The Hive Solution

Chapter 10

Mason's eyes flick open to be greeted by the blinding lights of a private hospital room. Blinking his eyes at the brightness he looks down to see he's laid out on a bed, dressed in a green hospital gown. As his eyes become accustomed to the light he looks around the room, his clothes sit neatly folded on a chair off to the side, while high up above the door is a security camera. The room is completely enclosed with no window and in the corner next to his bed stands a trolley loaded with monitors and wires used to monitor a patient's condition. These don't look like they've been used on him.

He rests his head back on the pillow and closes his eyes to try and think. The last thing he remembered was collapsing on the foul smelling mattress in the cell back at the border, someone must of found him and had him brought here. Mason brings his hand up to his side to probe his injured rib but when he presses the spot he feels nothing, no pain, no numbness. He then checks his face for the damage that Phillips dealt him, again nothing, no pain, although if he's showing any wounds or bruising he won't know about that until he looks in a mirror. As he pulls his hand away and opens his eyes he catches a glimpse of his forearm, the muscles look toned, tight, his fingers look powerful, strong. He flexes his arm and moves his fingers checking their movement, everything seems fine, perfect even. He'd always tried to stay fit by running on the beach and stuff but something drastic has happened to his body. He looks down under the hospital gown to see a strong muscular chest and a perfectly toned abdomen. He rests his head back down at the sound of the door opening and Colvin walks in the room alone, closing the door behind him.

"How ya feeling?" he asks as he sits down on a chair in the corner.

"I don't know, I feel kinda strange to be honest" Mason replies while getting to a sitting position.

"Yeah well, that sachet you swallowed was soluble, in that it dissolved in your stomach and the contents are now in your body"

"Is that why I feel so weird?"

"Yeah, most likely, I honestly don't know what it was but even I can see the change in you. But we still need to talk about who you're working for Joe, you need to tell me everything" says Colvin crossing his arms.

"I just work as a hired hand if you like, a freelance driver for courier work, I don't really get involved in anything else" Mason didn't want to tell Colvin everything, sure he'd worked as a getaway driver but he knew if he confessed to that he'd probably end up getting linked to shooting the brothers.

"Okay, so who's your handler?"

Joe balks at this question, giving himself up as a driver is fine but he doesn't want to incriminate anyone else in this debacle, least of all Danny. Mason's silence makes Colvin smile.

"A step too far eh Joe, don't worry, you'll tell me eventually. Anyway we're gonna be taking you to the FBI regional headquarters back in LA, until then you're gonna be under our protection, me and my friend Phillips who's out standing guard in the corridor"

"Why am I so damned important all of a sudden?"

"Because whatever you stole is now floating around your body and my superiors want it back, that's why"

*

Silas watches on from the shadows at the rear of the hospital waiting for a suitable victim to come along. He'd followed the ambulance and the tailing agents to the hospital, then gone round the back to a quiet service entrance where he'd hoped staff might step out for a quick smoke during their shift. So far, no one useful had come along until just now when a middle aged hospital porter made his way outside for a break. Silas crouches out of view behind a dumpster waiting for the unsuspecting porter to turn the other way. The perfect moment arrives just as a young female doctor comes out to join him.
"Brad, when you're done here I need you to bring Mrs Holder to X-ray please" she says as she gets a cigarette out.