Radioactive - Book 1: Birth 🪼

Six

As we drive home, I look at Dad, wondering if he is going to be mad at me or yell or anything. This silence is stifling.
"Um..." I say, just trying to have noise in the car.
"Yes?" Dad says, not looking at me.
"Are you mad?"
He glances at me. "No, I'm not mad."
"Oh..."
The car is silent again and the pain from my shoulder is starting to kick in again so I lean my head on the window.
"Is what they said really true, Ramey? Did someone beat you up and take your money and they found you?"
I look at him and furrow my brow. "Yeah... What are you trying to get at?"
"I was just making sure that they weren't making things up. No offense, son, but most people don't help Empties."
"Yeah, I know. I think I lay in the street for hours before Cash found me and he and his sister took me to that hotel. They were really nice to me... She was an Empty too."
"I see..."
"She said your name right too."
Dad smiles but he seems like his mind is on something.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm just worried about you, that's all. First it's that albino boy and now you get attacked and left for dead..."
"I wasn't gone that long, Dad..."
"Son, you've been gone for three days. Your mother and I have been worried sick. Balister has done nothing but pace with worry and even Lamidia and Matthew were getting a little worried. Matt kept saying that you had been eaten by that albino-"
"Dad, his name is Nalak. He's not just some random person..."
"Fine. 'Nalak', then... Either way, we were all very worried and then I get a call at the RDC that they have you and it just seemed very suspicious."
"Well, all they did was take care of me. Nothing weird."
Dad nods and grips the steering wheel a little tighter.
"I... also found those brochures in your room in regards to albinism and RH negative... Where did you get those?"
"Oh, yeah, I meant to ask you: why wasn't my blood type ever said on my file? I mean, is that part of the reason that I'm an Empty?"
"We can't discuss this right now, R. Right now, my priority is getting your arm looked at and making sure you're alright."
"Why? Do you think someone raped me or something?"
"Ramey, the city is a dangerous place. People, as you have seen, are ruthless and if you show yourself looking out of place, they will target you. The fact that you're an Empty doesn't do any good for you either. In the city, no one governs the underground and the shady. If someone did something to you, it would be your fault in a court of law. In the city, Empties have no rights... That being said, you may not know it, but something could have happened and I want to make sure you are spared that misery."
I nod in understanding. I can tell for a fact that what he says is true but that still doesn't answer me about my blood type and why my file didn't say it was there. Plus, now that I think about it, why did my other doctor never tell me my blood type was missing? Odd... I yawn and lean against the door again, my eyes droopy and I fall asleep.

*******************

My dad wakes me up and helps me get out of the car since the pain in my shoulder is almost debilitating now. Maybe they were wrong about my shoulder being dislocated. It feels more like it's been broken or I hope not shattered. I notice we are at a hospital. I haven't been to the hospital since I got my uterus taken out and I stop.
"I'm not going in there."
"Ramey, you don't have a choice, son."
"They're not taking anything else out of me!" I yell, yanking and then crying out.
"They're not going to take anything from you, dopey." Dad says with a laugh as he puts his arm around me. "There's no reason for that to happen. Just come on..."
I trust him and we go into the emergency room, where my regular doctor that used to come to Clinic Day is there.
"Hello, R, your father tells me that you had a scuffle in the city?"
We walk to the back of the emergency room to the X-ray machine and he begins to set it up.
"What were you doing in the city?"
"I was going to the bookstore because the stores here didn't have the one I needed... Hey, Dr. Straten, why didn't you tell me that I had RH negative?"
Dad glares at me and Dr. Straten smiles.
"I don't know what you're talking about, son." He says but it looks like he's trying to smile. It looks fake. "Lay here under the machine, R, so we can get a good look at that arm. You'll have to take it out of the sling."
I nod and Dad helps me take I out of the sling and place it right. I hiss at him moving it but Dr. Straten maneuvers the overhead and uses a remote thing to take the X-rays. After about four different angles, he lets me get up and put the sling back on. My arm hurts even more now and Dr. Straten tells us to wait in his office and he'll come in with the results.
We walk to his office and I look at Dad, who looks more perturbed that before.
"Dad, why won't you answer me about my blood?"
"Because it's none of your business nor was it Lexara's." Dad growls. "I trusted her to take that job seriously and what does she do? Protocol my ass..."
"Uh... I do have a right to know what my blood type is, Dad."
Dad looks at me and then puts his hands on my shoulders, the hurt one he set lightly.
"Ramey, there are things that don't need to be known for the sake of the people they affect. Just know that not everything has to be in the open."
"Uh... okay..."
I don't say anything else about it, feeling that Dad was giving me more of a warning than advice. We wait for a few minutes and Dr. Straten comes in to let us know that my shoulder is fine but my clavicle is fractured. He orders for a sling to be made and some pain killers.