Liberation

Chapter 22

Cassia's point of view:

I am nearly blinded by a sudden stroke of light coming from the window. Looking outside, I see a massive wall of fire building upwards from the ground and surrounding the city, closing everyone in and keeping everything out.

"Ok everyone, now's the time. Let's go," I say, turning to face my team of doctors and nurses.

Kyle stands at the door, holding it open for everyone as we begin to file out.

We're all dressed identically, adorning simple blue scrubs with white lab coats. We are armed with kind hearts, clear heads, and healing hands. With these three traits, none shall grow weary.

As I step outside, I catch site of a certain green-eyed friend of mine, stumbling in our direction.

"Julia!" I call out her name excitedly, happy that she chose to be one of the healers today. However, as I get closer to her, I can see that something's different...that something's wrong.

Her eyes are wide and terrified, darting in every direction like she's afraid something will jump out and attack. Her hair falls messily in her face, and her hands are outreached as if she needs something to hold onto.

"Julia?" I ask, concerned when I reach her. "Cassia," she breaths out, wobbling like a baby deer trying to stand up for the first time.

She looks up at me, pleading with her eyes for help. Her pupils are dilating rapidly, and her face is turning as white as a sheet. But when I sense her heart abnormally speed up, I know what's happening.

"Kyle..." I call out for him, too stunned to act on my own. But luckily, he hears me and runs to my side.

"Why is she going into shock?" He asks when he reaches us, sounding worried himself. I try to assist with the healing process, but my hands are shaking too badly as I watch Julia's eyes roll back into her head. Kyle instead purifies her nervous system on his own.

"I don't know...she just came over like this. I felt her heart rate change so quickly and she wasn't standing up straight...I didn't know what to make of it," I tell him.

More minutes pass, and even though Julia has fallen unconscious, she looks more at peace than she did when she was awake. Kyle finishes the healing, takes a step back, and sighs. "She'll be alright, should be awake in a few minutes. Do you want me to stay with you in case she needs more medical attention when she wakes up?" He asks.

But I shake my head, feeling a bit more calm now. "No, I think I can take care of her now. Go on ahead with the other healers. Susan should be up there waiting for you by now anyway," I tell him, and with that, he runs off to meet her.

I look back at Julia, not understanding what could have possibly happened to make her like this. Speaking in healing terms, she has no illness or physical insufficiency that could be causing her to behave like so. But her mind is on high alert, like something happened to put her brain in overdrive. Julia does, however, have a habit of falling victim to insomnia; even still, I've never seen someone sleep deprived act like this before. Color starts to return to her face, but nothing can make her look less unsettling than she already does.

Underneath her closed eyelids, I can see her eyes darting back and forth, like they long to escape the darkness trapping them and see the light once again.