Serene Of The Sea

16. Taken

Floating on a broken stream of consciousness, there was nothing to grasp onto.
Sickness bubbled up in my throat, through the dense mist that gathered, pressing inside my skull like a swarm of angry bee's.
I tried to regain feeling in my body, but the weight of my intoxication held me firmly under.
Voices buzzed around me, sounding far away, like I was on the wrong radio station. Every time I reached out for some form of understanding, my head pounded, sending me spiraling back to the abyss.
I couldn't remember who I was, or why I was here. I was just an organism existing in this blank space, fading back to black.

Vaguely aware of the deep clanking around me, light flickered behind my eyelids in a deep blue hue. The air stuck to my skin with its heavy humidity. I lay on something vaguely soft, yet solid.
Who am I?
My mind inquired to itself, coming up empty handed. My eyelids remained stuck together, thick with sleep.
Slowly my brain strung together coherent thoughts as I came round.
The metal plated ceiling had a round halo of light.
I was lying on some sort of hospital bed, wired up like a marionette to various machines that blinked red and green. Clear liquid was being fed into my veins, keeping me drowsy.
The hospital gown was very revealing.
I could feel my head was wrapped up tight in bandaging, but I was too high to feel any pain for whatever it covered.
Turning my head I could see out the thick windows, like that of an aquarium, into the ocean outside.
Skyscrapers rose out of the sea bed, connected to each other by rounded glass walkways.
Neon signs jutted off their walls alongside well lit advertising billboards. Bubbles trickled from the vents, expelling the used air from within.
It was a city she could not remember, awe filling her mind at the alien civilisation.

The heavy metallic door swung open, a nurse clacking in with her clip board. She took one look at me, hastily pressing a button on the wall.
The speaker crackled to life, "Yes? What is it?" Without taking her wide eyes off me she replied to the voice, "She's awake."
I could hear the rustling and scrape of a chair.
"I'll be right down."
I couldn't understand why she was so afraid of me.
Watching my expression, she began to relax slightly, addressing me with high pitched twang, "Hello sweetie. Do you know where you are?"
I shook my head.
Which made her relax completely, crossing the room she placed two fingers on my wrist, feeling my pulse, "Can you tell me your name?"
I reached for it again, coming up blank, "I don't know. I can't remember. Do I know you?"
My voice was that of a thirty year old smoker.
The nurse shook her head, "No dear. You're in the hospital. You had a little accident but we'll get you better."
There was an impatient knock on the door. The nurse opened it up with some difficulty, letting in a man with a trimmed beard and grey eyes.
Dax.
My mind provided, shoving all my memories back into my head in one painful motion, making me want to throw up.
I leaned over the side of the bed, convulsing, but there was nothing in my empty stomach to expel, leaving me heaving like a cat with a hairball.
Dax was wearing black fitted trousers, with a formal netted shirt. His appearance a far cry from the weather hardened marine biologist that set foot in Mullion long ago. He watched me carefully, as I pushed down all my emotion till I was a blank page.
"She is suffering from acute amnesia from the head wound. I tested to see if she was lying, but her answer was sincere," The nurse turned away from me, leaning into Dax as if I couldn't hear, "It's quite possible her memory won't return if you prevent any transformation."
Dax's lips twitched upward when he heard that, rubbing his hands together.
I knew I could use this to my advantage, I had to find out what happened to Kai, "Do I know you?" I asked him in my rasping voice, surprising myself with the innocence I had achieved.
Dax crossed the room, smiling with real joy, "I'm your father. I know you're confused, but I'm here. You're safe with me," His attempt to brainwash me nearly made me convulse again, but I forced down the bile with bitter distaste.
Looking into his spiteful grey eyes, I let my acting skills take over, "I don't remember anything Dad," I even managed to let my eyes water, using my real anger to add to my theatrics.
Dax stroked my hair like a prized poodle, "Don't cry. You can come home today honey. You love home! And your mother's just dying to see you," He was really enjoying playing the part.
It took all my effort not to kill him where he stood.
The nurse checked me over.
I gave some classic sounds of discomfort as she prodded my throbbing head.
Once she had deemed me 'fit for discharge', she unhooked me from the multiple machines a little too roughly.
I rubbed my sore wrists once the needles were out and looked to Dax with worried eyes, "What happens if I never remember?"
Dax smiled down at me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder like we were the best of friends, "Then I will love you just the same, Serena."
I could feel that he was tense, in case I tried anything.
Without missing a beat, I let myself frown, as if trying out the name, "Serena? Is that my name?"
He nodded, finally convinced that it had been so easy to win me.
Little does he know...
The nurse helped me change as Dax turned his back, into a simple white shift.