The Perfect Machine: Kingdom Of Glass (GxG

49. She's burning up!

I try to raise myself. My heart pounds so rapidly that it's drumming in my ears. The shirt clings uncomfortably to me with sweat. Air can't get into my lungs and excruciating pain in my body ties me down.

"Harlow?" I see that Arthur gazes through the window. I try to get the words out of my mouth, but the only sound that comes out of me is a groan.

"Landon!" He yells and just a second later, they both enter the room in distress.

"Let's get her on the examination table," Landon suggests and they grab me from either end.

"You're very heavy," Landon complains as they lay me down at the top of the cold metal table. People around the workplace look at me in unease.

"She's built to be a killing machine, so of course she's heavy, no offense, Harlow," Arthur says out of breath.

"Out!" Cowan yells and people run out of the room in a panic.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asks. He faces Landon with concern as he waits for answers.

"This looks like a panic attack to me," He shrugs uncertainly as he taps his finger against his lips.

I can hear my own heartbeat rapidly beating, almost as if it wishes to explode out of my chest. The loud noise is unbearable to listen to. My head is already screaming with rushes of thoughts from the past.

"Breath. Harlow, nice and calm," Arthur advises. I manage to take a deep breath, but the pressure in my chest grows as if it feels like my whole body is in flames.

"Landon, there's got to be something more. She's as stiff as a stick and her entire body is trembling," He says, terrified. I grab the table tightly. It's as if my skin is about to burn off and my lungs burst out.

"Okay, okay," Landon paces back and forth, but familiar footsteps approaching from outside the door make my heart race even stronger.

"D-door," I say and cling onto the table, realizing it's beginning to bend in my hands. Arthur looks puzzled, but not long after that, there's a knock on the door.

"Oh," Arthur's eyes widen as he rushes forward to open the door a bit.

"What's wrong?" River wonders.

"Um, nothing, we're just going through a lot of things," He responds and I almost want to roll my eyes at how bad that was.

"Then why did these people run away from here?" She suspects.

"We sent them down for breakfast," Arthur explains as he turns to face us.

River manages to slip under his arm. I laid my head back down and gaze at the ceiling.

"Harlow!" She calls out my name and I feel a hand on my shoulder. A pair of brown eyes peak down at me with concern.

"She's burning up!" River states as she touches my forehead with her cool hand.

"I'll get her painkillers and find the cream I had. It's obvious she's in pain, so I have to run to the bedroom; it's in my bag," I hear him shut the front door a second later. I close my eyes for a moment and listen to Landon typing on the computer as River opens the water tap.

"There," River says and lays a cold, damp cloth on my forehead.

"You're so warm and your shirt is all damp," She sounds worried as she washes the sweat off my forehead.

"Hey," River says calmly, with a slight smile.

"It's going to be all right," She promises. "Just relax," I do as she says, trying to regulate my breathing, but the burning sensation is still flowing through my skin.

"I need to get that terrible shirt off of you," She states. Before she could make a move, I took the collar of the shirt and tore it all the way off as I groan to the pain of the movement. It was a huge relief to feel the cool air on my skin.

"I was going to get a knife or something, but that works," She laughs and her little chuckle makes a grin appear on my face. She draws on the sleeve and pulls the shirt away.

I lie my back down on the cold table while River looks at my body with concern. I nearly jump when I can feel her cold hand on my stomach. Her fingertips follow all the black veins on my skin. They're all over me now. Both arms, legs, back, face, and abdomen, it's only a matter of time before it gets into my heart.

The opening of the front door made River withdraw her hand.

"I've got painkillers and cream," Arthur says out of breath.

"Good," River takes the cream out of his hands and begins to add it to my body right away, starting with my arms.

"Here," Arthur reaches out with some of the tablets, I take them, and then the glass of water he gave. I accept the pills and hand him back the bottle. I close my eyes, feeling the intense headache, but the sensation of River's hand on my skin is calming.

"Hi," River smiles as I open my eyes. There's no more misery and the pressure on my chest is gone. It feels like it was just a dream.

"How are you?" She asks as I sit up to look around the room. Arthur and Landon stare at their screens as usual in deep conversation about me. Yet, I shut it out as I concentrate on River.

"I'm all right," I say as I move over to the edge of the table.

"That's good. You've been out for a few hours," She says shyly. I can sense the awkward energy in the air.

"I've got some new clothes for you," She hands them over to me. I am about to ask her if there is anything wrong, but I stop myself. Perhaps not knowing can sometimes be a good thing.

"Thank you," I say as I place my feet onto the floor to make my way into the little room that has been my bedroom for the last few nights. I changed into black trousers and a grey shirt.

"Yeah?" I reply to a knock on the door.

"Arthur and Landon need to talk to you," River says as she peaks through the door.

"Okay," I answer and I follow her over to them.

"How do you feel?" Arthur asks.

"I'm fine,"

"Well, like Landon said, you did have a panic attack. Do you know why it happened?" He asks, gently and I tighten my jaw.

"I don't want to talk about it," I reply as I take a few steps away from them when I notice my heartbeat rise with the thought of the dream I had.

"Harlow, we need to," He claims, but I shake my head.

"Harlow, please," River begs and I can't help but breathe deeply.

I see the innocent face that I see almost every night. Those young blue eyes were fixed on me when his life left him. How his body laid on the dry ground motionless. I can still hear his parents screams as they ran for his body. Yet it was too late. He was gone, but a moment later, so were they.

"He was just a child, a young boy, who had his whole life ahead of him. He was shot in the back and bled out. Watching him go, and his eyes changed everything. The man that shot him, Adam, was found dead a day later. They weren't meant to find him," I tell them. The sorrow in their eyes is hard to bear. River places a hold on my arm, which makes me feel less alone. I'm giving her a little smile as I gaze down at her.

"I'm sorry," She says as they all watch me uncomfortably, not sure how to react or what to say.

"That's awful, Harlow. Maybe you should take a break. We're going to continue our work," Landon smiles lightly.

"Could we leave the lab?" River asks. Both of them look very uncertain at first, but finally, they nod.

"Thank you," River smiles as she holds onto my hand.