The Significant (90 page)

      
Dr. Busen turned around and looked at the
group that had gathered.

      
“My apologies,” he said slowly, “but
please give me a little space. This is nerve-wracking enough.”

      
The group not participating in the
surgery backed away, going to the opposite side of the cavern. Remus guided
Kailynn away, sitting next to her as Rayal and Tarah sat on her other side.
They did not bother to watch for Officials finding them. At that point, they
could not bear to leave the room, knowing Isa was undergoing surgery.

      
Kailynn refused to watch the figures on
the other side of the cavern. Her eyes were, instead, focused on the machines
hooked up to the processor. It was unbearably hot in the cavern, and she was
sweating profusely, beads of sweat rolling into her eyes, which she furiously
wiped away, refusing to move more.

      
Some Elites would get up at various times
to pace, or walk around processor to check the connections. Even though they
had tested their connections on a processor that had been put out of
commission, they had not tried shutting it down. Therefore, they did not know
for sure that the virus would work.

      
They figured that, if Isa could come out
of the surgery, and the virus did not work, they would find another way to shut
down Venus with the help of the Golden Elite.

      
Freeing Isa from Venus’ grasp was the
highest priority.

      
Even though only two hours had passed, it
felt like days for all those watching.

      
Two hours in, Chronus called Remus over
to look at the protective casing they were slowly removing, just to be sure
they were removing it correctly and that they would not damage Isa’s heart or
trigger the processor.

      
Remus quickly returned to the group when
he had finished giving his advice.

      
“How does she look?” Kailynn demanded.

      
“As you would expect,” Remus said slowly,
sitting against the wall once more and loosening the fastenings on his uniform,
also sweating. “They’re half-way through with the casing. This last panel
should reveal the processor and they’ll finally be able to see what they’re
dealing with.”

      
“They don’t know for sure?” Kailynn
choked.

      
“No,” Remus said, shaking his head. “But
have faith in them. Dr. Busen is the best.”

      
Kailynn closed her eyes, unable to look
in the direction of the surgery.

      
Another hour later, after some worried
conversations between the two doctors, Dr. Busen told Dr. Arre to prepare for a
heart reconstruction. The words caused Kailynn to physically feel pain in her
chest. She folded her legs and rested her forehead on her knees, trying to
breathe around the fear in her chest and the heat of the cavern.

      
“It’s alright,” Remus assured. “Dr. Busen
has done this before.”

      
“On a
heart
?”
Kailynn snapped.

      
“Not on Isa’s but a heart reconstruction
is not uncommon,” Remus told her. “They already have one ready for her. They
began growing it a week ago.”

      
“
Growing
it?”

      
“Isa’s entire genetic map is documented.
She had her tongue and eye regrown for reconstruction when she had the
accident,” Remus said. “The heart and the reconstruction are not the worry. The
concern lies entirely with the processor.”

      
Kailynn felt as though she was about to
be sick.

      
Tarah clung nervously to Rayal, who was
also pale and shaking. Everyone was extremely nervous.

      
With everything prepared for a quick
reconstruction, Dr. Busen and Dr. Arre continued working diligently.

      
At the beginning of the fifth hour, panic
set in on the other side of the cavern.

      
The monitors began sounding alarms and
the Elites all jumped, terror bolting through them.

      
“I clipped it,” Dr. Busen hissed.

      
Kailynn was on her feet, ready to dart
forward, but Remus leapt up and grabbed her, getting in front of her and
forcing her back.

      
“Get out of my way!” Kailynn barked.

      
“Kailynn, keep it down,” Remus snapped.
“Let him concentrate.”

      
“She’s dying!”

      
Remus wrapped his arms around Kailynn,
forcing her to muffle her cries into his uniform, trying to weakly fight him to
get to the surgery area, where the monitors continued to beep their warnings.
Dr. Busen snapped something at Paul and then told the other Elites to get out
of the way. Kailynn did not know what was going on, but she could feel the tension
in Remus’ body and she knew that everyone had their eyes on Dr. Busen.

      
After what felt like an eternity
listening to the shrill beeping, the warnings stopped and the simple, rhythmic
beeping stumbled into a steady beat.

      
Dr. Busen slowly removed his hand from
Isa’s chest, shaking.

      
“Michael, Michael, breathe,” Paul said.
“Just breathe for a moment.”

      
There was stillness and silence as Dr.
Busen took a few moments to collect himself.

      
When Remus felt Kailynn relax, lulled
into a calmer state by the rhythmic beeping of the machines, the Silver Elite
released her and guided her back to the spot where they had been sitting.

      
Two hours later, Chronus called Remus
over once more, his voice a little weaker.

      
Kailynn finally turned her eyes to the
surgery area, and saw Chronus holding a bloodied, metal contraption that had
everyone standing, their eyes wide.

      
The former Significant watched, her body
locked, as the Silver Elite carefully took the contraption.

      
It was shaped to be cased around a heart,
small needles poking out in different areas to touch the muscle. It was black
in color with ridges of gold that made up the pathways of the processor.

      
The Silver Elite brought it over to
everyone else. While the Elites seemed fascinated by the machine itself,
Kailynn was focused entirely on the blood that coated it.

      
“Where did it get its power?” Tia
whispered.

      
“Isa’s heart powered it. It’s in safe
mode,” Remus murmured. “We should set it on a circuit before Venus realizes
it’s in danger.”

      
He walked over to the secondary machine
they had set up and two Elites helped to attach the processor to a live circuit
to get it out of safe mode and prepare it for shut down.

      
Kailynn walked around them slowly,
approaching the surgery area.

      
When Anders saw her, he walked over to
her, keeping his voice down.

      
“The processor is out,” he assured. “Dr.
Busen is just finishing up patching the areas of her heart.”

      
“Then…she’s going to be alright?” Kailynn
asked, her voice breaking.

      
“We won’t know for sure until she wakes
up,” he admitted. “We don’t entirely know what effect the processor has on her
heart and how it will work without the processor. Dr. Busen is doing everything
he can.”

      
Kailynn nodded tightly, crossing her arms
over her chest and taking a deep breath.

      
She did not move for the final hour as
Dr. Busen finished the surgery and closed Isa’s chest once more.

      
Kailynn had to contend to watching the
monitors prove that Isa was alive.

      
Finally, Dr. Busen backed away from the
surgery area, his hands and protective clothing stained with blood and his face
pale and covered in sweat.

      
Everyone surged forward.

      
“I’m going to let everything stabilize,”
he said quietly, removing his gloves, his hands shaking. “I’m going to leave
her sedated for another hour and see what the monitors say. If everything looks
good, we’ll stop the drugs and see…”

      
He did not finish the sentence, but they
all knew that there was still some uncertainty.

      
Dr. Busen and Paul began cleaning the
surgery area, continuously looking at the monitors and at Isa. The others did
not approach until the doctors were finished cleaning and stood by the
machines, watching the lines and numbers move up and down.

      
Kailynn finally walked up to Isa and
looked over the Elite’s pale face, terrified that Isa would die the moment they
stopped the sedation.

      
She rested a hand on Isa’s hair and let
the tears blur her vision.

      
The hour wait was agonizing, but when it
was over, everyone wished they had more time to prepare.

      
Dr. Busen closed the drip, carefully
removing the needle from Isa’s arm, though he left her on the fluid monitor.

      
Then, everyone turned their eyes to the
other monitors, waiting, scarcely breathing.

      
Everything remained stable and normal.

      
But still, everyone held their breaths,
watching the lines and numbers worriedly.

      
Dr. Busen turned away from the monitors
and ran a hand over his face. Paul went up to him and took his shoulders.

      
“It will be alright,” he whispered. “She
did not peak, nor drop. She’s still stable.”

      
“She might be in a coma,” Dr. Busen
whispered. “She might not wake up on her own.”

      
“Michael,” Paul said strongly, tightening
his fingers on the other doctor’s shoulders, “look at me.” The older doctor
looked up, his face creased with anxiety. “This stubborn Elite pulled through a
skull reconstruction. This is not going to be the thing that takes her down.”

      
Dr. Busen swallowed hard and closed his
eyes, nodding.

      
Paul pulled Dr. Busen closer and hugged
him tightly.

      
Kailynn watched the time pass on the
clock of one of the monitors, one hand still resting on Isa’s head.
Thirty-three minutes and twenty-seven seconds passed before the monitors
changed their tones.

      
Kailynn looked around quickly as everyone
jumped, turning their eyes to Isa.

      
The Golden Elite slowly blinked her eyes
open, opening her mouth to take a pained breath. Kailynn gasped and the tears
tumbled down her face as she covered her mouth.

      
Isa groaned and closed her eyes tightly.

      
“It’s…fucking
hot
in here…”

      
Everyone in the cavern let out a relieved
laugh, a few of them shaking, barely able to keep their legs from giving out on
them. Dr. Busen did collapse to his knees, letting out a long breath as Paul
went to a crouch next to him and hugged him tightly once more.

      
Kailynn pressed a kiss to Isa’s lips, thrilled
to feel that they were warm.

      
“You have the power to change that,”
Remus said, walking up to Isa’s other side and taking her hand. The Elite
looked at the Silver Elite and a small, tired smile came to her lips.

      
“Then…”

      
Remus’ hand tightened on Isa’s.

      
“He got it out,” he said with a nod.
“You’re free of her.”

      
Isa’s smile widened.

      
“…and you were all so worried…”

      
Kailynn could not help but laugh, her
entire body shaking as she ran her hand several times over Isa’s hair.

      
“The amount of stress I deal with being
around you is going to take years of my life,” she hiccupped with a teasing
smile.

      
“Mine, too,” Dr. Busen groaned,
approaching the Golden Elite.

      
“I knew you could do it,” Isa said,
looking at Dr. Busen.

      
“I want you to sit up
very slowly
,” he said, taking Isa’s
other hand.