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She must have been talking about me waking up with the tube still down my throat. When I didn’t provide any reciprocated conversation, she nodded her head and slipped a large remote under my hand.
“This is the bed control. The back red button is the Call button. My name is Lisa, so if you need anything, just hit that button, and I’ll come running. I’m not off shift until seven.”
She continued when I let the silence hang in the air between us once again. I just wanted to be alone.
“Well, I’ll order you something to eat, and Dr. Carlson will be in shortly to talk to you.” Lisa shot me one last warm smile before she ducked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Finally.
Now all I needed was to find a way out of here. The High Council was sure to find me here…wherever here was. She’d called this place Haven. I’d never heard of it before, but then again, most of us on the compound were never taught geography. They’d said it was because there was nothing for us in the world, just human waste. The compound was our sanctuary. Stretches of land as far as the eye could see. As long as we stayed within its borders, we were safe.
The fog that had been held over my eyes since I was a child, those rose-colored glasses that had made the compound seem righteous and safe, had dissolved. They weren’t trying to keep us safe. They were trying to keep us contained.
But why?
Certainly not for the Choosing. That only happened once every ten years. So why the subterfuge? What did the High Council have to gain from conning everyone? Leaning my head back on the stiff pillow, I sighed as I sorted through my childhood. When you’re safe and happy, you don’t pick up on the odd things that would normally stand out if you were suspicious or malcontent. Until I turned sixteen, I never thought about the compound as anything other than home. It was safe, and it was all I knew.
Damien and my family took that safety from me. One for assaulting me and the other for allowing it to happen repeatedly since that day.
“It is an honor, Freya.”
Honor my ass.
Looking back, I thought about all of those who had mysteriously disappeared over the years. Not just the chosen, but the ones who left without a trace.
To cultivate better land. That was what the High Council had told everyone.To make a pack of their own. The land on which the compound sat was extensive, and most people didn’t bat an eye at their sudden disappearance. Some did, but then they too would be gone or there was a sudden shift in their personality.
“It’s good to see you awake,” a rough voice spoke from the doorway. I was so lost in thought, I hadn’t heard it open.Stupid, Freya.I turned my head toward the door to see an older man staring down at me with warmth in his eyes, his white lab coat a stark contrast against his dark clothes. “I’m Dr. Carlson. It’s nice to meet you…”
“Rey.” I gave him the shortened version of my name. I doubted there were many women named Freya walking around, and I didn’t want to make it easier for the High Council to find me. The doctor gave me a toothy smile. Damn, that was a smile that could melt butter in a cold dish.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Rey—” He moved to say something else, but I cut in.
“I’d like to leave now.”
Surprise fell over his face before his features schooled back into professional apathy.
“Unfortunately, Rey, I can’t do that,” he told me. “The injuries you sustained were numerous, and in cases like yours, I have to wait for a psychologist to meet with you before I can consider releasing you.”
“A psychologist?”
“It’s standard protocol for patients who attempt to take their own lives.”
What?
“I wasn’t trying to kill myself,” I argued. Luckily, over the past hour or so that I’d been remembering, my lungs had decided to start working again and my short two- to three-word sentences were a thing of the past. “I fell into the river. No suicide involved.”
The doctor appeared somewhat ashamed of having judged my circumstances so quickly, but he didn’t relent. “The psychologist will be able to help confirm that is the case. Until then, lunch should be here any moment, and I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.”
Like hell I was staying in this place that long.
Fuck it.
I waited a few moments after he’d closed the door before getting up from the bed. My legs felt like jelly, but the more I moved around, the easier and less straining it became. Had to love accelerated healing. It was a funny thought, though, in the back of my mind as I peeked out the window of my hospital room. I’d never healed this fast before. Simple cuts that should have healed in moments often took hours. So how had I healedfrom all my injuries in less than a few days? The last time I’d broken a bone, it had taken nearly a month to heal.
They hadn’t dressed me in a traditional clinic gown, the one that ties in the back to refresh your derriere. Instead, they had put me in a pair of black sweats and a white t-shirt. Odd. Neither of the articles of clothing smelled like the hospital either. Instead of bleach and disinfectant, they held the strong aroma of cloves and leather. Had they dressed me in clothes from their lost and found?
Either way, I was grateful that my ass wasn’t on display. It would make getting out of here that much more difficult. If only I could find…there they were. The small closet opposite the bed contained a pair of unisex black sandals that looked to be just about my size. That made more sense. I wouldn’t want patients walking around on these nasty floors either.
The compound hospital wasn’t too dissimilar to this one. Just slightly smaller. This hospital no doubt serviced thousands of people in the area, while our small hospital on the compound only had to worry about four hundred or so members. Still, they carried the same scent.
