PROJECT SPARTA

CHAPTER 41

The Compound

2011

Xander ached awake in a white room, the fluorescent lights reflected off the tile and walls so brightly it took his squinting eyes a long minute to adjust. The blurred figure of Dr. Rodgers approached with a clipboard.

"Wakey Wakey!"

"Hey Doc," Xander rasped. Doctor Rodgers was in a good mood today, he had a bounce in his step, similar to a kid on the last day of school. Rodgers's hand came up to his cheek to channel a whisper toward Xander.

"Off the record, that was a pretty amazing battle, Xander. A quadruple tag? Unbelievable." The word had spread of Xander's daring dive through the central chamber where he left behind a grenade to take out the four remaining Spartans at once.

"Thanks..." Xander said as his body creaked up into a sitting position. As his vision elevated, a relieving sight came to view - Fiona was in the bed across the room from him. It looked like she was asleep because her locks of red hair lay sprawled out over the sheets.

"Don't you want to know the results?!" the doctor emphatically asked. Xander's eyes didn't leave Fiona as he was now her protector.

"Oh yeah, sure..."

"You won, Xander! You got the most points for the year. That quadruple kill gave you sixty points alone." The doctor was taken aback by Xander's lack of interest.

"Oh good..." The doctor chalked up the weak rejoice to his fatigue. "What are my injuries?"

"You reaggravated your ribs, so much so that you lacerated your kidney. It's not too serious; you have only been unconscious a few hours. I am going to keep you under watch tonight." Xander nodded, hoping that a silent response would expedite the conclusion of the conversation. The doctor noticed him looking over at Fiona. "She's not doing so well... Concussion, broken clavicle and three broken ribs," Xander's guilt crept in on him - but it was quickly suppressed upon its ascent.

"She'll be okay, just a long recovery. I know you didn't mean to do that to her, after all how were you supposed to know the hallway would drop out?"

But Xander had known and he did it anyway. The point was to immobilize her, keeping her from her house where he was sure C4 chargers awaited her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Midnight had struck and although the night nurse had thought Xander had been asleep for the last three hours, he had laid in wait. He had tracked her movements all night and knew that she would be exiting the Infirmary momentarily for her lunch break. Xander's sights ascended to the top corner of the room. There was the one surveillance camera attached to the ceiling, angled down to Fiona's bed. It was the only camera in the Compound, used in case of medical emergencies. Xander knew the camera would come in handy on that night. She hadn't moved as she was in a deep slumber while her body repaired itself throughout the night. Xander heard the nurse's footsteps approach the door of the Infirmary and the door shut behind her.

Now is my chance.

Xander shot up from bed, ignoring the pang shooting through his chest from his ribs. He marched through the Infirmary and began his preparations. It was now only the two of them - him and Fiona.

Xander wheeled the rattling cart through the room and positioned it next to Fiona's bedside. He retrieved the restraints from the surgical table in the adjacent ICU room and brought them over to her bedside. He tied them to the frame of the bed and gently fed Fiona's good hand through them, strapping it down tight. Her other arm hung in a sling, as her collarbone was fractured. Xander remained calmed and methodical as he carried out what he had mentally rehearsed all evening.