Escaping Elysia

Chapter 11 - Glad You're Here

Evita

Nurse Cerny's words ring in my head. My breath comes faster and faster as I follow her down the hallway, past my usual exam room. We pass other halls, breaking off in different directions, and I realize for the first time how big Elysia is. As test subjects we must only see a small part of it.

She stops at a door, her hand poised over the knob. Air hisses through my nose as I try desperately to slow my breathing. A chair is reclined in the middle of the room, with stirrups positioned at one end. I notice a hospital gown, limp and folded sloppily, resting in the middle of the chair. The words grow louder in my mind.

We'll be harvesting some eggs from you today.

It's a strange thing, having the right to my own body taken away from me. And not being able to do a thing about it.

Nurse Cerny tells me to undress and put on the gown. I strip in front of her, used to the lack of privacy by now. Once the gown is on she guides me to a chair, and as she settles a paper blanket over my legs, a man walks in. It's Dr. Ellis.

When he pulls a stool over to my feet and sits down I notice small wrinkles around the corners of his eyes, and strands of gray scattered throughout his hair. Though I'm studying his face, he manages to avoid looking at me. He pulls on rubber gloves and nods to Nurse Cerny, who turns to retrieve a vial from the counter.

"What's that?" I gesture to the vial and tug the blanket down farther over my legs.

Nurse Cerny looks at Dr. Ellis, who nods. "It's a mild sedative. It won't make you unconscious, but it will dull some of the pain," she says.

I feel my face tighten and I swallow hard. "Pain?"

"Yes, it will be slightly painful," Nurse Cerny says as she sterilizes a needle. At the same time, Dr. Ellis wheels a screen over to the bed. It's attached to a large instrument with a tiny needle at one end.

"What will be slightly painful?" I force myself to keep my voice under control.

Dr. Ellis speaks this time. "We're going to use this needle to retrieve some of your eggs." He says this matter of factly, and his voice is devoid of emotion. He still doesn't look me in the eyes. "This," he holds up the instrument, "uses ultrasound to guide me to the correct place in your ovaries. Yes, there will be some pain, but please try to relax." He turns to the screen and presses a button.

Nurse Cerny takes my arm, ready to insert the sedative, but I push her away and sit up, removing my feet from the stirrups.

"Please." My voice is raspy, and Dr. Ellis looks at me for a quick moment before returning to fiddling with the machine. "Please don't do this."

His eyes never leave the screen as he responds. "The research we're doing here will save many lives one day, and the contributions made by you and other patients are vital to the success of that research." Nurse Cerny nods as he talks. Dr. Ellis sighs before adding, "I'm sorry that it has to be that way. Go ahead Maggie."

Before I can resist, Nurse Cerny has my arm in her vise-like grip and plunges the needle into my vein. I panic and wretch my arm away but it's too late. I feel lightheaded. She picks up my feet and places them back in the stirrups, and I find my legs too heavy to resist. I know I should feel more frightened, but it's like I'm floating above myself and watching the procedure as an outsider.

Soon, I'm vaguely aware of someone wheeling me to the room next door. They place a warm blanket in my lap and I drift off to sleep, still enveloped in the comforting haze. 

*

When I wake the haze is gone. The lights are low, and to my right other chairs are lined up next to me, all empty. A heating pad rests in my lap and a glass of water sits on a small table beside me. Is all this supposed to be comforting? Frustration surges over me and I swipe the glass to the ground, feeling better when I hear it smash to pieces on the floor.

"First time, huh?" I whip my head to the left to find that the chair next to me is in fact not empty. A girl sits there. She has wavy, dark hair and golden, light brown skin. Her bangs are cut straight across the middle of her forehead, accentuating her round face and wide set eyes.

"What?" I feel my cheeks reddening and wish I'd checked to make sure the room was empty before letting my anger get the better of me.

"Is this your first time?" she repeats, giving me an encouraging smile. A beauty mark on her chin moves as she talks.

"Oh." I take a deep breath and try to ignore the cramping pain in my abdomen. "Yeah."

She grins. "I could tell. Anyway, you get used to it."

"I doubt that."

"I promise you do." She pats my arm, still smiling. "This is my fourth time." I frown. Four times? I can't go through this again. I won't. Another cramp hits me and I groan, hugging my stomach.

"Ouch. Yeah, those will last for a few hours. You also might have some bleeding down there." She gestures to her crotch, raising her thin eyebrows. "They don't tell you that." She settles back in her seat, readjusting the heating pad on her lap. "By the way, my name's Tasia."

I study her relaxed demeanor. "I'm Evita."

"I know," she says. When I raise my eyebrows she laughs. "You were big news a couple of weeks ago." Oh right. I knew that. She continues, "Trenton was...very loved."

"Yeah, I know he and Dale were close." My mouth feels dry. I wish I hadn't smashed the water glass.

"Well, yes, but not just Dale. He had a lot of friends here, and his girlfriend is devastated."

"He had a girlfriend?" I never thought of the possibility of dating someone while in the facility. I also have a sinking feeling I know who Trenton's girlfriend was.

"Yeah, Leah." Tasia sighs. "When she found out he was trying to escape she tried to convince him that that would only make things worse."

No wonder Leah's been out to get me. I imagine how things would have worked out if Trenton had listened to her. I would never have shot him. I wouldn't even be here at all. Yet, I also feel a flash of anger at Leah. How could she not want to escape? Not only that, but how could she actively try to convince someone she loves not to escape either? I would jump at the first chance out of here. Then again, I guess she'd been right. It did make things worse. I grimace.

"I can see why," I say. "This place is awful."

"It's not so bad," Tasia says, taking a sip of her water.

"How can you think that, if this is your fourth time having this...this experiment done to you?"

"I try to make the best of what life gives me. Besides, my boyfriend and I are having a little "date" tonight to celebrate." She giggles.

"Celebrate what?"

Her eyes shine as she says, "This is my last time to get this procedure. Tomorrow they're moving me to the purple group."

"Oh. Congrats." I lean back in the chair and close my eyes. She may be able to accept what's being done to her, but there's no way I'm going to do the same. I have to get out.

I get some sleep, and a few hours later Nurse Cerny wakes me. The shattered glass is gone. Tasia's chair is empty. The cramping is mostly better, which makes it easier to redress and follow the nurse to the clinic exit. When she uses her badge to let me through the door, I have a sudden moment of clarity. That's it. That's how I'll escape.