Matthew was about to press Jonathan more when his brother turned around, still sitting in that computer wheel chair. "I'm not surprised you couldn't get here in one go," was all he said at first, but his expression, for once, was telling me more than I wanted to know. "You barely have anything left. I'm surprised you can still stand. It'll be done eating the muscles in your arms and legs soon enough, and then it'll start attacking your vital organs." I wanted to tell him to stop reminding me, but I bit my tongue; I figured he had to be building up to something here. "There's nothing I can do for you, Ashton," he finally admitted, and I saw his face change from passive curiosity to genuinely saddened. We had never been too close, but close enough to call each other friends.
"I thought as much," I replied after a while, mostly coaxed into saying something when I saw Matthew slowly losing his patience at my silence. "Tell me, then. Tell me what's going to happen."
Jonathan glanced at Matthew for a moment, and that's when I realized even Matthew knew what I wanted them to tell me upfront. I was waiting for them to tell me that the only possible outcome was dying. The x-rays were a mess; only a thin layer of muscles was left on my arms and legs. They were slowly being eaten away by the poison. It's important to mention that Hydra is a strain that merges with the host's body; as such, not only were my muscles being melted and eaten away, but that also included the Hydra parasite inside my body.
I was still thinking about those x-rays, the two brothers still quiet and unsure about what to say. "Dude, man, Ashton," Matthew started awkwardly, gesticulating a little towards me, but I could see that he really didn't quite know how to word what he wanted to say. "We don't want... to let you die," he said, finally uttering that one word that we often considered taboo, for obvious reasons. "We just can't do anything for you, man. Your body is just... gone. Literally."
Jonathan had his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on me, and it took a while for him to speak up; but when he did, he said something I hadn't foretold at all. "I do know someone who could help you, however."
"I thought as much," I replied after a while, mostly coaxed into saying something when I saw Matthew slowly losing his patience at my silence. "Tell me, then. Tell me what's going to happen."
Jonathan glanced at Matthew for a moment, and that's when I realized even Matthew knew what I wanted them to tell me upfront. I was waiting for them to tell me that the only possible outcome was dying. The x-rays were a mess; only a thin layer of muscles was left on my arms and legs. They were slowly being eaten away by the poison. It's important to mention that Hydra is a strain that merges with the host's body; as such, not only were my muscles being melted and eaten away, but that also included the Hydra parasite inside my body.
I was still thinking about those x-rays, the two brothers still quiet and unsure about what to say. "Dude, man, Ashton," Matthew started awkwardly, gesticulating a little towards me, but I could see that he really didn't quite know how to word what he wanted to say. "We don't want... to let you die," he said, finally uttering that one word that we often considered taboo, for obvious reasons. "We just can't do anything for you, man. Your body is just... gone. Literally."
Jonathan had his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on me, and it took a while for him to speak up; but when he did, he said something I hadn't foretold at all. "I do know someone who could help you, however."