Target To Save

Chapter 9 - October 29, 2031

Ivalin was waiting for the other shoe to drop. She had woken up at a hospital, a normal hospital, and nobody said anything about the fast healing, about the Mercies that boiled under her skin. Her doctor was nice; she smiled at the right moments, laughed when it was appropriate. She never yelled.

"Bad news?" Ivalin asked, pushing around a lump of cold grits on a tarnished plate.

Dr. Ryan sighed, sitting down in the chair next to the bed. "I think you know where this is going." Her voice was soft, and Ivalin flinched at the tone. "Unfortunately we can't help you any more than we already have. I'm sorry."

"I know." Ivalin picked at the food.

"The Sisterhood- the government will be here to pick you up tomorrow." Ivalin gave a curt nod, and Dr. Ryan looked down at her paper. "It's already been over a week, which is past the time we're legally allowed to hold you, but your sibling called and pulled some strings. They managed to give you some more time before you have to go back." When Ivalin didn't react, Dr. Ryan pressed, "They was lovely over the phone." It was an olive branch, an attempt at a bridge.

"Jaizya?" Ivalin stopped playing with her food. She looked up, her eyes trained on Dr. Ryan's face.

"Agent 56." Ivalin's face closed, her eyes grew stormy, and Dr. Ryan's shoulders dropped. "Jaizya sounds about right. Look, I don't know if this helped, but I told her that although we can't help, you've been progressing nicely. You're almost healed up from extensive damage." Ivalin shrugged again, and Dr. Ryan sighed, grabbing one of Ivalin's hands. "I want to help you."

"Nobody but the government can help people with Mercies. Not even hospitals." Ivalin ripped her hand from Dr. Ryan's, and crossed her arms. "It's not safe for you."

"I have the basic certifications. Besides, you're not going to hurt me."

"The law says I will." Ivalin's voice didn't raise, she knew better than that, but anger rammed itself against her chest.

"The law hasn't met you yet. Look, I still have you for twenty-four hours, why don't we see if I can sneak your friends in? They've been asking to see you." Her voice was playful, kind. It was the opposite of Ivalin's.

Ivalin looked down. "They won't want to."

Realization grew on her face, and sadness curled around Dr. Ryan's eyes. "They don't know."

Ivalin's gaze locked with Dr. Ryan, trying to breathe. "Know what? Nobody's supposed to know that I'm some freak that's only allowed to work for the government. That I murdered innocent people for two centuries?" Dr. Ryan's eyes narrowed, Ivalin sighed, leaning back into the bed. "So, no. They don't"

She hummed, "Are you worried about their backlash? Anybody who matters won't hate you."

"The job parameters say I can't," Ivalin snapped, her teeth bared. "It's hard enough trying to fit in as a teenager, imagine being one with Mercies." Ivalin snarled.

Dr. Ryan nearly smiled, but it fell when she looked down at the papers. "Strength, healing, speed." Her voice slowed. "You're pretty young to be Dames Blanche." Dr. Ryan tilted her head.

"I wasn't a Dames Blanche." Ivalin's arm crossed her, everything she wanted to say was stuck in her throat.

Dr. Ryan's voice was smooth, but at the edges, curiosity leaked through. "Higher than Dames Blanche? But you only have Basic Mercies."

"I don't know what you're playing at."

"I'm not playing."

Ivalin bit her cheek, and her shoulders tightened. Dr. Ryan paused for a second, tilting her head. She changed tactics.

"Look, when I was little, there was this roller rink. It was the coolest part of town, with horrible carpets, flashing lights, the works, and it was the hit of the station. It was right before the Bleeding Hearts rose, and the fighting started, and I loved it. I'd sneak in through the back because my best friend worked there. I was the queen of rollerblading. I spent so many summers there, living life, dancing to trashy music. The world was my oyster. I wanted to go professionally into rollerblading. Do you know why I didn't?"

"Because rollerblading isn't a sustaining job?"

Dr. Ryan laughed, her head thrown back, her eyes crinkling. "It's not, isn't it? No, I didn't because that summer my best friend, the girl who had her hair cut too short and wore those darn skates to everything was assassinated illegally. By someone with basic Mercies. Do you know what that means?"

"That I killed her?" Ivalin whispered. Her heart pounded in her head.

Dr. Ryan gave a sad smile. "I don't think so. No one will ever know who killed her, but that's not the point. Do you want to know why she was murdered by a member of Bleeding Hearts?"

Ivalin shook her head. She didn't want to know, she didn't want to know why her mother spread pain, but Dr. Ryan pushed forward anyways, but her eyes were foggy, transfixed on the bulletproof windows.

"Because she was in the way. It's such a small reason for everything in my life to change. The rink was blown to smithereens that month for whatever reason. I watched as her favorite place blew up, people inside. And I came to the decision that I wanted to help people survive physically not mentally because I couldn't save any of them. The point is I choose to help people because of Bleeding Hearts, but I chose how. I chose my own path, they had nothing to do with it." She blinked and re-focused on Ivalin. "Am I making any sense, or am I just talking nonsense?"

Ivalin froze for a second too long because Dr. Ryan patted shoulder and stood up. "Let's see if I can steal you some extra sugar." She winked and walked out of the room, pausing for a second before closing the door. "You're a good kid. Don't ever forget it."

"I'm not a kid." It sounded whiny, like a young child who didn't get the treat they had wanted. Ivalin sank into the covers, her face red.

Dr. Ryan laughed again, the room brightening. "Okay, old man."

Ivalin shifted in the bed. Her eyes grew heavy, and the voices hummed together. And when she woke up, there was an extra dessert sitting innocently on the table. Ivalin grinned at the innocent note with cursive words that danced on the page, "Just between the two of us."