Siaren Carpenter had seen hundreds of children die, and now she anticipated her own son’s final breath. Death’s journey had made her skinless, every noise shriller and each kiss sweeter than before his sickness, with no barriers to shield her heart from the bite.
“Maxx, I will not leave. You’re sick, not to mention nine years old.”
“But mom,” Maxx argued with an unsteady breath. “I’ll be okay. You can call Jack to watch me.”
Siaren leaned over and laid her hand across her son’s sticky forehead. She scanned his body and his temperature registered at 103 degrees. She jerked the covers off of Maxx and watched chills scatter across his scorching skin. Siaren had protected her son from the nanotechnology, and now she second-guessed her decision.
“You need a bath.”
No, I hate those. I’m tired of baths.” …show more content…
She closed the door behind her and slid to the floor, realizing she hadn’t cried since she the night she had decided to pack a single bag and walk out on her husband. She wouldn’t cry today either. She refused. Siaren stuck her tears in her back pocket and put them away for later. She stood up and stared at the women in front of her, the stranger who never changed, never aged. Siaren peeled her eyes away from the mirror and opened the medicine cabinet in search of a bottle of ibuprofen she had bought through the underground. Guild reverberated from her brain into her stomach. Maxx needed more medicine and it was tricky to find these days. Not impossible, but difficult. The majority of people no longer required medicine, only Analogs like Maxx. Siaren grabbed the almost empty bottle and headed back to Maxx’s
“Maxx, I will not leave. You’re sick, not to mention nine years old.”
“But mom,” Maxx argued with an unsteady breath. “I’ll be okay. You can call Jack to watch me.”
Siaren leaned over and laid her hand across her son’s sticky forehead. She scanned his body and his temperature registered at 103 degrees. She jerked the covers off of Maxx and watched chills scatter across his scorching skin. Siaren had protected her son from the nanotechnology, and now she second-guessed her decision.
“You need a bath.”
No, I hate those. I’m tired of baths.” …show more content…
She closed the door behind her and slid to the floor, realizing she hadn’t cried since she the night she had decided to pack a single bag and walk out on her husband. She wouldn’t cry today either. She refused. Siaren stuck her tears in her back pocket and put them away for later. She stood up and stared at the women in front of her, the stranger who never changed, never aged. Siaren peeled her eyes away from the mirror and opened the medicine cabinet in search of a bottle of ibuprofen she had bought through the underground. Guild reverberated from her brain into her stomach. Maxx needed more medicine and it was tricky to find these days. Not impossible, but difficult. The majority of people no longer required medicine, only Analogs like Maxx. Siaren grabbed the almost empty bottle and headed back to Maxx’s