Chapter 185: Chapter 185 - I Did What You Told
She turned again in the bed, the sheets shifting under her.
Marybeth came into view on the other side of the bed.
Iyisha stared at her hair, curls spread everywhere across the pillow, messy and full covering her face.
Then Marybeth’s eyes snapped open.
Iyisha gasped.
"What?" Marybeth squinted at her. "I can’t sleep with how soft this bed is. And you turning every five seconds is not helping."
Her eyes were bloodshot.
"Sorry," Iyisha said quietly.
Marybeth let out a long breath, then pushed herself up, dragging her pillow and blanket with her. She dropped them on the carpeted floor beside the bed and lay down without another word.
"Hey," Iyisha said, sitting up. "I won’t move anymore. I promise."
Marybeth adjusted her pillow. "It’s the bed. Not you."
She pulled the blanket over herself and settled on the floor.
Iyisha watched her for a moment, then let out a quiet sigh and dropped back onto the mattress with a soft thud.
The room felt too big now.
Malcolm had stayed at the hospital with Lance.
Just her and Marybeth in the Stevens house.
The two doctors had not even come back. They went straight with Lance after the party.
Her chest tightened slightly at the thought of that boy.
She turned her head toward the ceiling.
Another sigh slipped out.
"What’s got you sighing?" Marybeth asked from the floor.
Iyisha looked toward her, but all she saw was the edge of the bed and shadows.
She hesitated for a second.
"Lance," she said finally.
"He’s dying. It’s not a puzzle," Marybeth said from the floor.
Iyisha bit her lip. "Yeah," she went on. "Could be days. Weeks. Months. No one knows."
The words settled heavy in the room.
"You mean we could be staying here that long?" Marybeth asked quietly.
Iyisha stared at the ceiling.
New York wasn’t far.
A day, maybe less if the roads were clear.
Cena.
The thought came quick.
Too quick.
She turned slightly on the bed.
"Malcolm said New York has a drug," she muttered. "Something that could help him."
Silence stretched for a moment.
Marybeth shifted on the floor, the blanket rustling.
"And?" she asked.
Iyisha swallowed.
"He said it’s made from the DNA of an evolved human."
Marybeth didn’t answer right away.
Then—
"And he told you that for no reason?"
"He asked me to let the Stevenses test me," Iyisha said.
Marybeth went quiet for a moment.
"And what did you say?" she asked.
"I don’t want to," Iyisha muttered.
Lance’s face came back to her.
The way he laughed. The way he looked at Malcolm.
"What if they report me... what if they—" Her voice rose, then dropped again. "But then..."
She let out a breath.
Marybeth sighed with her.
"You know Lance is the reason Malcolm crossed the country, right?"
Iyisha’s hand clenched against the blanket.
"I know," she said. "I know. But I have Cena to think about too."
Marybeth shifted on the floor.
"It’s your choice."
Iyisha nodded slowly, even if Marybeth couldn’t see it.
"I’m thinking of letting them check me."
Silence filled the room.
"I can’t understand you," Marybeth said.
Iyisha stared at the ceiling, a small smile forming despite the weight in her chest.
"It’s for Malcolm," she said.
A pause.
"How can I say no?"
The next day, Iyisha sat on the hospital bed in a thin lab gown, her hands resting loosely on her lap.
The room was quiet except for the hum of machines.
She had gone straight to Susan.
No time to think too long.
No space to change her mind.
Across from her, Susan stood over a microscope, her hand steady on the table as she adjusted the lens. A small slide of blood sat beneath it.
Iyisha’s.
"I never thought I’d see this," Susan said, still looking through the scope. "A mutation."
She shifted slightly, studying it.
"I’ve never met one."
Iyisha watched her.
"Does it look different?"
Susan paused, then adjusted the focus again.
"No," she said. "Not at a glance." She straightened a little. "Your white blood cells aren’t behaving normally," Susan said. "They’re reacting faster than they should."
Then she looked at Iyisha directly.
"Are you sure you’re evolved?"
Iyisha let out a small breath of laughter.
"Pretty sure," she said. "I died."
Susan didn’t react right away.
"I became a zombie," Iyisha added.
Susan tilted her head slightly, studying her more closely now.
"And you remember it?" she asked.
Iyisha nodded once.
"The theories are right," she said. "The brain doesn’t shut down immediately."
Her fingers tightened slightly against her lap.
"I lost control of my body," she continued. "But I was still there."
She swallowed.
"I could think. I could see."
Susan stood still for a moment, then stepped closer, examining her face like she was trying to match what she heard with what she saw.
"Fascinating," she murmured.
She stepped back, thinking.
"That would mean the theory holds," she said. "Death doesn’t come instantly. It’s the body failing after."
Iyisha nodded.
"It could be."
Susan went quiet.
Her hands stayed on the table, but her face changed. The focus slipped from her eyes, something heavier settling in its place.
Iyisha straightened slightly. "What?"
Susan shook her head once, like she was trying to push it away.
"I..." She stopped, then let out a breath. "I killed my little girl when she turned."
The words landed flat.
Iyisha’s hand moved to her chest without thinking. "I’m sorry," she said softly.
Susan looked at her then, really looked.
"If what you said is true..." her voice lowered, "she saw me do it."
Iyisha didn’t answer right away.
She looked down at her hands, then out past Susan, her jaw tightening slightly.
"There’s no other way," she said after a moment.
Her voice stayed steady.
"Even if I could think... the feeling..." She exhaled slowly. "The urge to hurt people I cared about—it made me feel like I was going insane."
She glanced back at Susan.
"You did what you had to do."
Silence filled the room again.
"I don’t think I would’ve stayed sane if that lasted for days," Iyisha added quietly.
Susan looked down, her shoulders lowering.
"Yeah," she muttered.
A pause.
"Yeah."
Susan moved to one of the cabinets, opening it with slower hands this time.
"My little girl was studying to become a doctor," she said, her voice quieter now. A small smile touched her lips. "Caroline was always studying. Always buried in books."
The smile lingered, then turned faint.
"Then this happened."
She looked down into the cabinet, searching for something, her movements slower now, more careful, like she needed the task to steady herself. After a moment, she pulled out a sealed petri dish, something dark red resting inside it.
"I’m sorry," Iyisha said quietly. Killing your own child... she couldn’t even begin to imagine it.
"Yeah," Susan muttered. "We still have the hospital to think about, so..."
She cleared her throat, pushing the moment aside as she focused on what she was holding.
"I found it."
She lifted the petri dish slightly.
"How about we test it out," she said.
Iyisha watched her.
"Preserved infected tissue," Susan said. "It’s not active anymore, but it’s enough to observe a response."
Susan set it down and moved back to the microscope, placing the sample carefully. She adjusted the lens, her focus returning, steady again.
"Let’s see."
Iyisha stood and stepped closer.
Susan leaned in first, then stilled.
"Wow," she said under her breath.
She stepped aside slightly. "Look."
Iyisha bent down and looked through the scope.
At first it blurred.
Then—
She saw it.
Her white blood cells.
They weren’t just moving.
They were attaching.
Clinging to the infected tissue.
Breaking it down.
Iyisha pulled back slightly.
"That’s..." she started.
"Different," Susan finished. "Almost like they’ve adapted for this."
"Yeah." Iyisha beathe.
"It’s not just fighting it," Susan murmured quietly. "It’s recognizing it."
She quickly removed the slide and sealed everything into a bio bag with practiced movements.
"We can’t push further than that right now," she said. "Not with what we have."
Iyisha nodded slowly.
"But at least we know this," Susan added. "There’s no active virus in your system."
Iyisha looked at her. "So I can’t infect someone?"
Susan nodded. "Not from what we’re seeing."
Iyisha let out a small breath.
Susan pulled off her gloves, snapping them free, her expression shifting again as she thought.
"With our limitations," she said, "we should try stem cell testing next."
Iyisha nodded without hesitation.
"As long as it helps Lance."
Susan met her eyes.
"It could," she said.
A pause.
"Or it could not."
She held her gaze for a moment longer.
There was a knock on the door.
Susan paused, then moved to open it.
Malcolm stood outside.
His expression was tight, eyes fixed past her. When he saw Iyisha, he stepped in.
Susan glanced between them, then gave a small smile. "I’ll leave you two."
She slipped out and closed the door behind her.
The room fell quiet.
Malcolm didn’t move at first. He just looked at Iyisha.
"What?" she said lightly.
"I did what you said," she added.
His jaw tightened.
He looked away for a second, then back at her.
"Thank you," he said, quieter.
Iyisha smiled and stepped closer.
"I don’t have an active virus," she whispered, her arms sliding up around his neck. "So I won’t infect anyone."
She leaned in slightly, her gaze dropping to his lips.
"I think I want the thank you more personal."
Malcolm looked at her.
Really looked.
Something in his eyes shifted, darker, heavier.
His hand came up to her waist and pulled her in.
The space between them closed.
He kissed her.
Firm.
Controlled.
But it held something that had been sitting there for a long time.
Iyisha leaned into him, her fingers tightening slightly at the back of his neck, her breath catching as she pressed closer.
For a moment, nothing else existed.
Just heat.
Just contact.
Just the quiet release of everything neither of them had said.
