Cough

Work was dragging terribly for Pamala Sheldon. There was no mining in the part of Greenland they were on, so, in spite of having travelled all this way, she was remotely operating a mine in the Yukon. The irony was not lost on her. She took her hands off the joystick, making the rover stop, and coughed violently and coughed violently into her sleeve.

“Fuck me,” she gasped. She could feel the heat radiating off her body. The mining station was a computer desk next to the science lab. Once on Mars, she would be handling most of the mining from the mines they will have built, but for now it was 100% remote. She coughed again and let out a soft whimper of pain. Her chest burned like her lungs were on fire. She pulled out her intercom and started typing.

PS: I feel like shit.

The dry cough that racked her chest and the wheeze that came with it had kept her awake most of the night and had kept her all but useless in bed the day earlier. She tried to work today, but an hour into her tasks, she knew she had to call it. As she started to drive the rover back to its parking spot, her phone buzzed.

Joe: I heard.

He heard? That’s so creepy, she thought.

PS: You heard? I only went to the medics yesterday.

“How does Joe, (cough), know so much about what’s going on here,” she muttered under her breath. She kept imagining his empty grey eyes staring at her, through her. The rover trundled back to its hanger, on the camera feed. She hit the automatic park button and stood slowly. The walk back to her room was long and slow. Halfway she had to pause halfway to lean against the wall.

“Fucking, (cough), shit,” she gasped, her head spinning. Once she got to her room, she laid down slowly onto the bed, dizzy, her chest heaving. She’d never felt this bad before.

Joe: I hear everything ;)

Why, she wondered, is he so… interested in this. How is he always watching, always knowing? Is he really just one man, or are the two of them just two parts of a spy network? She shivered; the room felt so cold, even though she radiated heat. By the time Sheldon stumbled to the bathroom and back into her bed, she could barely hold her eyes open. She barely registered the puddle of sweat she laid down and pulled the blanket over herself, shivering violently.

The sleep she had was troubled. Falling. Her bed was hard, and cold. She reached for the blankets but couldn’t find them. Dreams that seemed real. Noises. Voices all around her. She asked who was there, but the voices softly told her to rest. Movement. Floating. It wasn’t dark anymore. She needed to get up, to work, but there was no energy. Cold. Coughing. Darkness again. She heard voices.

“My phone,” she slurred, trying to find her side table.

“Easy, easy, lay back down,” came a sharp female voice with a German accent. “Relax. We’re going to help you OK?”

“Joe,” Sheldon slurred, “Joe!? Where are you?”

Darkness.

Light. Warmth, glorious warmth like she hadn’t felt in ages. Beeping in her ears. What was it? Rhythmic beeping. She flexed her arm, but it felt like something was attached to her.

“You’re OK Pamala, you’re fine, breath easy,” a male voice told her. “You have Pneumonia, you’re in the infirmary, you’re OK.” She pried her eyes open. Gabriel Alphonse was standing above her. The room was sheer and white. “You had me worried Pam, we almost had to call in the real medics,” Alphonse said. His eyes told her he was smiling but a medical mask obscured his face.

“Wha… what happened?”

“Well, after you left work and didn’t show up the next day, we got pretty worried about you, so Ilsa went to check on you and you were on the floor, collapsed. We got you here and got you some antibiotics and got your fever down. How are you feeling?”

“Tired, my phone…”

“Don’t worry about that right now Pamala, just rest. It’s on your nightstand. I’m going to give you some medicine that will help you sleep, OK?”

“Than-, thank you,” she slurred, and her eyes closed.

Darkness.

Sheldon woke slowly. It was dark in the infirmary; she had no idea how long she was out for. Dark and quiet. She got up, feeling weak and hungry, and walked to the bathroom, IV trailing behind her. She used the toilet, stood over the sink and splashed water in her face then walked back to the bed and laid down. She’d been sleeping so long, she suddenly felt awake, alive again. She looked at her phone. It had been five days. There were messages from Joe waiting for her.

Joe: Hope you feel better.

Joe: Do not let yourself get MEDEVAC or it’s all over.

Joe: Heard you’re through the worst of it, glad to hear it.

Joe: Text me when you’re feeling better IMPORTANT

Medevac or it’s over? Glad to hear he was worried for my health she thought bitterly. She laid in her bed, listening to the wind whistling past her window, not responding to the messages. Her head was swimming. She heard voices from the hallway and instinctively shut her eyes. She heard the infirmary door open, and footsteps someone walked into the room. It was Alphonse. As he checked her vitals on the monitor beside her, she realized there was someone else in the room too. Sheldon laid there, unsure why she was hiding the fact she was awake, but she knew she should.

“She’s still asleep?”

It was Hans Hermann, the strange man from Germany she met on the flight.

“Yes, she’s out. Through the worst of it. Was pretty bad, could have gone even worse.”

“So our spy will live, eh?”

An icy terror flooded through Sheldon, and she laid totally still.

“She’ll be fine in a couple weeks, once she’s recovered. Are you sure she’s the spy? I would assume it was one of the Americans.”

“Canada is next door,” quipped Hermann.

“France is next door to Germany Hans,” observed Alphonse.

Yes, yes, listen to Gabriel, she mentally cried out, trying to will him to not look over.

“Did you not see how she was acting Gabe? Calling out for someone, hiding her phone, it was weird,” he paused. “She was already acting secretive and strange before this, you know this.”

How do they know there’s a spy at all she wondered. Was her heartrate quickening? Yes, the beeping had gotten slightly faster. Please don’t notice please don’t notice she begged silently.

“This is not proof. It’s not even enough for me to be suspicious. Bad fevers make people hallucinate, and she had a bad fever.”

“You’re… right,” conceded Herman, “maybe Hayden? He seems too nice.”

“Maybe there isn’t one at all Hans, think of this? Maybe you’re the spy if there is one?”

“Ridiculous, as you know, I was personally selected by the Company,” scoffed Hermann.

“We all were, or by Tara which might as well mean the Company too, so relax,” said Alphonse quietly. “We only think there even is a spy because people won’t stop talking about spies. Anyways, lets go get a coffee, I’ve done my rounds.” The two men walked out of the door, talking quietly as they did. When she heard the airtight door seal shut, she grabbed her phone and pulled up Joe on the encrypted account they used.

PS: Hermann and Alphonse are looking for the spy.

Her heart was pounding in her chest. How hadn’t Alphonse noticed that she was awake or nervous? Had he? She started to think that getting caught would have been easier, at least then she’d know.

Joe: Why do they think there is a spy?

She rolled her eyes.

PS: Because there is one? I dunno. Was hoping youd know

He seems more concerned about the spy than me being in a coma, she thought bitterly.

Joe: Well done, this is good information. Keep up the good work, glad you’re feeling better.

“I don’t recall saying I did feel better asshole,” she muttered, starting to type.

I think Alphonse knew I was listening but he… she deleted the message. She felt so deeply ****, and Gabriel just kept her alive and on the mission. She put her phone down and closed her eyes. She was almost asleep when her phone buzzed on the desk. She cursed silently, opened her eyes and picked it up.

Joe: I think about u alot

“Fuckin well better,” she said, before breaking into a fit of coughing.