Life Time

Vida Mueve Bastante Rápido

“She’s waking up, Lincoln.”

“Heart rate, stable. She’s doing just fine, Davis.”

“Splendid. Miss Alea? Ah, there we go.”

I sat up, my eyes blinded by a bright light. There were two men dressed in white on either side of me. I blinked a few times, and then my eyes became focused.

“Who are you?” I asked the two men.

The man on my left was tall and had a bony face, with his longish hair parted on the side. He was holding a white tablet-like device in one hand, and a pen-shaped tool in the other. The second man, who was standing on my right was more noble-looking, and, like the other, was tall. However, this man had curly hair and beard that covered his sideburns and chin. His eyes were kind, and he seemed to stand both proudly and humbly at the same time with his hands folded.

“I am Davis,” said the man on the left.

“I am Lincoln,” said the man on the right.

“Where am I?” I asked. I looked at my feet. The gentlemen didn’t have to answer me. I was sitting on a white table-like thing that was floating above the floor, rocking like a baby’s cradle. I was dressed in a white tunic, and had wires connected to my wrists, feet, and head. I followed the wire that was attached to my head, and found that it was connected to a projector which was aimed at a black screen on the ceiling.

I turned back to Lincoln and Davis.

“What…is this? And how did I get here? You stopped me from leaving the Terminal,” I said quickly. Lincoln and Davis shared a glance before Davis spoke to me.

“Miss Alea, you remember everything that has happened to you vividly, correct?” Davis asked.

“Yes,” I replied hesitantly. 

“So, if I were to have in my hand,” Davis continued, holding out his hand, “two sugar cubes, how would you react?”

“NO!” I shouted. “I won’t take it, Joe took Dedisco and he-”

“-is completely fine,” Lincoln added calmly.

“These sugar cubes have no Dedisco content,” Davis said. “They are made of pure sugar, imported from out-of-state.”

“What about Joe?” I asked.

Lincoln and Davis shared another glance. I began looking around the room I was in. Behind the two men there was a door and a glass window. 

Discarding the wires, I jumped off of the table-thing and skipped over to the glass. On the other side, I saw Joe. He was dressed similarly to me, in an all-white tunic. He was flat on his back on another one of those white tables, with wires attached to his wrists, feet, and head. A screen was directly above him, but like the one in my room, it was also dark.

He was so handsome, even though he looked like he was asleep. I knew I shouldn’t have been as harsh as I was, refusing to believe him. He looked peaceful; his dark hair was slicked back and combed, his face was relaxed, and I almost wanted to be the same way.

“What’s going on?” I asked the two men.

“He’s asleep-,” Davis said.

“-but he’s fine,” Lincoln finished. “Just resting up.”

“Is he going to be okay? I mean, he did take all of that Dedisco,” I asked.

Lincoln and Davis didn’t reply, so I repeated my question.

“He’ll be fine, Miss Alea,” Lincoln said. “You and Joe will be returning to school in an hour, just after your clothes are washed.”

“What about that bus I saw before you two caught me,” I continued. “Speaking of which, why am I here, anyway?”