The Evolution of Emma

Chapter 3

"... Took hours to clean the whole mess up; Tom is still working at it... It's a real shame; that place wasn't much more than a dump. I can't believe that children were staying there, but I suppose that muggles have different rules about that sort of thing, eh, Ted?"
The world took its time as it came into focus. Everything was dim. My head felt like a hundred obese elephants had trampled it. What was happening?
I was in some sort of bed. The sheets were white and clean, and the comforter was soft. The walls were white, the light was white, and the bedside table was white. Everything was harsh on my eyes.
In the next room, I could hear two men quietly talking.
"Really, the strangest thing is how old she is... I'd guess about 12 or so, but the nurse said she's older and a bit undernourished, so maybe about 15... I would've thought the ministry would've found out about her a long time ago, eh, Ted?"
"I must agree with you; she's older than Rebecca is now... She just had her 11th birthday, you know, William."
"Did she? Eh, good girl. Healthy, I'm sure?"
The first man, William, barreled on without waiting for Ted's response. I could feel my dizzy head beginning to like him.
"At any rate, I can't believe that she was there for so long and no one even knew about it... This is the ministry, for Merlin's sake! I would have thought that Fudge, at least, would know this sort of thing. Or Dumbledore, I guess. Wouldn't you think so, eh, Ted?"
Fudge? I wondered. CHOCOLATE fudge, perhaps? Where?
"I do agree... I wonder what her name is, at the very least. Has anyone figured it out?"
"Nah, not that I've heard... I suppose we could go in and check..."
Rapidly, my foggy mind cleared into glistening clarity, and I realized that those men had been talking about me. I had not been dreaming about the fiasco with Madame Dreaden and Drew, I was in some sort of weirdass hospital, and I was about to be in some deep, confusing shit.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway. I snuggled into my (very) white covers and pretended to be asleep.
The door noisily opened.
"Huh, I guess she's still asleep, eh, Ted?" William whispered.
"I suppose," Ted said, sounding as though he was becoming tired of William's antics. Personally, I thought it was hilarious, but I also thought that William would quickly piss me off. Kind of like Madame Dreaden pissed me off, except not like that at all, because Madame Dreaden was dreadful. That bitch. SLAPPING Drew...
Drew.
Involuntarily, my eyes opened.
"By golly, she lives!"
A man whom I presumed was William stood at the foot of my white bed, looking very silly and jovial, almost as though he was desperate to finish exploring the details of my life. His cheeks were red, his hair was a greying shade of brown, and his stomach was rather portly, as it stretched at the fabric of his obnoxiously plaid nightgown. At least, I assumed it was a nightgown.
Another man, who was obviously Ted, stood behind him. Ted appeared far more refined, as his cheeks were a sober sort of color, his hair was dark and neat, and his stomach did not stretch at the fabric of his nightgown, which was black, not plaid.
"Tell me, dear, sweet child," William said, his face a warm sort of shade, "what is your name?"
My mind blanked again. I knew my name, of course, but I didn't know if I should give it to them, and I didn't know what name I should give in its stead.
"Um," I said, stalling, "my name is, uh..."
It wouldn't come.
A few milliseconds stretched into an eternity as I tried to figure out where I was, why I was there, whom I was with, and what the hell had happened back at the orphanage.
I rephrased: "I'll tell you my name if you tell me where I am."
William looked disappointed in my distrust of him, but he spoke anyway: "Ah. You, my dear, are in the medical ward of the Ministry of Magic." Then, out of the corner of his mouth, he muttered to Ted, who stood in the corner: "Not that I knew we even had a medical ward, before today, that is, but I wish I had... Would definitely make paper cuts more manageable... Those airplanes never land properly..."
I stared, first at William, and then at Ted, who nodded at me as though he wasn't a psycho druggie in a too-white room. The Ministry of MAGIC, William had said? What the hell? I wondered what he was on and where I could get some of the stuff, because it looked like fun shit. Then again, maybe I was already on it, which made perfect sense- that was why that creepy thing with Madame Bitchen's hands had happened, and that was why I was now in an entirely white room (yay, rehab!) with two full-grown men in nighties.
I decided to change tactics.
I climbed out of my bed and bolted for the door, which was- SURPRISE!- white.
"Hey!" Someone yelled- I wasn't sure if it was William, Ted, or both- but then I was out of the room and into the hallway, which was, surprisingly, not white.
Instead, the hallway was royal red and covered in gilded paintings of many more men in multicolored nightgowns, all of them smiling like they had just accomplished something incredible. I would've liked to look, but I kept running, making a left when the hallway split.
I slammed into a woman and went down. The woman was young, pretty, and also wore a nightgown (a cult, then? Not a rehab center?), and she looked eager to see me.
"Hey! What are you doing out of the medical ward?!"
Out of shape and panting, I scrambled off of her and kept running. Behind me, I could hear footsteps. My heart pounded in my ears, and I could feel the blood rushing through my chest. I ran faster.
The hallway split again, and I took a right turn. Instantaneously, the narrow hallway morphed into an area overlooking a long hall filled with workers, every single one of them wearing a fucking nightgown. Paper airplanes swooped through the air for no apparent reason. The walls were a magnificent blue color and lined with curiosities- brass gears, silver clocks, colorful pendulums swinging on thin air.
I paused, for there was nowhere left for me to run.
Ted appeared, out of breath, with William, gasping, far behind him.
"Stupefy!" A voice shouted, and, suddenly, I was entirely frozen.