The following story involves homosexual themes. If this material offends you or is illegal, in your area feel free to hit the back button now. Otherwise, enjoy.
Two:
"Well, Mr. Hughes, I can't completely explain it, but I guess we're ready to release you." The doctor said while scanning Collin's chart. "You must have had some sort of guardian angel on your shoulder last night, the fire-fighters said they had to pull you out of the lab unconscious. You don't show any sign of burns or smoke inhalation. Not even a bump on the head to account for you sleeping like a baby through a building burning down around you."
Collin was cranky. He had spent the morning telling and retelling what he remembered about the previous night. He revealed everything save what he was actually working on. Who ever it was that was that was trying to steal the sample seemed to mean business. They obviously didn't think anything of arson, or leaving Collin in the middle of it. His advisor speaking on his behalf is probably all that kept the police from blaming him outright.
It occurred to Collin that he hadn't heard from Jeff all morning. His oldest and best friend Stephanie came as soon as she heard what had happened, and was eagerly listening to the doctor as he spoke. Collin said, "Well, thanks for the good news doc. So I'm good to go then?"
The hefty man nodded, giving Collin a piercing look when he failed to respond to the unstated question his tone had left hanging. "You're good to go. I'll send the nurse to take care of your out-processing."
Stephanie thanked the doctor and Collin jumped out of bed, surprised at his unusually high level of energy. Stephanie had stopped by his apartment to pick up some clothes to replace the tattered ruins of the shirt and pants he was wearing the previous night. She was holding up the shirt and said, "Col, look. There's blood on this shirt, where did that come from if you're not hurt?" Collin shrugged in response.
"I don't know, maybe I got a hit in on the other guy." Stephanie held the shirt closer to his face and said, "This isn't a blood splatter, loo..." Collin had just put on his jeans and taken off his hospital gown. Stephanie trailed off when she caught sight of the small of his back. Collin asked, "Wha, what?" He almost comically tried to follow her eyes to his own back, spinning in the process.
"Where did that tattoo come from?"
Collin was confused, he walked to a mirror in the room while saying, "I don't have a tattoo." He twisted in the mirror to see a roughly circular, but fairly random pattern on his back. His fingers trailed over the silver pattern and jerked them away when he felt the raised skin at the sight. He knew exactly what it was, and couldn't come up with any explanation for why the compound was behaving like it was with his physiology.
Collin rushed to put on his shirt and said, "Um, let's talk about that later." Stephanie started to protest, not being one who was easily put off, but was forestalled by the very serious look on his face that was equal shares fear and worry.
They settled the paper-work and made their way out to Stephanie's car where Collin asked, "Steph, do you mind stopping by Jeff's place?"
She gave a worried smile, "Of course not, I've been calling him all day, his phone is just giving me a disconnected message."
Collin nodded. His own phone was presumably destroyed in the fire. They pulled up in front of Jeff's building and rang the buzzer. No answer came. Collin turned back to the car and shrugged. Stephanie said, "He must be on campus still." Collin replied, "Maybe."
Stephanie pursed her lips, deciding against saying anything. Collin said, "So, there's something I need to tell you, because nobody else knows about it, and well, you are pretty much the only person I can trust right now."
Stephanie nodded, letting him continue as she drove. Collin told her the real story about what happened the previous night, and about his research. She listened in silence, then said, "So tell me about the mark on your back."
"I think that must be my test sample. The mix is pretty toxic though, or so I thought. I wasn't even touching it with bare hands, and now it seems to be imbedded in my skin. I'm not dead yet, but I..." he trailed off and shrugged.
"And you didn't tell the doctor because?"
"I would have had to explain what it is, and then how it got there, and why it seems to be already healed over. Most of those explanations I just don't have."
Stephanie asked, "So do you think it has something to do with you not having a mark on you after surviving a fire?"
"It has occurred to me," Collin replied. Stephanie pulled up to Collin's apartment building and he fumbled in his pocket for keys that he remembered must be somewhere in the wreckage of the lab. Stephanie held out her spare set of keys and smiled. "Thanks Steph, you're a life-saver." He leaned over and hugged her before heading into his building.
In his apartment he gave it a quick look around to make sure whoever robbed his lab hadn't decided to hit his apartment. After brushing his teeth and showering he decided to shave. He was nearly done when he nicked a spot on his neck. Hissing at expected pain, he leaned his head back and looked at the spot in the mirror, only to see a very brief glint of silver, and then no cut at all.
He looked closer, eyebrows knotting on his forehead. "What the hell is happening to me?" he muttered. Rinsing his face, and still dressed in a towel, he walked to the kitchen and pulled out a knife from his silverware drawer. He held the sharp point to his index finger and winced as he poked a small hole in his skin. The bead of blood he had expected never came. His finger showed no sign of damage at all. Emboldened by this attempt, he drew the knife across his forearm, seeing only a brief trail of silver glint and then unmarked skin. A grin broke across his face, instead of poisoning him, his very unusual discovery seems to have protected him from almost certain death in the lab fire. But how? Collin intended to find out.
Hey everyone, thanks for reading! I'm taking this story down a bit of a fantastic road. Think of it as a fantasy-adventure mystery. I'd love to hear your thoughts about the story. Drop me a line at bradcolli@gmail.com. I'll be posting part two soon. Cheers, Brad.