「 The Professor & I 」VOLUME II

(211) I Left Him

Lynn's POV

Undoubtedly, Charles was not dead, but he was barely alive. His breathings were shallower than can be heard or seen, only detectable as a single digit on that wretched screen. His pulse was weak, and if not for external machinery, it would almost have been indistinct.

I sat silently in Charles' chair, nearly as motionless as him, merely staring at the meagre numbers blinking on the various monitors. Hot tears streamed down endlessly in an autonomous reaction as the flustered youngsters paced aimlessly back and forth in the background, every single one of them pronouncedly disoriented by the sudden catastrophe.

A sense of great loss had bled into us all, rupturing internally like a fatal poison that rendered us incapable of function. The grave atmosphere lurked with dark clouds, showering torrents of sorrow and heartache upon us. Winds of suffering howled unceasingly, rapidly escalating into a brutal tornado of misery that threatened to rip us apart completely.

It was like Charles had taken with him all our sanity and all our composure, reducing us to a jumble of deranged clutter invalid without its leader.

Yet, within fleeting moments, the pain burning fresh inside of me progressively flickered into a dim blaze, an elegant flame delicately shedding light onto the urgent necessities of our current reality. The mild scintillation steered my misplaced soul directly into a sanctuary of serenity, empowering it with security and calmness that smoothly invigorated my confidence.

Readily drying my eyes, I braved a collected front for the team and genuinely attempted to devise a rational strategy to overcome our predicament but the continuous trotting footsteps echoing within the large ward was simply distracting.

"Will all of you cut it out, please!" I snapped in a frustrated tone and the irritating noise smoothly vanished as they froze in their positions, staring at me in shock.

"You are teachers. You are X-Men," I chided fiercely, facing my somber expression towards Jean, Scott and Storm.

"You are grown adults," I addressed them all solemnly.

"Hold yourself together," I pleaded earnestly.

"He doesn't want to see you like that," I reiterated cheerlessly and they all gazed guiltily to the ground.

As the rest mutedly reflected upon themselves to the polished tiles, I hit the joystick of Charles' chair and drove myself towards the designated cabinet stashed with portable medical equipment and pharmaceutical supplies.

"Storm, go upstairs and check on the children. Make sure none of them wander down here," I demanded courteously and she obediently obliged, scurrying off as I fumbled through the contents of the storage unit.

"Jean, Scott, get to Cerebro. I think the neuro-filter might have been tinkered," I articulated, haphazardly balancing the essentials I gathered onto my lap.

"I'll take care of him from here," I asserted, coolly advancing back to Charles' side.

"Lynn, your wrist..." Jean commented in a nervous tone.

"I'll be fine," I affirmed determinedly.

"But-" Jean argued again and her hesitancy basically shredded my tolerance to nothing.

"I said, I'll be fine! Just fix the damn thing and find Erik!" I furiously hissed, glaring bitterly at Jean who reciprocated an equally resentful look.