Thermophile

Eight: Medicate

I have no clue as to what time it was, but I couldn't sleep and I think it was pretty late, too. Leib insisted that he be my watcher reasoning our parents' works, to which mom and dad agreed to after a long minute of persuasions.

They took me to the radiology department for my scheduled CT scan and all the way, I kept a tight grip on my dad's hand as they wheeled me on the hallways of the hospital.

The slow motion of the moving bed made me dizzy and claustrophobic when it entered a washing machine-like hole. It took all my guts not to scream with terror as my mind kept playing that blades will come down out of the circular thing and cut my head off.

Thankfully, I survived that bit and I was brought back to my room after the doctor notified us that the results of the scan would be available the next day.

Now, I lay in the bed with the blanket up to my chin, ready to pull it over my head in case I see something. My eyes were as jumpy as the other parts of me that they darted to every corner of the bright room to check if there was a man in a white lab coat. The scare I got earlier worsened my paranoia, even with my brother assuring me repeatedly that no one would be able to do something bad to me again. The fright remained because we didn't know what they were capable of.

"Little T." There was that sinister laugh again.

I closed my eyes with the hope to wipe his voice but then I saw that masked face again sneering down at me, too close for comfort.

My heart doubled its beat, my eyes shot wide open and started scanning the room again.

He's not here. It's only in your head. I repeated my self-assurance over and over again but it was useless.

Pop.

Pop.

Pop. Pop.

Pop, pop, pop, pop.

The succession of bubbles going off became louder every time until it was so loud it sounded like a bombs sequentially exploding.

I felt like I was drowning in air-like there was too much of it being shoved in my nose and throat. To gasp or to swallow, I didn't know what I would do first.

There was a notable pinch on my left hand and my eyes swooped down to see the IV line slowly morphed and divided into two, and they were both injected in my skin. There was something red flowing on one of the tubes and it was making my hand bulge like a balloon being inflated. I tried to take it out but I couldn't touch it no matter how much I attempt to pull it out.

I tried to convince myself that it was not real, that I was just hallucinating, but it was futile.

My whimpers and tears started escaping when I saw my hand doubling its size and it looked like it was about to burst. It was hot, very hot-the temperature was very comparable to hell at this point.

I got up and was full on panicking that I started hitting my hand to slow its growing size.

"Kat."

No, stop growing!

"Kat!"

I didn't want to lose my hand so I pressed it on the bed and covered it with pillow.

"Kat, goddamnit! Come to your senses!"

Suddenly my right hand was taken away and I couldn't move it to save my other hand.

It was growing-now the size of my head-and it was very red, and glowing like a magma. The veins inside it looked like they might burst at any moment because they were bulging too.