Surviving Patorum

Chapter 13

The stillness takes over me. I feel like I'm floating, not on a cloud but on a never-ending ocean. I imagine myself in a sea of black water, bobbing up and down as the night sky reflects onto the water. No stars. No moon. Just black. I try to take in a breath but can't. I feel like I'm underwater. How can you feel like you're drowning and floating simultaneously? The only thing I hear is my heartbeat. It thumps softly and slowly like it's putting all its energy into each pump. Just then, I feel my body disappear. I look down and see the black water. I look up and see the black sky. Is that even the sky? Wait. No, that was the water. I can't tell anymore.

Space. That's what it feels like now. Like I'm floating in space but without a body. My heart stops beating. The deafening silence makes me feel like I'm falling. Falling into nothing, floating into something. It could be either one. But the overwhelming urge to breathe takes over me, and I do. I let the air fill my nostrils as quickly as I could.

And then I wake up.

Choking for air, my hands reach out and grab at anything they can touch. I try desperately to find something to stop the ache in my lungs. My hands find the metal bar of the hospital bed I'm on, and I try pushing myself off the fabric, but tubes in my nose stop me. They move in my nostrils, which causes me to cough, my throat filling with mucus. "Ethan." I hear. "You need to settle down." I take another gasp of air, trying to get my eyes to focus on something. The shadowy figures in front of me come into focus. The same lady I saw put the needle into my arm earlier is in front of me, looking me in the eyes while trying to calm me. Her blonde hair is tied up, but her front bangs hang across her forehead. The glasses she's wearing are circular, and they accentuate her blue eyes beautifully. She's a young lady, probably a few years older than Dally, and her smooth and supple skin makes her look youthful. She has a blue pen tucked into the pocket of her lab coat, and a clipboard lays in front of her on my bed. Her blue blouse is the same color as the sky, and I can see the freckles that scatter her collarbones. Her porcelain skin is cold when she touches my arm. It sends a tingle rocketing through me, and I freeze, remembering the reason I saw her in the first place.

They killed me. They fucking killed me. I remember the injection. Everything. Finn was there. He helped her kill me. Oh my God. I died. I fucking died.

How am I alive?

"Ethan." The lady says again. "Calm down."

I gulp, sending a mouthful of puke with it. The bright LED lights shone onto my body, attracting my eyes. Then, I realize I'm naked.

I look different.

I see my legs stretching down the long bed, and at the ankles, tubes are inserted into my skin. They're pumping chartreuse-colored fluid through them and into my legs. I try and move my bottom half, but metal braces at my knees hold me in place. "Can you hear me?" The lady says again.

I look into her eyes, focusing on the tiny flecks of silver in them, and nod.

"By God," I hear from next to the lady. The following figure comes into view. My stomach drops the second I see his face. It's Mr. Smith, dressed in an ugly, amber-colored velvet suit. His hair is slick with gel, and I know for a fact that it takes him about ten minutes to wash it out in the shower. His charming smile doesn't decorate his face this time. This time he stands with his shoulders slacked, jaw ajar, and hands folded nicely in front of him.

"It's a miracle. His vitals are climbing." The lady smiles as she sets a hand on my forearm. "He's going to be alright."

"Astonishing." Mr. Smith's curiosity makes my breath hitch in my throat. I grit my teeth, staring into his eyes with a face full of loathing. He senses my irritation. "You must be angry with me," he says. "You'll forgive me, though." His bright white teeth show through his smirk. He then turns to the lady next to him and clears his throat. "Get Dr. Shepard. I'll need to know what bacteria he was using."