think about it and it'll be over before you even realize it started.” He pressed the small needle into Mitchell's arm. He winced from the sting and he didn't like the feeling of the needle sticking into his vein, but Andrei was right; the pain was minimal. He looked over at the small vial hooked to the syringe. The glass slowly filled with a red liquid as Mitchell stared. It was almost hypnotic to watch. Andre pulled the vial off and hooked in a second one. “Almost done here. After this I'd like to get Lilly's, just in case. I don't know how you react to this Kayla, but I want you to be fully cognitive if she starts to have a fit.” He looked over to Kayla. She nodded in agreement. The attitude amongst the adults had changed, there was no more arguing or questioning.

  The second vial filled with the deep red color and he removed it from the syringe. He slowly pulled the needle from Mitchell's arm and taped a small cotton pad over where it was.

  “Go ahead and leave that on there for a while. You may end up with some bruising but that's nor--” Andrei's statement was cut off by the sound of three bangs in the distance. All three of them looked to the door and the realization of what it was quickly set in. Kayla covered her mouth and she quickly turned to sobbing. “Dammit.” Andrei looked back at her. “I told him not to do anything. You said that he wasn't going to!” He slammed the vial down on the tray angrily. “Dammit! Why? Why can't you people just listen to me? Now I only have you to test.” He grabbed the vials from the tray and rolled his chair over to the wall on the opposite side of the room. He continued to look at Kayla as she sobbed; Lilly had yet to realize what just happened. He preferred that it stay that way while they were in the lab. He grabbed a sticker label and placed it over the first vial, then did the same to the second.

  “No...no, no, no...” Kayla looked like she was about to lose it.

  “Kayla, stay calm.” He looked down at the labels. “At least for Lilly's sake. I'm sorry about that, but it doesn't change the situation. We still need to try to cure you.” He placed the vials in a holster and grabbed a clipboard. “Mitchell; how tall are you?” Mitchell sat again in disbelief. “Hey. Mitchell. How tall are you?”

  “I'm about five-ten.” He kept his answer short.

  “Weight?” Andrei scribbled on the board.

  “About one-sixty. Are you not going to check--”

  “It doesn't matter. Any previous health concerns? You or your family?”

  “My mother was epileptic, my father had high blood pressure. What do you mean it's not important? Darren might need medical attention!”

  “Trust me; there's nothing I'll be able to do to save him. King shoots to kill.” He wrote Mitchell's information on the board. He put it down as the door opened. “Oh good. King I need you to run down to my room and grab--” He turned his chair to face the door and was met with a loud burst and a medium caliber round straight to his chest. He fell out of the chair and on to the ground. His white coat quickly became stained in red, as did the tile that he was lying on. He laid gasping and coughing and his mouth filled with his own blood. Darren stepped forward and their eyes met. He didn't say anything as they stared each other. After a few more moments of glaring and a few more forceful coughs, Andrei stopped moving.

  Mitchell looked up at Darren. His shirt and pants were covered in blood. He slowly looked up at Mitchell and Kayla, both still seated in in their chairs. Lilly remained motionless in her mother's arms. Darren pulled a pen out of his pocket and tossed it on the floor in front of Mitchell. The once clear plastic was now a dark red tone.

  “You can have that back, it did what I needed it to.” Darren broke motionless silence that had quickly fallen over the room. He remained over Andrei's now lifeless corpse.

  Mitchell looked around at the group. They were once again a family and man lost looking for his wife. The only difference was that now two of them were infected, one of them was ill with something completely different and the youngest would soon be an orphan. He looked over to Andrei's corpse; neither he nor King would be a problem anymore. He stood up from the chair and looked at Kayla. Her face told him all he needed to know; it wasn't over. Darren was right, none of this was over until they were dead. Mitchell turned back to Darren and saw the same look on his face. There was only one thing on his mind at this point.

  “Well...” He paused for a second. “...what now?”