Surviving Patorum

Chapter 15

"Ouch!" I wince as Dr. Dean pushes the needle into the crook of my arm. I see bright red blood fill the syringe she's holding with her newly painted light blue nails.

I spent the rest of the day curled up in my residence, sleeping off my boredom or reading the book my mother let me borrow. It's called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Apparently, the book was super popular one hundred years ago. I'm about halfway through, and I really like it so far. I genuinely believe the United States could have turned into a dystopian governed country if Patorum hadn't happened. We've learned so much about government here in the compound. The initial "commercial" for the idea of the compound was that "Mr. Henry Smith's underground Mexican bomb compound will be full of like-minded people, who will practice government on a small scale to get ready to repopulate the Earth if there ever was a missile crisis.", and I can't forget the commercial's tag line: "Making our future great." So, this entire time I've been in the compound, I've learned why Patorum happened and how to prevent something like that from happening again. Government is a class I've had to take every year since I started school here. I knew I would never get good enough grades to rank among the Governmental Officials of the compound, so I didn't care what my grades were in them. All I cared about was being in a class with Paige.

I've had a lot of time to think while being stuck in my residence, and even though I was stress-free reading a book, it felt like a million pounds of heavy lead were placed onto my chest. That kiss with Paige was otherworldly. I had been waiting for that to happen for the last six years, and finally, being able to experience something that I'd daydreamed about made my skin feel tingly like it had been smothered in gasoline and lit with a match. I'll admit, my stomach jumps into my throat when I think about spending the night at Paige's residence tonight. What will happen? Will she kiss me again?

Oh, God, I hope so.

The thought of being alone with her again made me a little too happy earlier, and I had to take a break from my book and pace around my living room for ten minutes to calm myself down. I had just sat back down when my mother got home from her dinner shift and asked me why I hadn't shown up, and I told her I had fallen asleep again and just woke up a few minutes ago. She was worried about me sleeping so much, but I assured her that it was because of my uncomfortable jail cell cot and how I didn't get any sleep. She eventually got off my back and went to bed after playing card games. I told her I was going to tidy up the living area before I went to bed, so I read my book until I could hear her snoring from the other room, and then I hurried through the halls and to the basement to have my checkup with Dr. Dean. And that's where I am, staring at the clear tube filling with my magical blood.

"It didn't hurt that bad. "Dr. Dean says through her slight smile. Her eyes pick up from the vial and connect with mine. "This will only take a few minutes. After it's done, we can perform a normal checkup, and you can get back to sleep."

Even though it's after curfew, the basement is riddled with doctors. I see one of them peek through the glass door of my hospital room to eavesdrop every couple of minutes. At first, I would give them a look of annoyance, but after seeing them a few times, I gave up and let them look in. I guess the basement operates all day and night since it looks like it's nine in the morning and the doctors are starting their day shifts. You couldn't tell that it was after midnight by how crowded this place was.

"Great. I'm super exhausted." I say as I watch the blood pass the lines on the syringe.

"Dr. Dean looks up from the vial, her eyes scanning me. "How exhausted? Like, can't stay awake exhausted?" She clicks her pen from her lab coat's front pocket. Her clipboard is lying on her lap, and she scribbles on the paper.

"No," I say, leaning back onto the cold wax paper on the hospital bed. "Just the normal amount." I let a laugh escape my lips.

Dr. Dean puts her pen back into her pocket. A small smile creeps onto her face. "I'm sorry I'm so eager. Regeneration is such a big discovery, and we have no idea how you'll react or what will spring up at any moment. We don't know if your cells will even stay alive."