Release Me

2

My eyes flutter open, to be staring up at the whitewashed ceiling; something quite depressing to wake up to.

"How are you feeling?"

I turn my head to see Derek seated in a chair beside the cot I'm on. "I'll live."

He smiles. "I heard you stood up for Summer, that was very brave of you."

"It was nothing," I say, pushing myself up into a sitting position, and grimacing in pain as something sharp squeezes my heart. Derek doesn't notice my moment of pain, thank god. "Why does Drake call her crazy Summer?" I ask.

He taps his finger against his temple. "Well, she's not totally there."

"She seems functional to me."

That's when the door opens and a tall, thin lady enters in a white lab coat. She's holding one of the smallest DSS's that I've seen. "Derek I'll take her from here, you may go."

"I'll be right outside." Derek stands up and strolls out of the room, leaving me alone with the lady.

"Hello Alison," she smiles, sitting down in the seat Derek was just in.

"It's just Alice."

"Okay, so Alice it is and you may call me Miss Jakins." She blinks. Her green eyes look huge through her glasses.  "So Alice on a scale from one to ten, would you like to rate how much pain you are in?"

"One," I respond, digging my nails into my palm.

"Just a one? No sharp pains in your chest to report?" Her fingers begin to tap on her knee, impatiently.

I stare at her. How does she know about the sudden pains I've been having?  Could she possibly be reading my mind? She does actually look like a witch with wild-dyed red hair and an upturned nose.

There's another squeeze, causing my eyes to tear. I notice her lean forward slightly, which makes me wonder what her intentions of asking me all these questions really are? And why, as a doctor, does she seem so impatient?

These sudden pains that are quite unbearable I've been getting for about a month now. And they are the secret that I've been trying to keep. If I don't admit that I'm starting to feel the chest pains... it's like I'm not admitting that I most likely am an FH Syndrome patient...

"I'd like you to be honest with me, Alice," she continues.

How she keeps on saying my name is beginning to get on my nerves. Clenching my teeth, I spit out, "Yes, I feel them." My secret is out.

"How long have you been getting them for?"

"About a month."

She nods scribbling on her DSS with the stylus. "Can you rate the pain?"

"Possibly a five."

"Do you know why you have been getting these pains?"

"I have a fragile heart," I whisper, blinking away the tears. A fragile heart that most probably will kill me. Now I have been crowned queen of Pessimistic Ville.

"This is true. That is why we are here, to help cure you. You understand that, do you not?" I nod, a few stray strands falling into my eyes. I push them away. "So you will take the pills that are given to you like a good girl?"

Those words make me feel like I'm a little puppy wagging her tail like a good girl, instead of a teenage girl who for sure has some angry scowl on her face. "Yes, if they'll help cure me," I end up replying.

She grins, which frightens me, for it seems out of place on her face. "Good, take this." She hands me a purple capsule.

"What is this one for?"