We come back from the alien world, that I found out was called, Dirthmir. After swimming to the bottom of the lake, we entered an underground city filled with all sort of different alien life. All this time we had been calling these people B's 'pets' when in truth, they were an intelligent and noble race. They may have been quadrupeds, but, they are more than capable of building and creating things in their own way. They were amazing and I could have just sat and watched them for hours.
However, I was quickly ushered into a room with Bavarthos, the Queen and several of the leaders and was quickly asked to show them the footage of Thietian. Bavarthos and his mother, they shared a look, as if communicating something between just the two of them. Then we discussed our new allies and their needs and requirements while on Earth. The leaders then gave orders to ready the ones coming, and within just a few hours, they were done.
We all swam back to the surface and traveled back to the portal with Vartonix, who carried Bavarthos, the queen and myself across the waters, while pulling a giant sled with supplies. Our new allies swam alongside us until we made it to the ground again. Once back at Bav's caves system, we found Viekar and Rakara, ordering and holding a tight ship with Bavarthos's men. They were packing crates, filling them with bottles of unknown substances in the workroom.
"What's all this?" Bavarthos inquires as we enter the workroom.
Rakara stops and turns to Bavarthos with a grin, "A gift for the graves. Sodium and Potassium grenades. The compounds and our allies were notified a few days ago of the graves and everyone was requested to gather and make as many explosive items as safely as possible. So I helped out making these. When they are thrown the thin glass inside breaks and water mixes with the raw material and the oxygen in the surrounding air makes it go.." Rakara lifts her hands in the air and imitates an explosion, "boom."
Bavarthos pulls her close to his side and nuzzles the side of her head, whispering words for just her that make her blush. Her eyes lock with mine and go wide.
"Sin! Contact Turk! It's important!" She is so serious and demanding in that moment that the urgency infiltrates me.
I pull out the special com device and contact Turk immediately. Turk sends me a message to go to the Canada compound hospital, ICU, look for a male dryad nurse and he will lead me to room 9.
"I've got to go, B. I'll be back soon." I inform him and he nods.
"Go, we will be setting our allies up in the areas we can here. We will contact our person at HQ to find out battle strategies and make our own around them. We can no longer rely on the loyalty of a particular person, so we must work around it."
I nod in agreement before snapping to the Canadian compounds hospital. I make my way to ICU, looking for the nurses station. As I approach, I notice the handsome nurse with chestnut brown hair and striking green eyes like mine, working at a computer at the nurses station.
"Hello, Turk sent me here to see room 9." I say nonchalantly.
He looks up from his computer and smiles. "I've been waiting for you for a few days now. Come on," he stands and motions for me to follow him, "right this way."
He leads me to locked corridor, one that requires his blood by the way his finger jolts when he presses it to a pad. It moves over showing six inches thick of steel rods and bars that help lock it in place. He shuts the door behind us and walks down the short corridor.
"Tim!" He calls to someone who turns around and is an exact replica of him.
"Oh good! You're here! Come right this way, I'm going to have to speak to you for a moment." Tim motions to a room and waves the one with me off. "Thanks, brother."
We enter the room and he shuts the door, motioning for me to take a seat.
"I'm Tim, Major General Sin, sir. I wanted to talk to you before I take you to him, so you're not as shocked and are aware of the situation." He says with reservation.
"See who? What's the situation going on?" I ask bewildered.
He sighs, "Do you know what Wasting Water is?" He raises a hopeful brow at me.
My confused response answers that for him though.
"Wasting Water tastes, smells and hydrates the body just fine, but it causes the body to waste away slowly, unless a substantial amount is consumed and then it much more rapid. It appears that he was given a large amount of the Wasting Water. While he's been gone for a few weeks, time went differently for him in his mind, so it feels like months for him. I do not want you to be alarmed when you see him, he's got very little meat on him, no body fat is on him at all. We're working on him gaining back some of his weight, but we have to do this slowly so it's healthy weight. He has a long road ahead of him, but we're going to take care of him." Tim stands and goes to the door.
"Any questions before we go see him?" He opens the door for me to exit.
"Who are we talking about?" My heart skips a beat, but my mind is quick to squash the idea. 'It can't be him...'
Tim just ushers me out and down the hall to the far end.
He opens a door and smiles, "Sir, you have a visitor. I'll be down the hall if you need me." He walks away and leaves me to step through the doorway.
My heart stops when I do step through the door. My knees go weak and I clutch the door frame for support to keep me from falling, but I still slide to the floor. My shock is almost too much for me to handle. I sit on my knees, jaw dropped and trembling, my heart trying to beat, my breath caught in my chest, and tears forming in my unblinking eyes before becoming waterfalls of a vast array of emotions.
I take in a ragged breath, pull myself up off the floor, and take shaky steps towards him. He sits there looking at me in a chair by the window, where a puzzle sits before him, barely started. A small bowl of food is next to him barely touched, along with a glass and pitcher of water.
His thin, bony hand reaches out and shakily picks up the glass of water and drinks it in one go. I can see every muscle move in his throat as he swallows mouthful after mouthful of water. He fills up the glass again, drinking more before motioning to the other seat.
"I must be harder to look at than I thought. Come sit with me, Mary. I've missed you." John's discomfort is evident on his face over my reaction, but he tries to show that even though it hurts him, he's understanding.
'God, I'm such an ass!' I think as I rush over to him and throw my arms around him, not caring that he looks like he's been living in a concentration camp for years, I'm just grateful he's alive.
As I sob, holding him like I'd never get to see him again, all I whisper to him in between my sobs is, "I love you, I love you, I love you..." His arms wrap around me and I finally feel whole again.