Subject 116

13

Monica hadn't come out of the bathroom yet, Peyton was nowhere to be seen, and while Finn wasn't behind schedule, I was still worried. I was holding Lydia's hand tightly, biting my nails, just waiting for someone to come back. I felt so lonely and terrified, I didn't know what had happened to two out of three people. The only thing keeping me from completely panicking was the occasional squeeze Lydia gave my hand, she could see how twitchy I was, that happened when I was really nervous. I breathed deeply, telling myself over and over again that they were both fine, and I was just overreacting. Monica was overreacting. Then why was Peyton an hour and a half later than usual?

I crouched down to the floor, still biting my nails and starting to shake a bit. I was dead worried about Peyton, but now Finn was gone too, and he had only just started his therapy, yet I was worried sick. Now that I was down to Lydia's height, she tilted her head in confusion about why I was so upset. Finn did that too, she picked up that little trait off of him, and it just made me feel worse.

"Hallie? Why are you sad?" she asked with her tiny little voice. I pried my nail out of my mouth and shook my head. "I'm not sad, Lydia, I'm just really worried. I don't think this place is safe." I didn't want to put this pressure onto a child, but she needed to know. I held her gently by the shoulders and turned her to look at me. "Can you listen to me for a second?"

She nodded, willingly.

"If anything bad happens to you, if the doctors do something you don't like, or take you somewhere that doesn't seem right, you yell out for help, okay? I will try my best to come get you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. We're going to get out of here together, okay?"

She nodded again. "Are you scared that Peyton and Finn had something bad happen to them?"
Damn. Smart kid. "Yeah, I am. That's why I don't want the same to happen to you. You stay by me, and be safe. Okay?"

"Yeah. Okay."

I looked up and saw Finn come back from down the hall. He had a clean uniform on, but his hair was completely drenched. He was back so much earlier than usual, but those were the least of my concerns. It's like someone had answered me, and brought him back, just so I could know he was alright. I didn't think about anything else, got to my feet, and stumbled over to him, throwing my arms around him tightly. "Jesus Christ, I'm so glad you're okay!" I was almost starting to cry, but managed to hold it back. Finn had absolutely no idea how to react, he just stood there, completely clueless.

"I... I'm alright, Hallie. I'm sorry for worrying you." I didn't want to strangle him, so I backed off, wiping my eyes. He was the same as usual, that was good. But still no Peyton.

The bathroom door flung open, and Monica leaned outside, like she was waiting for something. She looked disappointed to see Finn. I could tell she was hoping to see Peyton, and I couldn't really blame her. They had been friends for a long time, and the fact that Finn got back long before Peyton was terrifying. She looked down, smiled sadly at Finn, and then shut the door again.

Finn started looking around the room. "I found out where he is."

My jaw dropped. "Wait, seriously? Is he okay?"

"Yes... he's fine. They caught him sneaking out when we went to go to the roof that one night. He was the last to enter the room once we came back, and they saw him. So they assigned him to submersion therapy, that's what I have. But I don't think he'll be able to handle it so well, he didn't get his memories wiped after all."

The mere thought of Peyton lying in a chamber of cold water for hours was impossible. He wouldn't be able to contain himself, it would only make him worse. "I don't... why would they do that? It's not going to help at all!"