Unplugged: The Beautiful World (#3, Unplugged Trilogy)

Chapter Fifty One

Enna

    Leah wakes me up frantically. All of the worry rushes back to me in an instant. It can't be noon already, can it? But then I see that she's smiling ear to ear.
"Enna, come on! You won't believe it!"
"What time is it?"
"12:30."
Without even bothering to change into more appropriate clothes, I leap to my feet and sprint through the Depot. Leah exits the Training Facility, and I think she's about to take me to the Warehouse when she barrels past it and towards the Entry Hall.
"Wh-what's happening?"
"Just shut up and follow me." We start to sprint up the stairs to the trapdoor. My legs ache from exertion when we enter the apartment. Leah finally allows us a moment to rest, and I shake my head, breathless.
"Can you tell me what's happening now?"
"I was looking at the screens in the Security Quarter, and I saw... Well, you'll have to see for yourself." She's almost giddy with joy, and I find myself growing hesitant.
"Are you sure--?"
"Oh, come on!" She rolls her eyes and grabs my wrist, dragging out into the street. It smells of smoke and dead bodies and I almost hurl. I have to cover my nose and mouth with a hand in order to travel through the destruction. Leah leads me through alleyways and down sidewalks until we reach the main road that runs past the Pillar.
It's then that I see him.
Matthew slowly wanders through the street, alone and dirty. But there all the same. Somehow, someway, Fake Enna let him go.
"Oh my ... Oh my God!" Tripping over myself, I sprint towards Matthew and embrace him so vigorously that he almost tips backwards. I mumble his name and run my hand through his overgrown hair and hold his body as close to mine as possible. My spirit lifts ten-fold and tears of joy empty onto his shoulder. But after a moment, I realize that something is wrong.
He does nothing.
His spine is stiff and his eyes survey me without feeling, without recognition. A heavy, cold weight drops into my gut and I reach up, taking his face in my hands.
"Baby, you're okay," I whisper. "It's over. It's over now."
He does nothing.
"Matthew?" I choke. His eyebrows tug together ever so slightly in confusion. And then I see the scabbed-over scar on his left temple. My mouth opens in a silent scream, and it's a long time before I can summon the strength to call out to Leah.
"Oh my ... Leah! Leah!" I'm sobbing now, holding onto his stiff arms, cursing Fake Enna and the Hidden Allies and all of the cruel bastards in the Pillar. Leah pulls me off of him and calmly asks what's the matter. I shake my head and sob again. She calmly asks me what's the matter again.
I tell her that Matthew is plugged in.
She promises that we'll take him to the Labs right away.
She helps me guide him back to the Depot's entrance. It's hard to help him down the lightless staircase, and even harder to not fall myself. My legs shake so intensely that I almost trip up Leah. She remains calm and helps me bring Matthew all the way to the bottom on the stairs, in the Entry Hall.
"Stay here," she says. "I'm going to get a surgeon right away." With that, she sprints off into the enormous entry tunnel, thick black hair flying behind her head. Matthew just stands there, looking around at the walls and the tunnel and the ceiling and the camera, not really observing anything. Just there.
I remember seeing the older patient in the Labs when I visited a few days ago. She could only speak to alert others of her urgent physical needs. I dully realize that I'll never have a conversation with Matthew again...
Unless he can be unplugged! I remind myself. But even then, it will still take lots and lots of time for him to relearn everything. He might not even remember me. The thought is a sharp knife through my heart. I avert my eyes from his face and wait until Leah returns, wiping the drying tears from my face.
I have to remain calm; fretting won't help anyone. A few moments later, the middle-aged surgeon I met at the Labs and another man turn the bend of the tunnel, sprinting towards me with a stretcher. Leah follows close behind. They slow when they see me.
"Holy crap, that's Elliot!" The man exclaims. I bite my lip anxiously as the woman turns around and addresses the man.
"Rogers, the patient is in stable condition. You're free to go." The man shrugs and walks off with the stretcher as the female surgeon approaches me.
"How long ago did you find him?" She asks calmly, eyes roving over Matthew's temple. She extends a hand. "Dr. Patel, by the way."
"Enna. Uh... I don't know, ten to fifteen minutes? We ran as fast as we could to get here."
"You've done brilliantly," she soothes, running a brown hand over my tangled hair. "Let me take it from here, okay?"
What is it, with doctors and their soothing voices?
"I want to come. I want to be with him." Dr. Patel purses her lips and scratches her head.
"Enna, we've just got to perform a few standard tests on him before he's unplugged. I'm it sure it's not something you'd want to see." By the tacit warning in her voice, I deduct that she's telling the truth. I glance over at Leah, who stares at the ground. Her expression is indiscernible.
"Well, can we at least sit in the waiting room? I want regular updates."
"Of course." Dr. Patel smiles warmly, then takes Matthew's tense hand. "We'd better get going."