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“Good thing I wore appropriate underwear.”
“Leave nothing on, please. Not even your socks.”
“In that case, can you crank up the heat a few degrees?”
She turned and left the room without another word, closing the door behind her. I changed into the paper gown and sat on the edge of the table, listening to the crinkling sound of the material as I adjusted my position, reminded once again how much I hated feeling so exposed and vulnerable. I should ask Gun to double his payment. I hadn’t taken into account that my bare ass would be stuck to a cold metal table.
Imani returned to the room a few minutes later and proceeded to take my temperature and blood pressure, and then attach a few patches.
“Are you a registered nurse?” I asked.
“No.”
“Not much of a talker, are you?”
“I don’t get paid to talk, Miss Clay.” She switched on a monitor and left the room again.
I swore they kept the thermostat turned down in this room on purpose. Maybe it was part of the test. By the time Dr. Edmonds entered the room, I was shivering.
He was a nondescript middle-aged white man. Average height. Average features. The only notable physical characteristic was the box he carried in his hands. It was shaped like a cube and seemed to have been constructed from white marble.
“Lorelei Clay, I’m Dr. Edmonds. I’ll be conducting today’s patch test.” He set the box on a nearby metal table and popped back the lid to reveal a tube of clear liquid.
“Is that the elixir?”
He pinched the tube between his fingers and held it up with care. “Yes.”
“Are all the elixirs clear?”
He glanced at me. “Does it matter?”
“No. I was just curious. I expected a bright green color or something more vibrant.”
“You won’t be turning into the Hulk today, Miss Clay.”
“Well, thanks for crushing a girl’s dream.”
“Crushing is precisely the problem. The Hulk is too angry. We want you to have more control over your actions.” He crossed the room, carrying the tube in his hand like it was constructed of delicate flowers.
I stared at the elixir. “What happens now?”
“You need to drink the test batch. It’s a smaller quantity, so the effects will be minimal, but I’ll be able to gauge whether the proportions are correct.”
“If the proportions were incorrect for Dusty, why not adjust them and try again?”
“Dusty’s was one possible outcome of many. Unfortunately, in her case, it was a result that couldn’t be tweaked. If I had adjusted the proportions, she simply would’ve turned into a bigger, more powerful swan. The elixir simply wasn’t a suitable fit for her, which means the patch test was effective.”
“How many failures do you get?”
“Far more than we’d like, which is why the requirements are fairly stringent. No humans, for example. Their bodies couldn’t cope with the changes.”
“Bruce Banner did okay.”
Dr. Edmonds offered the hint of a smile. “That’s arguable.” He dangled the tube in front of me. “Open wide.”
“You don’t need to strap me down in case I turn violent?”
“You’re rather fixated on this Hulk idea, aren’t you?”
