Saving Annabel

Chapter 5

         

I moan against the sudden pain in my lungs and hammering in my head.

"Oh thank god you're alive." A deep voice says from somewhere near.

I groan again from the pain. My ears ring, my lungs hurt, and my head feels like someone just used it as a punching bag. All I want right now is to go back to the darkness; to visit my parents one last time.

I squint one eye open but the brightness in the room causes me to immediately shut it. My head feels foggy and I can't focus on anything in particular.

"I'm taking you to the ER."

Strong arms reach underneath me and effortlessly hoist me up. My head rests against the stranger's shoulder and bobs up and down with his every step. I focus on my breathing as I try to get my bearings straight. In. Out. In. Out.

I try to turn my head to the side but my movement is obstructed by something attached to my mouth. I move my hand up to touch it. My hand feels something like rubber or plastic surrounding my nose and mouth. My hands explore it and bump into a warm hand.

My eyes fly open. I blink several times to try and see who has me in his arms. Finally my eyes can make out the jawline of a man as he walks determinedly forward.

"Who are you?" I ask, confused.

I see him grimace.

"Tyler."

"Ty-ler." I repeat groggily.

I let out a deep breath and look toward the ceiling. It passes above us in a rhythmic way. One light to every three strides. I let myself go limp in the stranger's arms. My eyes hurt and my head throbs.

Suddenly I remember the past incidences leading up to this. There was a man with a baby, then an elevator, I was suffocated, and now, for some reason, I'm still alive.

My head swirls with so many different questions that my brain can't process anything. Only two questions stand out.

First off: Why and how am I still alive? And second off: What the actual fudge?

The mask is lifted off my face and I suddenly feel dizzy. Rough hands grab my arms and hoist me into a soft bed. A new mask is replaced.

I finally look around. I see the stranger's back as he walks out the door.

"Wait!" I call after him but he's already gone.

Instead, a nurse comes in and I ask her, "Who was that man?"

She looks up at me, her blond hair pulled up in a tight bun and her green eyes staring back at me with childish curiosity. She scratches her cheek.

"Uhhh." She says in a high pitched voice, as if deciding how much she should tell me. Then, deciding, she continues. "He found you passed out in the elevator."

I nod my head once since the oxygen flow from the mask is already making me feel better.

I'm in a room similar to the infirmary. The mattress underneath me is soft and warm, unlike the rough material my sheets are made of. The window grabs my attention. It takes up an entire wall and the outside reveals a beach and sunlight. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before. Windows are only something the high ranking officers can afford.

I turn to the nurse attending to my bedding. "I've never seen a window seem so real! Do you know when the engineers upgraded the last one?"

"Upgraded the last one?" The nurse repeats back to me, her head cocked to the side and her lips pursed.

"The last window." I clarify. When the nurse still doesn't understand me I continue, "You know, the windows that the engineers build to resemble the outside? I've never seen one so advanced and lifelike as this one. If you don't mind, could you change it to a forest setting?"

The nurse stops her shuffling and gives me an incredulous stare. After a few seconds her eyes widen and she clutches her hands together and gently squeezes them.

"Ahh, I'm sorry. I should probably get the doctor." With one stride the nurse walks over and presses a button on the opposite wall. I frown as the blinds on the window fold across.

"Hey! I liked the window!"

I try to protest but the nurse doesn't turn back. Instead she calls over her shoulder, "Your doctor will be in in just a few minutes."

I open my mouth to respond but she has already left. I slump back into my bed annoyed since no one has even mentioned why or how I'm still alive or even where this place is!

Around me, the room is white and lit by bright lights lining the ceiling. This infirmary is much nicer than the one I work at in Indigne. I wonder why I hadn't heard of it before. Perhaps it's part of a different society. A richer one, kept more to themselves. Why would they keep all this from us? And why would they have an entrance from our society?

The questions bombard me. I look around the room to find a distraction. On the edge of the bed looks like some piece of technology I haven't seen before. It resembles the shape of a remote but it doesn't have any buttons on it.

I delicately grasp it in my hands and brush a finger over it. A screen lights up on the glass surface. My eyes widen and a smile spreads on my face. I move my finger up and down and the screen moves too. Finally I see the button for the Window. I press it and the Window opens once more to reveal the beach. I sigh in contempt.

I search the remote for the Window's settings, but I can't find any. The beach will be okay for now.

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