The Aspen Experiments

Chapter 14

Chapter 14 - Ava

I was dreaming, I knew it. I was sitting on a motor boat, which I have never ridden, and John was beside me. We were holding hands, bouncing with the roar of the boat in our ears.  John leaned over to kiss me, which has also never happened. We kissed, not like it was the first time, but as if it happened every day. He kissed me for a moment, pulled back slightly, and then pressed his lips to mine once more before sitting upright again. As he pulled away from me he started to shake. His body convulsed like it had in the airport and he thrashed against the side of the boat. He hit the rail and pivoted over it, the weight of his upper body seesawing him down into the water. It happened so fast I didn't even reach out to grab him. I screamed as he went under the water.

I woke up on a hospital cot. I could see the rails on either side of my head, and I was in the half reclining position particular to these type beds. There were fluorescent lights above me and my head ached, but I was perfectly wide awake. I remembered Ringer squirting me and falling onto the pavement. I tried to look at the palms of my hands and found that I was securely fastened to the bed. I could move my arms from the elbow, but that was it.

I tried to sit up, and the restraints pulled against me. I could feel the tightness across my chest, stomach, thighs, and shins. The straps didn't feel incredibly tight, but they sure wouldn't give. I wiggled my legs, not much room. At least I could move my arms around a little bit. I took a minute to scratch my stomach and several other itchy spots. I hated to be tied down. It made me feel claustrophobic and very itchy.

The straps were neon yellow, I recognized them from the testing room, where they'd hung on the wall.

I was able to turn my head, and to my left I saw another bed. John was on it. He was still sleeping, still in a coma-state, I was sure. There was an IV next to him and I thought I could see a catheter bag dangling out from under the sheet. Why all the tubes? He didn't need something like that unless he was gone from this body for months and months. Unless... they were keeping him sedated. There were two more beds in the room, but they were empty. There were no windows. 

I don't know how long I struggled to loosen the straps, but by the time I worked one arm free I knew that they were 48 stitches wide and of extremely good quality. (Unfortunately for me.) But I did work one arm free, chafed and raw from all the rubbing, and now I could reach across and flip open the buckle that held it taut.  Next I did the one at my waist. Once I could sit up it was easy to undo the straps on my legs. I worked as fast as I could.

I'd noticed while I waited and wiggled that there was a video camera in the corner of the room. I had no way of knowing whether Shammas or Ringer was watching me. I half expected one of them to run in and squirt me again at any moment, but it hadn't happened yet.

I'd made plans while I worked my way free. I didn't waste any time gazing at John. I ran over to his bed and pulled the needle from his arm. I whipped a Kleenex from my pocket that I'd grabbed at the airport, pressed it against the blood welling up. I pulled the rubber band from my hair with the other hand, and slid it up his arm until it held the Kleenex in place. I didn't know if that was really necessary, but I wasn't going to be around while he woke up. If he woke up.

I ran to the door. It opened onto a familiar hallway. The door to Dr. Shammas' office, where I'd been so many times, was a few doors away on my left. The door to the testing room was at the end of the hallway. Good. I knew exactly where I was in the administration building. I'd been half afraid they'd taken me somewhere off campus.  Most of the doors in this hall had rectangular windows, dark and empty, but the testing room was lit.  Were they preparing it for me?