Starkissed

Chapter Three

T H R E E 

     Brian dragged me down the hall wordlessly; thankfully he wasn't exactly in the mood to converse with me after the stunt I had pulled. He was a monster. An absolute monster. Not only that, but he could now add murderer to his list of unpleasant qualities as well.

Emily, stop making light of the situation. You just watched a woman die. You need to get out of here. I thought frantically. Humour was my coping mechanism, but I didn't think my sarcasm was about to get me out of this terrifying government fortress. 

I had to find a way to get out of here. How had I allowed myself to be put in to a situation like this? Hadn't I been taught better? I hadn't even bothered to read the damn contract! How many others had they fooled using this exact same method?

Realizing he was most likely bringing me to the Generals office, I started to drag my heels a little bit. "Can you let go already? What was that about Brian?" I demanded angrily, still in shock over what I had witnessed only minutes ago.

A muscle twitched in his jaw. When he continued to ignore me, I finally wrenched my arm away from his bony fingers.

"She is dead!" I yelled; my voice echoing loudly. I stood in the middle of the stark white hallway, breathing furiously as I waited for an explanation.

In response, he simply stared at me as if I was a mere child throwing a temper tantrum.

"You just killed a woman!" I jabbed my pointer finger at him, stepping towards him aggressively. "How can you possibly justify something like that? And even if she did sign up for this and know exactly what it entailed, your bedside manner is absolute garbage!" 

After the accident, I had seen my fair share of nurses. Some were absolutely amazing, and others had no consideration for their patients or their families. I had lectured several of them on their bedside manners and their negative presumptions about my families health. I felt like I needed to be here to protect these girls.

Brian pinched the bridge of his nose as he stared at the ceiling. He took a deep breath and levelled his cold gaze onto my fiery one.

"As I told you before, we are testing out experimental cancer treatments. She quite literally begged us to try this drug on her." His voice was steely and terrifying.

When I didn't speak, too confused by my own feelings on whether or not this was ethical, he continued.

"I don't know what gave you the idea that you get to choose what you do here. This is not a place for free will. This is a place where science talks and we save lives. This is the Department of Defense, Cartell."

Save lives. That's not what that seemed like before. I shuddered at the images that flittered through my mind. That poor girl...

Surely, there was something else they could be doing to improve their chances in there. Or at the very least show some sort of kindness. I was always a firm believer that some unconscious patients could hear what you said to them. I knew that to people like Brian, these patients were merely pawns to getting the recognition he wanted from his superiors.

"If I'm going to help you, there needs to be some changes in there." I set my jaw, staring at him defiantly. "Take me to the General. I want to speak with him."

Brian licked his lips nervously. "Not just anyone gets to waltz in and talk to the General without an appointment, you insolent girl." 

"Well, it's either you tell him I want to talk with him or I will make working with me the most miserable part of your existence. Your call, Brian." I fluttered my lashes, looking falsely innocent. He knew I was being a sarcastic asshole at this point.