Dawn Hollow

XXXIV

Ella's hands held the clipboard with PJ's records attached. Her heels clicked into the metal floors that led her down the hallway to the rooms the last two patients were in. She couldn't help but snap her nails against the clipboard to make a satisfying sound that helped her focus. Today was the day. Monday. Not only was it the day of PJ's surgery that would also act as his death day, but it was the day everything would come to a close.

She was ready, excited for it all to end. But at the same time, she lay awake every night thinking about it. It all rode on her shoulders. She could choose to back out and keep her job exactly the same, or she could expose it and slowly let her life return to normal.

It seemed like such an easy choice. But it wasn't the choice that plagued her.

This was her life. This was Dr. Marston's life. This was everything she'd ever worked for in her entire life. The science of the project was in her blood; it ran with every individual thing she ever worked for in her whole life. She had walked these walls since the beginning. It was like her own product. Could she really let it blow all up so quickly? Was it worth it?

Ella swiped her ID card, chills rocketing up her spine at the cold air inside. The patient wing of the lab was always the coldest on a dark day. She forced the gurney inside the long corridor and walked along the glass walls of the separate rooms, all of them empty to the eye but not in her spirit. She still remembered the names and faces of everyone that she once took care of. They were so innocent, sweet, and kind. It broke her soul like glass as the light faded from their eyes with all the pain and suffering they slowly gave into.

Hearing the sounds of her shoes, Kane slowly removed himself from the thin mattress. He clutched his side with singe marks in his shirt from the electroshock therapy he managed to endure. Ella's heart pounded in ache with his sweaty hands grabbing out to her from the glass. She faced the boy, adjusting her glasses in an attempt to not cry. "Ella, please," Kane started, voice already shattered. "Don't do this. PJ deserves better; you know he's not even a part of this whole thing."

"I see why you like him so much. You're very much the same. Very strong, very brave, tough as nails with hearts of pure gold," Ella complemented, deeply breathing out. "I wanted to thank you for everything. You've given me a lot of courage and bravery over the years. And it's been an honor and pleasure to watch you grow throughout the years." Kane's confusion was an understatement, a tilt in his neck.

"You're saying all this like you're about to die."

"I guarantee that's not my intention, but after tonight I will be reborn." He nodded slowly in response, misunderstanding still stirring in his eyes, but he also understood to not question her confidence. "I do have a question for you, though. How, after everything you've been through, have you survived? Everybody else failed. Everybody else died. What made you so different from every other kid that walked through those doors?"

"I often ask myself that every single day, even when I wasn't here," Kane scoffed at his flesh and blood. "But I made it because of you, Ella. You gave me so much hope and support every single day. Though I couldn't see the sun every day like you could, you inspired me to live long enough to see the sun again. You inspired me to make it to tomorrow." Ella wiped a small tear that rushed past her glasses frame with a bright smile on her face.

"I'm glad that you have made it to tomorrow. Because if you didn't make it, neither would I. But trust me, you will see the sun again." He barely caught the slight wink she gave to him before moving on to PJ's room. He watched her go, a small, pointed object in her lab coat pocket. Maybe he didn't understand, but the puzzle was growing into a complete picture piece by piece.

***

PJ heard the click and the turn of a key accessing his room. Sleepless eyes watched Ella enter the room, his shivering skin blanketing him in fear. Nightmares plagued him, no matter awake or asleep. He could already feel the needle of the IV in his arm, the dissected skin of his chest and stomach naked for the Doctor to figure him out.