At 3 AM, Mariana woke up abruptly from her sleep with a cramping belly. Her mouth was filled with a sickly feeling as saliva glazed around her teeth.

She groaned and quickly got out of bed. With her hands clutched around her abdomen, she slowly made her way to the bathroom.

Her belly continued to grumble as she plopped down on the toilet seat. Her head was sweating as she pushed hard but nothing came out except the rumbling of an upset stomach.

She carefully got off and stood facing it. She really did not want to throw up as she hated the feeling of the food coming out; So, she stood really still until the feeling dissipated and she was able to calm down again.

*****

Three hours later...

Mariana was crawling around the bathroom, still heavily constipated and in pain. She was crying as she was only able to go a little bit but did not feel completely empty.

Her eyes were droopy and aching from the lack of sleep, her abdomen was still in pain, but she felt like there was nothing she could do except go back to bed.

Mariana sighed and laid in a fetus position on top of the bed. She wrapped her arms around her belly and stayed awake.

Micah woke up two hours later and rose from his sleep.

"Hey, good morning, did you sleep well?" He asked, turning to face her.

"Not really, I think I'm constipated..."

"Oh no... are you okay now?"

"Erm sort of but I don't think I want to eat anything right now."

"Oh okay, so I'm guessing you don't want breakfast?"

"Mmm, I might have something to drink."

"Okay, I'll get room service."

Mariana ended up getting some apple juice while Micah got some Ensaimada and coffee. It was a spiral-shaped pastry with was sprinkled with sugar on the top.

When they were done eating, they got themselves ready for the day. Mariana got dressed in a royal blue top and knee-length jeans. Meanwhile, Micah wore a light blue shirt with green leaves and white shorts. They walked out of their room and out of the hotel.

Micah called a taxi to take them to Portals Vells where the lab was. They drove through the city and through the fresh, vibrant meadows towards the bottom of the island.

The gradient skies were an azure blue from the top and gradually changed to an icy blue at the bottom. The air was a bit cool and the sun rose in the horizon, casting shadows of the trees that waved 'hello' to them on the dusty road.

They eventually reached Portals Vells which had a dark river but patches of cyan splattered on it like paint. There were some boats at sea and the whistling island breeze slithered through their ears.

Micah's eyes gazed around their surroundings until they landed on what he was looking for.

Sitting on the edge of the bank, there was an isolated simple building that had a slated roof and windows all around. It was guarded by metal gates, tangled up with barbed wire, surrounding it.

"There's the laboratory over there," he pointed towards it.

"You sure? It doesn't really look like one," she looked at it inquisitively with one eyebrow raised.

"I'm sure, it only looks like that, so they won't attract too much attention to themselves."

"Oh okay, I get it now."

They began walking towards it. Mariana's belly was still hurting so she clutched it tightly while blood was being coughed up sporadically.

When they were at the gates, there was a guard at the security check. Micah showed him his ID card and he allowed them through.

"Can we see Leilani please?" Micah asked.

"She's busy right now," the guard replied.

"We need to talk to her about something, it's really important."

"Well okay, but she's not going to be happy," he sighed and then took out a phone.

A few minutes later, they heard a door slam. They looked over to where a slender woman with warm, olive skin was sauntering towards them. She was the epitome of beauty; She wore her wavy dark brown hair in a neat bun and decorated with a plumeria flower on her left ear. She was clothed in a navy dress that showed off her baby bump.

It turned out to be Leilani as she began to shout at them. "Qui ose me déranger pendant que je suis en réunion?!" (Who dare disturbs me while I am in a meeting).

"Uh oh, I think we should've brought her a gift first," Micah muttered, sensing her irritation.

As Leilani came closer, she peered at Micah. "Micah? What are you doing here?!"

"Hi, Leilani..." He smiled nervously. "I came to talk about the virus you made for Xavier."

"What about it? Can't you see I'm busy??" She asked impatiently.

"Well... we kind of need an antidote for it..."

"Antidote? So, my work is not good enough for him that he wants to go remove it?"

"No no, it's not that... Well, it was actually for Mariana here."

Mariana then stood next to Micah which made Leilani looked very puzzled.

"Wait what? But Xavier told me..." Her face dawned at the realization of what just happened. She released a breath out of annoyance that she has just been tricked.

"Bâtard, je savais qu'il y avait quelque chose avec lui." (Bastard, I knew there was something up with him).

She sighed and finally calmed down then beckoned for them to follow. "Come on, I'll take you to the lab."

They all followed her through the narrow hallway until they reached the lab.

There were scientists doing some experiments, typing on the computers, and running some tests.

"I'm so sorry about all this, Xavier never mentioned anything about you. He just said it was for some animal problem he was having; it's not meant for human consumption."

"That's okay, but is there a cure for it?" Mariana asked.

"We haven't tried to make one but I'm sure there is," She led them to an office and began looking through some loose papers.

"The chemical formula for it should be in here somewhere..." She picked up a document that had 'Experiment AMX' at the top.

She started to examine it and sat gently down on the table while rubbing her belly.

"Okay, so this is it. Using the same chemicals but with different compounds, we could possibly make something that will destroy it."

"How long will it take?" Micah asked.

"Hmm, I'm not really sure."

"Is it possible to make it quick?!" Mariana pleaded.

"For you. I will try," She carefully got off the table and got closer to Mariana.

"Do not worry, ma chérie, I won't let you down."

"Thank you so much," Mariana smiled with gratitude.

Leilani reciprocated her smile, but a tint feeling of guilt was hidden at the back of her fiery amber eyes. She felt slightly responsible for the misfortune of the poor girl that was stood in front of her. She did not want to be the cause of her death.

If only she knew of Xavier's true intentions, then none of his would have happened.

Leilani shook her head to clear out her thoughts and placed the documents back down.

"So, Mariana," She said in her thick French accent.

"We'll need to collect some samples in order to make an efficient antidote."

"Okay, I'm up for it."

"Alright, follow me."

Mariana followed Leilani out of the office, and they took samples of her blood and saliva. Mariana also had to use the toilet quickly as she was still having some bowel problems.

"Thanks for everything Leilani." She said as she met Micah at the entrance.

"No problem and I'm really sorry about everything."

"It's okay, I just hope you can make a cure for it."

"I'll try my best," She smiled, and they hugged.

"Thanks for helping us Leilani," Micah said.

"No problem, but just make sure it isn't when I'm in a meeting," She said in amusement.

"We won't."

"Okay good, I'll notify you if there have been any new developments."

"Okay, thanks."

After saying goodbye, they finally left the building.

"So, what do you wanna do?" Mariana asked.

"Well, I was thinking we could go on this boat tour that's starting in a few hours."

"Ooh okay, we can do that!"

They then walked back onto the road and took a taxi back to Palma.

A/N: Hey guys, hope u enjoyed the new chap!

What do you think of Leilani?

Here's some art for her name: