Road to Utopia - NCT

20 - New Infirmary Experiences

"So...you wanted to see me?"

"Are you free for the rest of the evening?" The leader asked, leaning back on his chair.

"Yes?" I mean, unless you counted my desire to explore the place, I didn't need to do anything.

"Cool, I would like to do a brain scan and a few other tests to determine the true cause of all your symptoms. Can I do that?" Yangyang asked with a warm smile. It looked like he didn't intend to hurt me, but I had never actually had a brain scan.

"Will it hurt?" I asked reluctantly.

Kun's expression softened. "It shouldn't do, unless you have something metallic in your brain. And even then, it won't hurt more than a blood test."

I shook my head. "Not that I'm aware of."

"That's what I'm afraid of. Unfortunately, we have to proceed with it for the safety of the group." He sighed.

"I know. Let's just get on with it."

"The good news is," Yangyang said, "is that you get to be the first to use the new infirmary equipment! We got softer beds and some new machines."

Well, at least I'll be comfortable!

"Come on, let's go!" He took my hand and dragged me into the elevator to go down.

Once we arrived, he made me sit on the closest bed next to a medium-sized tubular machine.

"Be glad we don't live in the past; these things used to be huge." Kun chuckled. "I'll be at the desk if you need my help, Yangyang."

He nodded and took out a clipboard. Flicking through it, he made some weird facial expressions before staring at me. "Your files say you had amnesia and went to therapy twice weekly. Kun told me it fit some symptoms but not all. Like, not remembering facts and some faces makes sense, but it doesn't explain you fainting and waking up not remembering specifically Jaemin or actually learning and retaining new skills."

I slowly nodded.

"With your therapist, did she make you take any pills?"

I nodded again and he frowned. "What did they look like? And did you ever stop taking them?"

I scrunched my nose trying to recall what they look. "They were just white, kinda circular. They weren't capsules either, it was the powder pill type? And she made me take it every session, but I've thrown it up for the last 3 months of it."

"Hmm...I've not encountered that one before. Did you notice any side effects when taking it, or even when you stopped taking them?" He made a few notes around the sheet, but I couldn't read them since he wrote in Mandarin.

"When I took them, I didn't faint or get headaches, but now I do. I did notice that I slept more when I took the drug."

"Possibly sides of withdrawal, but without knowing what was in the pills, I can't determine that. There may have been some hormonal ingredients to trigger drowsiness." He finished writing. "I'll talk to you about the scanning procedure in a moment. Can I ask that you remove any metal from your body and place them in the tray next to you since they may interfere with the image?"

I took off my earrings, watch and glasses and gently placed them in the blue tray. My hoodie and sweatpants luckily didn't have any metal, so they remained on.

"Cool. So, I will ask you to lie on the bed and I'll put these earplugs in as the machine makes a bit of noise. You'll have to lie still, and I'll be behind a screen taking photos. If at any point you feel any discomfort, please raise your right hand and we'll stop. The process will probably take 15, maybe 20 minutes depending on how clear I can get the images. Any other questions?" Yangyang explained, pointing out certain things when he did.