SUNNYVALE

(32) AND PEOPLE WONDER WHY CHRISTEN HATES HOSPITALS

Christen wakes up in the same white room than before, feeling her wrists and ankles handcuffed to the bed she was lying down on. 

Keeping her eyes half-close so that none of the numerous nurses and doctors would notice her awakening, she discretely looks around, only distinguishing human forms over details, since her eyes were too far wrinkled. But she was able, however, to recognise Dr Naeher, the woman who put her back to sleep when she woke up the first time around. 'You were right about her, we found the first one - four more to go' and 'you are a beauty of nature' are the sentences that go on a loop in Christen's mind, as the doctor was preparing some other syringe with God-knows-what inside of it. 

Quite glad that nobody had caught her little comedy yet, Christen hears a door open, before a nurse advances to Dr Naeher and says:

"M'mam, the tests came back already: it seems that this one (aka, Christen) has psychokinesis abilities - the activity on areas of the brains that are closed to every other normal human are active in her case."

"Do we know how much of her unconscious is active?" Dr Naeher asks, her voice growing nervous.

"99.9999% to be exact."

"Thank you."

The nurse exits the room, followed by other doctors, as Dr Naeher gets closer to the bed Christen is lying down on. 

After less than five seconds, the woman says:

"It's only you and I now, Miss Press: you can stop pretending to be asleep so that we can have an interesting chat."

Surprised, Christen does indeed open her eyes, as her fists are clenched. 

"Why me?" she aggressively asks, trying to get out of her chains.

Quite amused by this sudden fiery response, Dr Naeher leans forward and says in a low yet confident voice:

"Oh, Christen, Christen, Christen... You have no idea how special you are, haven't you?"

"Well, I don't feel that special, so..."

"Enough with the sass, young lady" the doctor coldly says, setting her jaw. Before Christen can say anything else, she just goes on: "You will get answers in due time, but first I'll need you to be a good lab rat and let me run all the tests I want on you. Do we have a deal?"

"Not at all" Christen responds, spicy.

Dr Naeher sighs, before taking another needle out of her bag, this time with black liquid on it. 

"Then you leave me no choice but to use violence."

With that said, she puts the needle on Christen's arm, which paralyses the young girl while the doctor conducts painful tests on her while she remained conscious - she just couldn't talk nor move...

***

If there was one thing to know about Crystal Dunn, it was that she was never getting impulsive - which made her presence there, outside of the Zadorsky household in the middle of the night, after hearing that Shelina was discharged from the hospital, very unlikely. 

It took her only seconds to climb up to the second floor on the southern side of the house, where Shelina's room was, after failing at throwing rocks to wake the brunette up. Once settled on the large windowsill, Crystal knocks against the window, gently enough so that nobody else would hear the bands, but hard enough that it would wake the Canadian up. When the room's light is switched on and that Shelina appears in an oversized t-shirt and cute panties, half-awake, Crystal suddenly realise what she is doing. 

Frowning, her grey eyes opening wide because of her surprise, Shelina opens the window, only to hiss:

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"Honestly?" Crystal asks, "I really don't know."

After letting a loud sigh out, Shelina ends up conceding: 

"I'll come down, just... wait for me across the street."

With that said, she closes the window and disappears behind the curtains, as Crystal does as she is told and shamefully gets back on the ground, crossing the street. She nervously waits for Shelina, wondering why she was here in the first place.

When the brunette finally does appear - this time with a soccer short on - Crystal's heart starts beating faster, which surprises her: indeed, she always thought nobody would be able to reach this part of her body, but still Shelina was defying all of her expectations.

The Canadian is quite pissed, as Crystal can tell from the way she angrily crosses her arms against her chest, giving her a cold look. 

"Are you here to tell me why I almost died yesterday strangled by something I couldn't see ?" she angrily asks, as Crystal shakes her head. Setting her jaw, the Canadian continues: "Or maybe why my memories came back in a flash when you touched my hand?"

Crystal sighs: she couldn't possibly get the other girl involved in all this - I mean, she almost died once because of the shadows, and them talking about making sure the so-called prophecy would happen did not seem to include Shelina in any ways, Crystal thinks to herself, growing nervous - but, in the same time, she really wanted to be honest and tell her the truth.

Unfortunately, she couldn't. 

"Shelina, it's just c-"

"Please, don't say 'complicated' otherwise I might lose my shit" Shelina interrupts her coldly, visibly putting her guards up. 

Sighing, Crystal looks down at her hands.

"I'm sorry" she then concedes, pretty heartbroken. As the brunette stares at her with impatience, she goes on: "It's just... too dangerous for you to know the truth."

"That's bullshit" 

With that said, Shelina starts walking away. 

But, this time, Crystal would't let her: in a desperate attempt to buy herself some time, the dark-haired grabs the Canadian's forearm, causing her to turn around and advance a few steps, only for her body to collapse against the smaller girl. When they do, the two girls find themselves awkwardly close to each other, with Shelina looking down at Crystal because of the significant height difference. 

Setting her jaw while Crystal was ignoring the warm feeling growing inside of her - the brunette undeniably has quite an effect on her - Shelina accidentally looks down at Crystal's lips, as her eyes seem lost. 

Without walking back at all, Crystal keeps her hand on Shelina's forearm, whispering softly:

"I really am sorry, Shelina: I can't risk your life like that, even if it means that you'll hate me."

But Shelina did not seem to hate her at the moment, as the warm feeling was growing inside of her, too. 

When her hand delicately finds its way to Crystal's jaw, the smaller girl suddenly pulls away, feeling her breath being taken away from her. 

Shelina watches in confusion as Crystal sadly smiles at her, before disappearing into the night.