Starcrossed

Chapter 2

The nurse entered the room and set a tray of food down on the table next to Luna's bed. Luna glanced over at it, uninterested. The same tasteless meatloaf and rice every day, for the past four years. It gets tiring after about a week, and besides- Luna wasn't hungry. It was one of the few advantages that came with living in a quarantine room and doing nothing all day. You barely burned any energy, so you didn't require as much food. Luna raised her hand to deny the food, but the nurse stopped her.
"Sorry, Luna," she said, forcing the plate and fork into her hand. "You're going to need to eat today. Doctor Elm has some special things planned, and you'll need your energy. Come on, eat up."
Luna forced a forkful of the bland meatloaf into her mouth. Swallowing, she asked, "What kind of things?"
"Well, I don't know everything he's got planned," admitted the nurse. "But I do know that you're going to be relocated."
"Relocated?" Luna said in shock. "Why?" She glanced around the small, windowless room that had become her home for the last four years and found that, in a weird way, she was almost comfortable there. She felt somewhat reluctant to leave.
Noticing the way Luna's gaze scanned the room, the nurse offered an encouraging smile. "Doctor Elm can explain the rest to you," she said. "But I'm sure you'll like the new room. It's got more furniture in it, a comfier bed, and Luna, it's got a window! Can you believe it?" She sounded more excited than Luna felt. In fact, Luna didn't know how to feel. She knew she should be excited, but she hadn't felt that way for a long time. Why bother getting excited about another boring room? She barely remembered what excitement even felt like. And a window? Luna hadn't seen the outside world in four years. What if it was worse than she imagined?
What if it was better?
But she kept to herself, obediently eating her meal with a fake smile plastered across her face. "Yeah, it'll be great," she lied, between bites. The nurse seemed satisfied with her response, and waited patiently for her to finish eating. When she did, the nurse escorted her towards the door of the room.
Luna couldn't even remember the last time she'd been outside this room. It must've been for some kind of testing, maybe a couple months ago. She had almost forgotten what the halls looked like. Walking through them with her hands grasped tightly around the nurse's left arm, she remembered how when she'd first gotten here, the blank, white walls had reminded her of what she imagined a mental hospital would've looked like. Back then, she had felt terrified. Now she just felt empty.
Well, no that wasn't quite right. She could still feel the nerves bubbling up in her throat as they passed through white walls and white doors, passed by white-clothed doctors and white-clothed nurses. Everything was just so white. It scared her. Made her feel out of place. She could never in a million years get used to all the white. She craved color. The blankness was too disquieting.
The change scared her, too. What would the new room be like? She hadn't liked the old one, but at least she had come to feel a measure of safety there. And why the relocation?
Finally, the nurse stopped in front of a door. She produced a key from her pocket, unlocked the door, and allowed Luna inside.
Luna was overwhelmed. On one wall, there was a bed that looked as soft as a cloud compared to what she'd been used to sleeping on. It even had a sheer canopy the same color as her hair draping over it. On a different wall, there was a big armoire. Opposite from it was a small table with a clock atop it and a mirror hanging above it- quite unlike her last room, where there was no way of telling the time. There was even a large window with a strange lock on it looking out into a courtyard. It was beautiful. Although, as she turned to the other end of the large room, she noticed something unsettling.
A glass wall separated Luna from the rest of the room. On a sectioned-off portion of the glass, was a retina scanner. Behind the glass, however, was equipment. A tall, adjustable table- the kind they used for their tests and experiments. Besides that, scanners, lights, needles, and lots of other things Luna didn't recognize filled the space.
"Stunning room isn't it?"
Luna turned to see the voice that had interrupted her thoughts. It was Doctor Elm. She nodded, somewhat unsettled at not only the equipment behind the glass, but also the doctor's presence.
However, Doctor Elm continued on. "I'm sorry it's taken so long to be ready," he apologized. "But we did want it to be comfortable for our best subject." He attempted a warm smile.
"Um, thank you," Luna said. "But why was I relocated?"
"Well, we've gone over thousands of theories as to why you have survived so long while still being in the last stage of the Black Fever," Doctor Elm said. "We've checked and rechecked as to whether or not you actually do have it, and everything comes back positive. All in all, we're even more confused now than we were before. So, I decided that you should be moved to a room where testing can be done more easily. Also, if you're going to be playing such a crucial part in finding out what's going on with this disease, I figured you more than deserved a better living space."
Luna wasn't sure what to say to that. She felt conflicted, so she only nodded her head in response.
"I'm sure you'd like some time to settle in and get used to the new room." Doctor Elm said. "I'll leave you to it." He exited the room, and the nurse followed him out, leaving Luna alone once again.

******

Now that it was just her in the big room, Luna finally got a look at the window. She walked over towards it curiously. Very slowly, she looked outside. The view was beautiful- a big, open courtyard with a fountain in the middle. It felt so different from the rest of the quarantine center; so open and free and gorgeous. Still, she felt so vulnerable standing there by the window. So exposed to the rest of the world. It scared her, having this connection to the outside world, like the view alone would hurt her. She tried to ignore that feeling and enjoy the beautiful view that she hadn't had a chance to see for four years. But then something caught her eye.
Back at the end of the courtyard was a tall cherry blossom tree. Starting in front of it and continuing for as far as she could see in an area behind it were gravestones. She stepped back, disturbed at the sight across the courtyard. Once she got herself together, however, she went slowly back to the window.
Coming out of the graveyard behind the cherry blossom was something else Luna hadn't seen for four years.
A teenage boy.