Page 21 of The Chosen Son

I tried my best to keep my cool as he went about his tests, poked and prodded and pricked, but as I was inserted headfirst into the MRI machine, my heart rate began to pick up a notch. It was dark and close, and dressed in only a hospital gown, I was freezing.

“I’ll be right outside. Try not to move,” Dr. Wells instructed, patting my foot amiably, and I wished I could see his face as he said it.

The machine began its clicking and whirring, and even with earplugs, it was so loud that it was all I could hear. I closed my eyes, but the vibration coursed through me, rattling my skull.

Just like that, I began to spiral.

I couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t. I was sick. I was dying, and it wouldn’t be peaceful and painless. It was going to be awful, and I would pray for death.

My breath sped up as panic took over, my chest stuttering as I gasped for air, and it got so fucking loud inside my head.

Oh gods, I was going to be sick…

“Dr. Wells,” I called, though I knew he wasn’t even in the same room. “Barney? D-Dr. Wells? I-I need to stop. Please, stop!” The pressure built and grew and stretched inside me, and my back arched off the drawer, blood boiling in my veins. “I saidSTOP!”

My power arced, crackling between my fingertips and the tube around me, and through my clenched eyelids, I saw a blinding, roaring light, flashing and flickering. The MRI machine ground to a clunking halt, and everything went dark and silent. All I could hear was my breath and the rushing of my blood in my ears.

Was I dead?

I heard a door open somewhere and hurried footsteps across the linoleum. “Cameron? Are you okay in there?” Dr. Wells was trying to get me out, but all the mechanics were fried. Finally, something clicked free, and I was rolled back out into the room.

Staring up at Dr. Wells’s stricken face, I realized it was the first time I’d seen him truly rattled. “I-I’m okay,” I stuttered out, though I wasn’t sure how true that was.

Barney entered the room behind him, much slower, with a wary kind of caution on his face. “What the hell was that, Cam?”

I turned pleading eyes to Dr. Wells. “That’s what I’m hoping you can tell me. What’s wrong with me? Am I… dying?”

He frowned, his lips forming a tight pucker. “Not exactly.” Dr. Wells helped me sit up then passed me the bundle of my clothes. “Why don’t you get dressed, and I’ll grab us some tea. We need to talk.”

We need to talk. The four worst words anyone could ever say, but no matter how much I dreaded whatever he had to tell me, I knew it was the answer I’d been searching for.

The three of us sat around a small table, and I clung to the warm mug of tea, letting the heat dispel at least a small amount of the chill I could never quite get rid of.

“All right, let’s hear it,” I urged, since the doctor seemed reluctant to start.

“I didn’t get all the scans I wanted, but I was able to see enough to confirm my suspicions. There are… lesions in your brain.”

“Lesions…” I repeated. “Like, brain damage?”

“Yes. They can be formed from illness. Epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, stroke, or even traumatic injury. But the damage is… extensive and degenerative, and from what you’ve told us, it seems to be advancing quickly.”

“I… don’t know what to say.” My eyes burned with tears, and I dug the heels of my hands into my eyes until I saw stars. “What does that mean?”

“It means that this is going to get worse.” I felt a hand on my shoulder and pulled my hands away from my eyes to look up at the doctor who’d been with me back in the beginning of it all. “I’m sorry, Cameron.”

“Is this because of my powers?” I asked raggedly, connecting the dots. “Is it because I didn’t die like the others?”

Dr. Wells glanced across the table at Barney, and they shared an indecipherable look. “Maybe…” he finally admitted.

Barney cursed, shaking his head and he spat out a bitter laugh. “Most people would kill for the power you have.”

“Would you?” I snarled, rounding on him. “Because you can have it. I don’t fucking want it, I never did!”

He sighed, holding his hands up in defeat. “Look, I’d take them off your hands if I could, but that’s not what fate designed. You’re human, Cameron, and these are powers from beyond the mortal realm. They’re not something you’re meant to live with. It’s simply the price of power.”

I dug my fingers through my hair. “I saved the world, and this is the thanks I get?” I was so damn frustrated, and so exhausted that I just wanted to give up.

Barney jabbed a finger in my direction. “Hey, don’t be getting any ideas. Need I remind you that your parents signed a waiver? You can’t sue.”

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