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“You know as well as I do that all marriages are subject to approval by the Regime and any marriage between an elite and non-elite is forbidden.”
“I’m not an elite.” Thank god.
“You were chosen to be here. That makes you an elite. A very special kind of elite. You got here on your own merit.”
“I wanted a job. Just like everyone else.” I shake my head. I wanted to learn how to help others. To heal. I’m seeing now that I have to pay a high price for that.
“The good news for you is you get to keep your status once the wedding takes place, and if your husband sees fit, you may even get to keep your job.” Tina leans back in her chair and folds her arms. This is the end of the argument, I know that. “The wedding coordinator will be contacting you soon. And don’t bother trying to go back to your lover. You will be followed and he will be dealt with.”
So that’s it.
I know I can’t go back to Owen. I would be leading The Regime right to the heart of the Insurgence. To the man I love. I won’t let them have him.
After being dismissed I return to the emergency ward. Lisa bumps right into me as I round the corner from the administration offices. I look her straight in the eye and feel the heat of anger in my chest.
“Hi.”
“Hey, Minnie,” she says.
“Where are you going? Got some more dirt about me to throw around?”
Lisa looks confused. “I don’t know who or what you’re talking about.”
“I’ll bet you don’t.” I shoulder check her as I walk past and return to work.
I’m so angry I have to fight my body not to shake. There’s absolutely nobody left for me to trust except Owen, and I’m never going to see him again. I’m starting to feel the rage he was talking about, the thing that makes me think that violence is an acceptable way to fight back. Maybe he was right.
Brad Chalmers had returned from radiology and is speaking on his phone to someone important, but he sounded agitated. I wait a moment at the entrance to his exam room and when I think the conversation is through, I go in, only to be surprised by a flying phone that breezes past me a little too closely.
“Sorry,” he says, running his hands through his hair and clearly upset about what he just did.
I stare at him. He’s being overly apologetic, but something is bothering him. He looks at my badge and then starts reaching into his wallet. Oh please.
Sure enough, he pulls out a food voucher. Just another reason I know I’d never truly be an elite. No matter what my marital status says and no matter if I keep my job, I’m from the wrong kind of lineage. I’ll always carry the label of “illegitimate,” just like my unborn child.
“No thank you,” I say, giving him a dismissive hand wave and not meeting his eyes. He doesn’t seem like a total jerk, he just feels bad for me and my situation. Just another reminder of how this whole system is entirely wrong.
Maybe it’s time to fight back, in a different way.
Brad, who had no idea what’s going on in my head, asks me what he can do since I’m refusing the food vouchers.
I look him straight in the eyes and realize as I form the words exactly how I want to fight back.
“I need someone killed,” I say, and he laughs.
Chapter Thirteen
Minnie
From my dorm room window, I stare down at the wall and the old brewery just on the other side. The lamp is still there in the window. I hope Owen is safe and that no one has found out about him and where he’s staying.
My heart aches at not being near him and knowing I might never see him again. The thought is unbearable. Owen’s dark, intense eyes flash in my mind. I can’t believe he’d ever truly let me go. But I know how much the I Insurgence means to him. He has thousands of people to take care of. To lead. He wouldn’t risk all that for me. Would he?
Still, against his wishes, I blink my light off and back on, just once, to show Owen that I’m okay. The last thing I want to do is worry him. Who knows who could be watching me. I desperately want to take comfort in his arms right now, but if the Regime found us together, he would disappear forever.
My heart breaks into a million pieces when I think of how Owen and I can’t be together.
But I knew this was the case before he ever put his hands on me. I knew we could never work as a couple. I was a crossover, born into the oppressed society but accepted into elite society because of my scholarship. But still I wanted my stolen moment with him. I just didn’t know how hard it would be to let go. I’m sure I can survive it.
