Faces, Names, and Memories (completed)

Chapter 10 - Here We Go Again

I woke up lying on my stomach with my face buried in my pillow. I'm assuming that was the position I finally fell asleep in amidst all my nightmares. Turning my head to the side, I saw Cale still sleeping, like a rock, as usual.

According to Kinnie, today was either a meal day or physical examination day. But we had had a physical examination day the day before the day before yesterday and from what I remember, there are 7 days in a week and I've only been a basement kid for 3 days. It's been 5 days since I woke up in the future.

It's weird that I feel like I've been here for a whole lot longer. I guess hours and hours of sitting in a room with the only entertainment being talking would do that to a person. The hours and days have blended together, especially since there are no windows. I haven't seen any natural light since the day I first came down here.

Thinking about all this made my mind swirl, and I knew a flashback was coming. Sure enough, in a few seconds I was deeply immersed.

"Daddy I don't wanna!" I was about three and I was standing with my arms folded pouting at my father.

"I'm sorry but you're going to have to. You've been a bad girl so now you're on time-out," my dad told me. I began to whine and whimper but my dad ignored me. He closed the door to the room and i heard it lock. Wait a second, my dad punished me by locking me in my room? 3-year-old me just sat there staring at the door. When the flashback faded out, he still hadn't come back yet.

"Jade?" Cale called. I blinked and saw Cale staring at me from his bed.

"Good morning, Cale," I greeted him.

"You were flashing back again weren't you?" Cale asked. I nodded. "Thought so." He sat up and stretched while I stayed wrapped in the thin blanket.

"Today's a meal day," Cale remarked, sounding as if he was keeping track for himself.

"Yay," I say dryly. Then I realize how hungry I am. I didn't eat yesterday. Is it possible for someone to forget about eating?

"Hey, you're gonna learn to appreciate the little they give us, I was the same when I got dumped here. But, now I know to appreciate the food. We only eat about 3 or 4 days a week." Cale told me. I didn't exactly know how to respond, so I said nothing.

The door opened, revealing the two guards.

"To the commons, and don't try to pull something, it'll end badly," The taller guard orders. I scramble out of my covers and follow Cale out of the cell.

"Do they say the same thing every meal day?" I whisper to Cale.

"Just about," Cale replied darkly. "They may change it a bit, but it's the same idea."

"Oh," is all I say, while we walk dangerously close to another guard.

Inside, I scan the room for Tressa and spot her sitting in the same corner as last time. I go over and plop down next to her.

"Hi, Tressa," I greet her. She still seemed surprised to see me.

"Jade?" She asks, almost incredulously.

"Yeah, who else?" I add jokingly, but Tressa's expression fell instantly.

"I was kidding," I say quickly. Her face softens the tiniest bit, but she is visibly sadder.

"Even if you were, it's still true," Tressa replied in a quiet voice. "No one talks to me."

Right now, what I really wanted to know was why. This doesn't seem like the type of place where kids would do that sort of thing. But, yet again, I don't know anything.

"Do you...Why do you think that is?" I ask. Tressa looks into my eyes, as if searching.

"They didn't tell you?" She replied. I looked at her with a confused expression.

"Tell me what?" Is my response. Tressa sighed.

"My parents pu-" Tressa was cut off by the calling of the guard.

"Everyone stay seated!" He ordered. "And quiet!" We complied. They handed out plates, again they were wrapped in plastic. This time they were brownish lumps that kind of resembled sausage; undercooked, sausage.

"I don't think these are safe to eat," I say after taking the plastic off. They smelled raw too.

"It's food, we're not eating tomorrow, or maybe even the day after," Tressa said.

"What's worse, salmonella or going hungry for a day or two?" I ask her.

"It depends, what does salmonella do?" She replies.

"It usually causes abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and fever and sometimes dehydration. But, it also may require hospitalization if the dehydration or diarrhea gets too bad," I explain. Tressa arches an eyebrow.

"How do you know that?" She asks. How do I know that? When did I even - Tressa sent me a really weird look. I hadn't realized I had been speaking out loud.

"I mean, I don't know why I know that," I cover.

"There are a lot of things people know that they have no idea how they know," Tressa remarks. I nod. We both fall silent as we poke at our food.

"How long have you been here?" I ask, to fill the gap.

"I dunno, since I was a baby, I think," Tressa says, I could tell she didn't want to talk about it. "What about you?"

"Um, a year and five days," I answer.

"You've been in the actual hospital for over a year?" Tressa exclaims.

"Well, I've been in a coma for a year, I've been awake for 5 days," I elaborate.

"Was it like a diabetic coma or an anaphylactic coma?" Tressa asked.

"You know what anaphylaxis is, yet you don't know about salmonella?" I didn't answer her question.

"I've been in the hospital a while," Tressa replies with a shrug. "I've seen a lot, but not a case of salmonella. But, really, what sent you into a coma?"

"I'm not exactly sure, I think a fire or something," I told her truthfully. I tried to pull something forward, anything, but a pulse of pain in my head stopped me.

"Are you okay?" Tressa puts a hand on my arm.

"Yeah, yeah, fine," I lie. I look down at where her hand was rubbing my arm.

"Your hands are really small," I say smiling.

"They are not!" Tressa cries taking her hand off my arm and holding it out in front of her. She pairs it up with her other small hand.

"Are too," I say holding my hands out face up in front of me. My fingers looked a bit gaunt, but my hands weren't small.

"My hands are the same size as yours," Tressa says.

"No, look," I hold up my palm for her to put hers against. The most random things pop into my mind sometimes. Tressa looked at my hand for a few seconds and then put her hand to mine. Her hand was smaller than mine, but not by much.

"Oh wow, I guess I do have small hands," Tressa laughs a little.

"They aren't that small," I admit putting my hand down. I looked at the sausage again, realizing I was hungry. "Maybe we should risk eating the sausage."

"Maybe, a lot of people ate theirs," Tressa points out. "And they seem fine." I look around; about half of the kids had eaten the sausage. Everyone looked fine, well, no less fine than usual.

"Salmonella usually doesn't kick in until 12 hours, or more, after it infects someone," I spout out, still not knowing how in the world I know that.

"Then maybe we shouldn't eat it," Tressa said. "The next two meals, hopefully, will be properly cooked."

"Alright," I agree, and push my un-eaten sausage away.