Rose-Colored Glasses

Chapter 15: A Rubber Cheque

"And, after all, what is a lie? 'Tis but the truth in a masquerade." — Alexander Pope

Doctor Jane walks into the room. She sees Vered sobbing and shaking uncontrollably on the bed.

She drags a chair to sit at the foot of Vered's bed. "Miss Zahav, have you calmed down?"

Vered does not respond.

Doctor Jane crosses her legs and leans into the chair, "You are still strapped down because we wanted to explain this to you without you hurting yourself or the staff. The nurse said you went hysterical when she told you that you do not have the ability to forget. That is understandable."

Vered mumbles as she looks down, sobbing, "What is going on?"

"You have a rare brain condition where your neuro-pathways are denser and regenerate faster than the average person. As such, the PCT-2 drug is almost ineffective on you. We call this phenomenon, The Recall Over-Saturation Effect or sometimes called ROSE."

Vered looks up at Doctor Jane, "Have you known all along that I was this way?"

"We couldn't say for sure, but we suspected upon looking at your MRI scans."

Vered mumbles, looking to the bed, as she cries, "This is all part of the dream. It's not possible. I can't go on with this pain."

Doctor Jane sighs and tilts her head to the side, "Miss Zahav, we know this is very hard for you to process. There is someone here who can explain the situation better to you and why it is really important."

Doctor Jane gets up and turns her back to Vered. She brings her phone out, dials a number, and waits for an answer, "Mr. Zander. She is ready."

Within a minute, a tall, slim, dark-haired man with a military uniform walks into the room. He has a smile on his face with a scar across his right eye that gives him an intimidating look.

He nods to Doctor Jane, "Thanks, Doctor Jane. I will take it from here."

Doctor Jane bows and leaves the room.

Mr. Zander sits on the chair at the foot of Vered's bed. He crosses his leg, smiles and doesn't say anything for a few minutes.

Vered looks at him with tears in her eyes, confused and scared. She asks, "Wh-What do you people want from me?"

Mr. Zander responds, "You must have had a rough couple of days. Is there anything you want? Water? Food?"

"Take the restraints off of me."

Mr. Zander laughs, "Not until I'm sure you won't try to run away, but, you know what? Let's meet halfway. We will take off the restraints on your hands and leave the ones on your legs. Sounds good?"

Vered nods hesitantly.

Mr. Zander calls for two nurses. They come in with a tranquilizer gun.

Vered looks with fear at the nurse with the tranquilizer gun.

Mr. Zander notices her fear, "That's just a tranquilizer. It is a precaution, so you don't hurt the civilian nurses while they take off the restraints on your hands."

One nurse stands on the left of Vered with the tranquilizer gun aimed at her shoulder while the other nurse removes the right-hand side's restraints. The nurses switch places to remove the restraints on her left hand.

The nurses leave. Vered rubs her wrists and looks at Mr. Zander, "I'm not stupid enough to fight with the military so tell me what you want."

Mr. Zander smirks at Vered for a few seconds then gets up and paces the room, "How much do you know about the war in Harisha?"