Julie woke up slowly, surprised to find herself comfortable. Beneath her she felt a soft, plush surface. Was it a mattress? Julie had never even seen one of those before. She slowly opened her eyes. Maybe Geoclyl wouldn't be all that bad.
As her eyes opened and adjusted, she saw that she was in a small room with almost nothing in it. Just the bed, a nightstand with a lamp, a wooden chair and a door. The walls were warm red and decorated with paintings of landscapes. It was easily the nicest room she had ever seen, which wasn't saying much, but it really was nice.
She realized that she was separated from the other kids. She had a brief moment of panic wondering what was going on, where she really was, where everyone else was.
Before she could get up to start investigating, the door opened and a tall, slender man walked through carrying a clipboard. He gave her a smile, "Don't be alarmed. You're perfectly safe." His voice was soft and calm.
She already hated the guy. She wasn't quite sure what it was about him, maybe his calmness. Maybe it was because he didn't have a single scratch on him, his clothes were neat and he looked like he'd never seen a day of war in his life.
"Where are the others?" She tried to ask it confidently, and she thought she did a pretty good job.
He sat down in the wooden chair. "They are in rooms quite similar to your own, all of them being attended by professionals like myself. You are all experiencing the same uncertainty, and you are sharing it together, despite being separated."
"What's going on? I don't understand, why are we separated?" Julie no longer felt panicked, just the need for information.
"You have all been separated because we must ask you questions that may be private and personal. Anyway, you do not know one another, so it shouldn't cause you to be alarmed."
"My brother. I know him. Where is he?" Her words came out forcefully. She desperately wanted to know where her brother was. She wasn't worried about him, he could take care of himself, she was mostly interested in gathering information. She would gather as much as possible from the man.
"My dear, he's in the room across from this one. Don't worry, I'm only going to ask a few questions, and then you can see your brother. All will be fine, so long as you cooperate." She nodded, deciding to do whatever the man wanted for the time being. "Good. Let's get started then." He looked at his clipboard and wrote something on his papers.
Before he could continue talking, Julie interrupted him, "How did you guys heal all my injuries so fast? I was beat up pretty bad."
"Well actually it was standard healing time, you've been unconscious for a few weeks now."
"Weeks!?"
"Yes. You see, the injection was alprazolam mixed with some other chemicals. You woke up only once before we gave you a second dose. You wouldn't remember that, of course, because alprazolam can cause memory loss as well as putting people to sleep."
Julie was a little confused at that statement. "You're not supposed to inject alprazolam. It's a liquid that you take orally with a tablet."
The man didn't say anything for a second. He seemed taken aback that she had understood what he had said. "Apparently you know something about medicine. Tell me, why do you suppose we used alprazolam?"
She didn't really want to talk about alprazolam, but she decided to cooperate. "Well, like most benzodiazepines, it works by decreasing abnormal excitement in the brain, but I don't really know why you chose to use it; it's used to treat people with anxiety or panic disorders."
The man nodded. "Used by itself, yes, but with other drugs, it can be used for medically induced coma. Plus, I would put all of you under the 'anxiety and panic disorder' category."
"Right, but why alprazolam? There are other benzodiazepines that work better."
The man remained silent, instead making notes on his papers. There was awkward silence until the man stood up and promptly said, "Follow me please." Then he walked out the door, not bothering to look back to make sure Julie was following him.
She stood up and hesitantly followed the man out the door. She found herself in a pretty plain hallway with doors just like her own on either side. She assumed the others must be in those rooms.
The man hadn't gone very far, just across the hall, she remembered the man saying her brother was there. She got exited to see him, but didn't let it show. The man pulled a plastic card from his clipboard held it in front of a small silver square on the door where most doors' door knobs are. It made a quiet clicking sound and hissed open smoothly. She could see Josh sitting on his bed, making eye contact with her, his eyes showing a small amount of relief. The man smiled at her and gestured for her to go through first.
Julie looked at him funny, but didn't move. She still didn't have an ounce of trust for this guy. He sighed and went through. Julie followed. Her reunion with her brother wasn't as heart-felt as some might expect, certainly the man seemed confused. When she went in she just plopped herself on the bed with her brother and that was it. Neither of them said anything or even looked at each other.
The man stood by awkwardly for a moment before saying, "Right then, Well, I'll let you stay in here if you would like."
Julie didn't look at him, as long as she got to be with her brother, she no longer cared about being kind to the man. She wondered if her relief was visible to the man as he turned away and closed the door behind him.
