Chapter 5 Grim and deadly revelations

The morning was here, the sun was disguised behind clouds, making the world shimmer dimly in light, but enough for people to see. 

Winter.

More and more snow coated the town and the forest area, making the weather turn from cool to even cooler. The turn of the season had arrived and with it brought an influx of snow and chills, and along with that, young (Y/n) would awake to a new chapter in his life. 

For last night, as the snow made it's debut, so did (Y/n)'s love for Emily. Waking up, yet again in a pool of sweat, (Y/n)'s heart felt full of excitement and passion, something he never imagined he would experience for a long time since his business with Catherine. A smile present on his face, he eagerly got out of his bed, looking out towards the window to see his town now blanketed in white from the snow. Heading over to the bathroom to prepare for the new day, he now had all the time to spend with Emily after being fired from his job. 

Though, it seems as though his day would become grim.

With just a few steps, (Y/n) immediately felt weak, his chest feeling like it was clenching in every direction. It was absolute pain for him, and he exerted his pain through violent coughing, even blood emitting from his coughs. Raising his hand up to his mouth to try and control the horrendous coughing, he noticed the blood spewing from his mouth. 

In a shock, he rushed over to the bathroom...

Panting heavily...

A shot of worry in his mind...

He stepped in front of the mirror...

Looking at his morbid and gauntly reflection, it was like staring at a corpse. His skin became much more pale than before, his eyes becoming gaunt and red in color. Breathing heavily, recovering from the coughing, he saw the blood stain on his lips, opening up wide to see what was causing it. Inside his mouth looked normal, besides from his tongue being a severely red color. 

He looked terrible and felt it.

(Y/n) needed to see a doctor and quickly, because his breathing was raspy and uncontrollable, his chest was feeling like it needed to explode. Without any concern for how he appeared, he slipped on his shoes, disregarding his socks and walked out his home.

The brightness from the snow overwhelmed his eyes, making him squint. (Y/n) would look around and see other people all dressed in wintery clothing, keeping themselves warm, whereas (Y/n) didn't bother equipping any sort of warm apparel because of the direness of his current health.

Ignoring the cold as best as he could, wrapping his arms around himself to counter the brash weather temperature, (Y/n) in a hurry walked down the road to meet with a doctor. Along his walk, (Y/n) came across the poor souls he saw before, the ones that had befallen with the case of the awful new disease, Cholera, and worry took over his mind.

Young (Y/n) was petrified that perhaps he had fallen ill to this new illness, this deadly new sickness. He shuttered at this thought, not wanting to believe it nor even think it. Keeping his eyes straight, he kept his eyes forward not paying any mind to these unfortunate people who had this awful plight of Cholera.

As he drew nearer to the doctor's office, the coughing returned, making (Y/n)'s chest palpitate harshly to try and calm it. Blood spat out from his mouth, landing on the white snow, making it a horrifying sight to truly behold. 

(Y/n): "No...."

This seemed a nightmare to (Y/n), who felt like if he ran off of a cliff right now, he would wake up, but the pain, the feeling of the cold felt all too real. Breathing rashly once more, (Y/n)'s strength vanished and walking became a strenuous task, making it seem near impossible to continue on like this, walking in a cold snowy setting while coughing up blood and feeling like absolute death. He needed to reach the doctor's office soon, otherwise from how he was acting, it felt like he would soon share the similarity of being dead like Emily.

Turning the corner, the doctor's office was right in front of (Y/n). Leaning against the concrete wall, using it as leverage to keep himself from collapsing, he would slowly make his way towards to entrance, shivering from the cold and breathing frantically, trying to maintain his air supply. Using his shoulder to push through the door, he is greeted quickly by other patients who rested on chairs and stretchers in the main lobby room. They all looked like the ones he passed along the way, Cholera victims, all with pale skin like himself and their faces looking gaunt, they looked no different from zombies. 

Inside his mind and heart even, (Y/n) was panicking, turmoil taking over his thoughts as to if he somehow caught Cholera from something. The way he looked and the way he felt, he was certain that he tragically caught what these poor unfortunate souls are suffering with.

Nurse: "Yes sir? Do you need a doctor?"

A nurse stops his inner worrying and snaps him back into reality, making (Y/n) look weakly down at the nurse who spoke to him, she held a clipboard in her arms. Her expression was worrisome, which (Y/n) was sure was because of how he looked in front of her.

(Y/n): "Yes... please I need a doctor... my lungs..."

Hearing his own voice made him scared, for it sounded raspy and deeper than usual. The coughing must have done a real number on his lungs and his voice, making him sound far different than how he usually sounds.

Nurse: "Doctor Morrison?"

Calling out to a doctor, who walks out the door, donning a long white flock coat, it was a woman, her hair was short and tied behind in a bun. She turned to face the nurse who called her, taking the clipboard from her hands, checking off some things on it not even paying (Y/n) any attention before marking off some final things and handing it back to the nurse. 

Doctor: "Thank you Harriet, yes can I help you?"

(Y/n): "Please doctor... I'm in pain..."

Doctor: "Hmm, follow me."

With a struggle, (Y/n) followed the doctor into a separate room, taking a seat in the chair that rested in the middle of the room. Breathing weakly, (Y/n) began coughing yet again, which made the doctor witness him and look down at him with a look of serious concern.

Doctor: "Coughing. I see..."

(Y/n): "Yeah... It's... it's real bad... my lungs hurt..."

Doctor: "Is there blood when you cough young man?"

(Y/n): "Yes..."

Doctor: "That's... well... try not to cough on me, now hold still..."

Taking a stethoscope and placing it gently against (Y/n)'s chest, she monitored his heartbeat and rate, looking for any anomalies or irregular behavior. Breathing as best as he could, each inhale and exhale was weak and raspy in sound, making the doctor take a deep breath and sigh, looking at (Y/n) with a grim look.

Doctor: "You're very pale... your eyes seem to be red in color around the corners..."

(Y/n): "What's wrong with me? Do I have... Cholera?..."

Doctor: "When I first saw you, I thought you did but inspecting you further... it might be... something more..."

(Y/n): "Something more?..."

Doctor: "A fever as well, I can see the sweat on your forehead. Even in this weather... Here, let me see your tongue young man, open wide and please, do your utmost to not cough."

Opening his mouth, he felt as though his mouth was on fire, as he felt the instrument the doctor used to analyze his tongue touch it. He kept his eyes on the doctor at all times, to see how she will react to seeing his mouth, for he did notice it was noticeably red in color. Her reaction did not make him feel at all at ease, for she pulled away slowly, a look of sadness in her eyes, like she was defeated in a battle. She tossed the instrument she used to look at his tongue in the trash bin, before walking over and begun washing her hands with a cloth, leaving (Y/n) in silence for a moment before he asked what was the matter with him.

(Y/n): "Please... what's wrong with me?"

Doctor: "Young man... you... you have 'consumption'..."

(Y/n): "C-consumption?"

Doctor: "Or in scientific but also... grim terms... tuberculosis..."

Silence befell the room, as (Y/n) looked on in horror at the doctor, his eyes starting to water up from hearing this tragic news. It was like his heart stopped completely, like time froze and stood still, unable to fathom what he just heard. The doctor knew that hearing this made him panic within and surely shattered some glass inside his soul. 

Doctor: "I'm... I'm so sorry for you son. Many have been diagnosed with it lately. It's a slow process you see, for it's not like Cholera... unfortunately I... I cannot treat you... there is no cure for this yet I'm afraid..."

(Y/n): "T-tuberculosis..."

Doctor: "Yes... I... I really want to help but... there's just nothing we can do for you... now do you possibly know how you got this? If you don't mind me asking, it would help us determine and avoid further cases of this... you know..."

(Y/n): "I... I'm going to... die?"

Doctor: "I'm sorry young man..."

(Y/n) was merely a kid, nearing on twenty years old, and already his fate was sealed. He was to die painfully and slowly from a disease he didn't even know how he got. His lips quivering and his heart pounding slowly, (Y/n) was in shambles within.

Doctor: "Now please, do you have any idea how you may have gotten it?"

(Y/n): "No... I... I don't know who could have spread it to me possibly... I worked at a bank but everyone seemed fine there..."

Doctor: "Was anyone you had contact with coughing? Showed signs of what you have?"

(Y/n): "I...I don't...."

Then it all became clearer, for (Y/n) did know who was the cause of his ill fated future, the one who not only broke his heart but also is responsible for it stopping soon enough...

(Y/n): "My former girlfriend... Catherine..."

Doctor: "Catherine... I had a patient come in here earlier named Catherine, she too was diagnosed with consumption, err, tuberculosis... Was she bleach blonde? Green eyes?"

(Y/n): "That would be her..."

Doctor: "Did you two kiss at all?"

(Y/n): "Of course... is... is that how I...."

Doctor: "Yes, she must have transmitted it via saliva to you. Either that or she coughed on you and you didn't realize it until.... well you know..."

(Y/n): "She... infected me..."

Doctor: "Look son, I can only recommend a few things, the winter is not a great season for your disease, if you can, try to stay as warm as you can. Wear multiple layers, stay within warm areas. It'll slow it down, but... well, just rest as best as you can until..."

Nodding, (Y/n) kept his eyes on the floor, not even staring at the doctor as he finished up his business in her office, walking out back into the snow ridden outside. His expression, like the weather, was frozen. A look of disbelief took over his face, his mind racing and his heart slowly beating.

(Y/n) was going to die.

Tuberculosis.

Foul business.

Walking slowly, his breath still playing catch up, the others that riddled the streets, looked onward at him, at his ghastly look and whispered to themselves and kept their distance. Everything seemed blank in his mind, that he was to soon die from something that he didn't even ask for, all because of his former love interest. With this new knowledge that he is on borrowed time, he wanted to spend it as much as he could with someone who could comfort and not be at risk from his illness, Emily.

So letting out a few more coughs, with blood spitting out from time to time, his chest clenching and pulling in every direction, (Y/n) in a fatigued state begun making his way to the abandoned forest to alert Emily of the dire and awful news that he was to soon pass. Without any warm clothing on, he felt no chills throughout his body, it was like it completely shut down and ignored any feelings the environment or temperature handed him. He felt dead already, yet until he was buried in the ground, he simply walked on the Earth, awaiting his fate, but at least he had someone who will be there until he passes, and he was well on his way to that someone.



Comment