Bandages and Salt (PJO X BSD AU)

Chapter four

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I was not dead. I'd been to the Underworld before, and while some people might consider this place hell, it was not the real thing. I was strapped down on a medical bed, my hands pinned to my sides, unable to move. Suicide watch, smart. Not that I would if I wasn't, my entire body roared in pain just at the thought of moving. This pain too told me that I was alive. Chemical smells wafted through the air, revealing that I was in some type of medical facility.

My skin felt strange against the bed. Where sheets should've been soft and cool, they felt slightly rough, containing almost. There was a bandage covering my right eye, shielding it from the harsh lighting. From what I could tell, there were bandages covering my arms and torso too. I suspected that if I were to remove them, I would find bruises lining my skin. Whichever doctor I have probably put them there because some older wounds reopened when I hit the water.

There were clothes on me, fancy clothes almost. A nice dress shirt and dress pants. These were the nicest clothes that I'd ever worn. Someone must have changed me into them when I was brought here. This just added to my assumption that I was not in a real hospital, but some type of facility instead.

There was a man, a doctor judging by his long white coat, standing in the shadows observing me as I took everything in.

"I survived then," it wasn't a question, so the doctor didn't treat it as such. Maybe in this moment, I should have been feeling grateful to be alive. Instead I was just wondering how long it would be before I could leave here and try again, this time without pesky interference

The doctor stepped closer, bringing himself into the light where he could be better seen. His coat swayed slightly with him. The man wore a formal shirt and pants instead of scrubs like doctors back home. He had shoulder length black hair commonly found throughout Japan. Everything about the man was average, boring even, except for his eyes. The man possessed a pair of purple eyes, a color no human should have. More interesting though, was the intelligence those eyes held. The startling intelligence in those eyes was comparable to that of Athena. He looked like he was already screaming three steps ahead. This man is dangerous.

Maybe he will be the one to kill me.

"You were brought here after a suicide attempt," the doctor stated simply. "Before that, you made a deal with my Elise. Do you remember it?" he questioned.

I thought for a moment, remember the blonde girl on the bridge, she must be Elise. "I said I would help her friend if I survived," I stopped and looked at the man fully, "I'm guessing that's you." the doctor just nodded, pleased. "So what do you need me to act as a witness to?" I asked the man as if I was asking for the day of the week.

The man's eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly schooled his features back into a neutral expression. But his gaze on me felt different, almost like he was impressed with me. "How do you figure?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the man, he was tiring. Instead of just confirming my suspicions or calling me a fool like everyone else, he wanted me to explain my thought process. "A suicidal teenager who no one will miss and just kill himself after completing whatever recording of the events it is that you need me to do has fallen into your lap. What else would you need me for?" I didn't bother looking at the doctor anymore, the ceiling was much more interesting than him at this moment. "Besides, if you wanted me to commit a c rime that you couldn't, which I wouldn't say is many, then you would have found a common criminal, not a suicidal child."

I looked back at the man, my expression dead. The doctor smiled in a way that could have almost been described as warm if it weren't for the glint in his eyes. He found me interesting, it seemed. I'm not sure how I feel about that. "You're correct," the doctor said. "How strange," the last part was said in little more than a whisper.