A ray of light in the darkness

Despair. U-1196 was flooded by despair. She had been pulling herself together for so long, trying to be strong, and not only for her own sake, but also for the others'. Her familiar erythrocyte AA2153 had suffered a nervous breakdown recently, having lost his best friend and blaming himself for the latter's death. But he wasn't the one to blame, the circumstances were: that world was a cruel one, where they were trying to survive and for which they had to fight. Their world. As steadfast and brave as they were, they still couldn't change anything. The feelings of impotence and desperation were overwhelming even the best among them. One day, she and her friends had fought against uric acid crystals, without knowing what to do: each of their actions had made the situation only worse. And the erythrocyte, a simple deliveryman, had meanwhile rebelled against the world's injustice. That time, she had stopped him, comforted him and convinced him that nothing had been his fault, and he kept saying that all of their sacrifices would be in vain, if they didn't even try to reach the owner of the body through pain. Through the same unbearable pain he was causing them all. And she had been aware that he was right, but still had continued to console him, since torturing oneself wasn't of any use, anyway. Wasn't, never had been, and never would be. But what should they do with that damn pain, with that continuously growing despair, with that hopelessness? She was an immune cell and as such, had to be strong. Not only for her own sake, but also for the others'. But where should she get so much strength and determination? Her possibilities were not unlimited, after all. Who would console her? No matter what she did and how she fought, it didn't get easier at all. No, with every new day it got only harder. The darkness kept thickening in the organism. It thickened in one's soul and seemed to spread through one's body, restricting movements and slowing down when quick actions were needed. Causing indecisiveness, where you had to be composed and courageous. The struggle against herself was getting harder and harder. She hadn't felt that bad even back then, when they had almost been defeated by the gonococci, and she had lost her mentor, her closest cell, whose example had served as motivation to fight and to not give up. Like an eternal, inextinguishable flame, that woman had been enlightening the way for the young warriors and confidently led them through paths that didn't seem to exist. Cells like her were carrying the fate of that damn world on their shoulders. Back then, U-1196 had been immersed into the thrill of the fight, her blood had been boiling, she hadn't had time to fall into sadness. But now, the sorrow, fatigue, and depression had attacked her, filling her up with a darkness worse than the walls of the vessels, between which she was migrating every day. Migrating and watching how the poor red blood cells were suffering, not able to get through where they needed and how lots of them were dying, buried under the collapsed ceilings of the unhealthy blood vessels. And every time she was worried about AA2153, wondering if something might have happened to him as well. She could only hope that everything would turn out alright... but would it?    As she remembered her familiar erythrocyte, the cold suddenly retreated, replaced by the vivid thought that it would be great to see him again. Then she would feel better. Or, at least, know that he was okay. For now. * * * AA2153 was completely exhausted. So exhausted, he was shaking. He had been delivering oxygen together with his kohai NC8429 all day, squeezing through blockages with incredible effort while carrying their boxes. Here and there, they had run into the bodies of dead red blood cells, and despite their insane fear, stopping was out of question, as other cells absolutely needed the oxygen they were delivering in order to live. From time to time, they had met macrophages: the usually nice and friendly ladies had been gloomy and silent. They were taking away the corpses they could remove from under the rubble. The generally dark atmosphere, and the dead bodies and congestions they were seeing more and more frequently, created a really awful presentiment in AA2153. It was as if he somehow knew that this was only the beginning of some huge and terrible catastrophe that could start any moment. And in addiction to that, the heart hadn't been working properly for a long time, making the erythrocytes sometimes wait in long lines and shove each other in order to get there. Also, the amount of sclerotic plaque in the vessels was growing with each passing day... AA2153 was terrified of it getting even worse and that one day, the red blood cells wouldn't be able to deliver any oxygen at all, since there wouldn't be any free paths for them anymore. He was attacked by a gloomy discouragement, the same as back then, when he had lost his friend. Whether he would have the strength to keep bearing that all, he didn't know at all. Sitting down on his box and leaning over the railing, he was looking down tiredly at his hometown, enlightened by thousands of lights from the body's inner electricity that in some places could barely get through the dark bleakness above him. "If the darkness triumphs, it will turn off the light of our lives. Then nothing will be left anymore..." he thought. The air wasn't that fresh to begin with, and from these thoughts, the young man was starting to feel even more stifled and opened his jacket. Just a bit more rest and he could drag himself home. Or at least try to. Tomorrow would be another tough day and if he wasn't ready for it, then he could soon join the unfortunate cells, whose bodies were carried away by the macrophages every day. Yes, he had to get up and move, but his feet refused to obey him. As if they were filled with a ton of lead. "Hey, is that you?" someone said suddenly from the deepening twilight, and a pale silhouette, resembling a ghost, approached him. However, AA2153 didn't have the strength to get startled, anyway. He was so immersed in his unpleasant thoughts that he didn't even hear that someone was speaking to him. "Sorry, what?" he inquired when the other called out to him again.  "As I see, you're completely beat," said U-1196 and leaned against the railing next to him. "Yeah," he agreed. "And how are you doing, Neutrophil-chan?" "I've been through worse," she replied, shrugging. "It's just that I've been feeling very gloomy lately." "If only AC1677 was here..." he sighed. "He would have found a way to cheer us up, like always..." Remembering his deceased friend made his eyes fill up with tears. "And what about that girl? The one who's working in the liver?" U-1196 suddenly asked. Somehow she wasn't in the mood to show compassion today, not even to him. "Last time, she has comforted you pretty well, it seems," she pronounced that thought that had been tormenting her since said day. As if her accumulated dissatisfaction with life had pushed it out.  "Hepatocyte-san?" asked AA2153 with a special gentle sadness in his voice that involuntarily irritated U-1196. "Yeah, her. Why don't you go to her and throw yourself into her arms?" U-1196 spat at him. She didn't want to say it out loud, but couldn't help it. "I was there recently, in their establishment," answered AA2153, not noticing her tone. "Hepatocyte-san and a lot of her friends are feeling really bad." He started sniffling. "She's very ill... and... she asked me to not worry about her... but... but..." His lips were trembling and a painful lump in his throat didn't let him finish his sentence. In the end, he couldn't take it any longer and began to sob. U-1196 felt ashamed for having been so mean and started to comfort him. But she just didn't have the strength for that, needing someone to comfort herself as well. That's why she wrapped her arms around his neck, hanging on to him like a dead weight, and started to cry too. The red blood cell's spirits were suddenly renewed. Looking at how she was struggling, he understood what he had to do now, as Hepatocyte-san, who was probably dying right now, had taught him. "We cannot change this world," he said. "But what we can do, is to give each other love. Like this, we won't allow it to collapse completely." He stood up and also helped U-1196 to get up to her feet, holding her by her waist. "Say, Neutrophil-chan, do you need me?" he asked her with determination in his voice. "Yes," she replied quietly. "I need you." "Then I'm ready to give you as much love as I can!" U-1196 pressed herself tighter against him, feeling his agitated heartbeat and her own as well. This was the very first time she had heard these words directed at her. A wave of warmth swept through her body from head to toe, and she finally felt better after a long period of time.