Only Human

Chapter Five

I treated at least fifty patients that night, and I had only gotten through a third of the tent.

Two of the patients had been injured beyond repair. I made them as comfortable as possible so that when they passed, they wouldn't feel pain.

The next morning, they were gone, along with seventeen of the patients I hadn't gotten to yet.

"You haven't gotten any sleep," Liam commented.

I shrugged, "Neither have you. Too scared I'm going to kill them all."

He stayed silent as I treated another twenty patients, before asking, "Why help us?"

"Because it's my job."

"When you worked for them," he pointed out, "Why help us?"

I asked, "You once said they could hurt you for being too empathetic, for helping me?"

He nodded, "You were scared, and you hadn't done anything wrong."

"It's like that, I guess," I tried to explain, "If I see someone hurt, I can't not help them. If I try to walk away, it's like every fiber in my body is telling me that leaving them would be wrong."

Liam nodded and stood there for the rest of the day as I finished treating the patients. Elissa and a few others were still there when I finished, just so I could watch their recovery.

"Get some rest," Liam ordered, "You haven't slept for at least thirty hours."

"I'm fine," I told him, "Why do you care? Aren't I a prisoner of war or something?"

Liam shrugged, "I don't see what harm you can do. How long are doctor shifts in the City?"

"Sixteen to forty hours," I told him, "Depended on the patients."

A man wearing black walked over and whispered something to Liam, who said to me, "You're coming to the command center."

I was shoved into the room and set down in a chair like somebody's playtoy.

A semicircle of old men with guns was seated in the middle of the room. Liam sat in the back next to the man in black.

I recognized one man in the semicircle.

"Before we begin, do you have any questions?" What was I, a girl at a job interview? But I did have a comment.

"Augustus Green," I stated quietly.

The man stared at me, "Yes?"

"So you're the Enhanced that went missing ten years ago?" I asked, "They made a big deal about it."

The semicircle remained silent. I saw Liam on the edge of his seat in anticipation.

"You were a doctor, next in line for Commander of healing. So why'd you vanish?"

"Because I was on the wrong side," he told me, "I know you too."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Masha Viera, twelve year old medicine prodigy. Parents in the combat sector, died in combat when you were a child. You decided to be a doctor. You rose to the top fast. By fourteen, the Council granted you a clinic, a staff at fifteen. Then, they send you to an outpost, discarding you like trash. Why is that?"

I assumed now was when the questioning began, "I requested a transfer. I heard there were no current doctors in the combat wing."

"Tell me, Ms. Viera, why did you help those patients?"

"Because it's my job," I answered. That was good enough for most of them, though Liam eyed me curiously. He wanted to see if I'd break.

Augustus Green asked, "Do you know how your parents died?"

"In a combat unit," I replied.

It didn't hurt me to talk about them. They were dead. But I didn't entirely remember them, just blurs. That made it hurt to as much as think about them.

"Incorrect," Augustus Green informed me, "Your parents died in a combat, but not in a unit. They died in one of our fleets."

"Why should I believe a word you say?" I asked warily.

Augustus Green smiled, "Your mother was Taylor Viera. You father was Marcus Viera. They were both in my troop. Your mother specialized in knife throwing, your father in sharpshooting. They were human, not Enhanced, not Pure Ones, as those aliens call themselves."

It was my turn to stay silent this time.

"Ms. Viera, would you like to know how your parents died?"

I'd made their file. I'd performed the autopsy. I knew how they died.

"I know how they died," I said, addressing my parents by their names like I would for a patient. It kept me calm, "Taylor suffered severe brain trauma. Internal bleeding caused brain swelling, which eventually killed her. Marcus was shot six times: three in the stomach, two in the heart, one right between his eyes."

"This was in a classified file. How did you know this out?"

I said, "Because I performed their autopsies, and I made that file. Are you done?"

"Not quite, Ms. Viera," the man said, "Do you recognize the name Lily Winters?"

I didn't know what happened.

One second, he was grinning like he'd won, like I was broken. I was broken. I had lunged forward in anger. Both Liam and the man in black had tried to grab me, but the old man just sat there, holding me in the air. My feet couldn't touch the ground.

He was Enhanced. Powerful telekinesis. I'd forgotten. In my stupid, blinding anger, I'd somehow forgotten.

"Did you know Lily Winters?" The old man asked.

I nodded, my face twisted in pain. I didn't like where this was going.

"Was Lily Winters your patient two years ago?"

I nodded again, bracing myself for what was to come.

"Did you kill Lily Winters?"

I froze entirely. I couldn't move. I could barely think.

"Answer me!" He screamed at me.

I still couldn't speak, like the terrified little mouse I was. I just stood there, waiting for someone else to scream at me, someone to stand up for me, someone to drag me away.

Someone to end this moment that lasted an infinity.

"Get her out of here," the man said, "In a cell. Now!"

He dropped me tot he ground. When my feet touched the ground, I just stood there, making them drag me away.

My eyes burned with the tears that stood within as Liam gently placed me down on a small cot in a room acting as my cell.

"Are you okay?"

I said nothing.

"Masha?"

I just stared at the grey wall. My subconscious painted it red. She had screamed. My brain was shattering, splintering into a thousand pieces.

"Are you okay?"

I would have covered my ears, but I knew it was futile. I knew the screams were in my head. It was all in my head, buried somewhere.

"Masha, answer me," I heard Liam through the noise in my mind. I felt him grab my hand, "Masha."

Just like that, it was silent.

I felt tears streaming down my cheeks, burning my eyes. Pressure built in the back of my head from crying.

A voice that sounded nothing like my own, a voice that was shattered but still breaking, growled out of me.

"Get. Out."