Patient Twelve

Chapter Twenty-One

Two large doors opened wide and light flooded into the room with the soft sound of music. A few of Gregory's servants were walking around the platforms with trays of food and glasses of champagne.

Bethany slipped her arm around Oliver's waist. She had on a tight red dress, and her lips were painted with a similar shade of lipstick.

"Stop worrying. It is going to go great." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I am going to go say hello to Dr. Whitaker."

I looked to see a crowd of beautifully dressed men and women wandering in. Bethany made her way across the room to a lady with short white hair.

A man walked over to my platform. He was older, and his hair was peppered with grey. A glass of champagne was in one hand, and he reached his other hand out to Oliver.

"I couldn't believe it when I heard you finally brought a subject, Dr. Sweeney," the man said. "I knew I would have to see it right away."

I broke my perfect posture to glance at Oliver to see his smile waver.

"Thank you, Dr. Price," Oliver said. "This is Diana."

Dr. Price grabbed my chin and pulled my face down. I gasped but remembered Ben saying that the doctors may grab me. I took a look over to see Ben watching us.

"What is this?" Price asked. "A cat?"

"It is, sir," Oliver said.

"How did you keep her a secret?" he asked. "This is incredible."

"Her operation was only two weeks ago."

My chin was still in Price's hand when he looked over his shoulder.

"Christine. Azita. Come see this," Price said.

Two women came over to the platform. The one woman was in a long black ball gown. The other woman had a black gown, but hers was covered in intricate gold detail. She was wearing a hijab and her eyes were covered with skillfully done makeup.

"This is Dr. Sweeney," Price introduced him. "This is Dr. Holland and Dr. Nabizada."

Oliver shook each of the women's hands.

"This is Diana," Price said. "Two weeks ago he performed her operation. He used a cat."

He finally let go of my chin. The woman in the ballgown put her hand on Price's shoulder and pushed him to the side.

"Can you see, Diana?" she asked and spoke with an Irish accent.

"Yes," I said.

I noticed a few more doctors had gathered around the platform. Ben had his hands behind his back. I looked a bit to the side to see Candace standing on the platform next to him. A heart monitor was attached to her and on a stand. She was staring at me, and I took a glance around the room to see most of the subjects had their attention on me. I took a deep breath, and the dress seemed to get tighter.

"She's well behaved for only two weeks," Azita said.

"I have had Benjamin helping her," Oliver said. He gestured over to him.

"Ah, yes, Benjamin," she said. "He has always been a charmer."

Always? Candace said he always acted like the perfect patient, but he disagreed. My chest burned as I struggled to breathe.

"How do you feel?" the other woman asked. "Experiencing any pain?"

"No, I feel fine," I said.

"She is no longer on pain medication either," Oliver said. "The only complication she experienced was some swelling, but that was soon resolved."