The Lost Ones

2 - Adrian

In some other situation, I may have been tempted to make a joke. However, when random people in white suits that look like something out of.... well, a hospital, start shooting at you, I guarantee you won't be in the mood for humour.

"Lela, get down!" I screamed. Flashes of light were everywhere, and I couldn't see Lela. Oh god, what if she....? No. I can't think about that. I can't think about life without her. I remember our first day at the hospital.

We were back in that white room. That woman with the curly hair kept coming in and out through the one door. Lela sat next to me, shivering. We no longer had our soft clothes from home, only pale, boring hospital nightgowns that felt like plastic. They had taken blood tests and my finger still hurt from the needle that had pricked it only minutes before. 

"Excuse me? May I talk to you?" The woman, Marie, had arrived with another man I had not seen before. 

I nodded uncertainly. Lela was still shivering. I don't think she likes needles much. Neither do I, but I close my eyes and it doesn't hurt so much. 

"This is all for a good cause, I promise. You will help the people of Earth, maybe not this year, but maybe someday."

I felt a hand on my arm and whipped around, expecting it to be a hospital guard. Instead, I see Lela and she pulls me into the forest. There's another gunshot and I trip over a tree root. Something - or someone - grabs my leg; I am pulled backwards. All I can hear is screaming and shouting, I can only see Lela.

"Lela! Run! I promise I'll find you!" I shout to her. Can she hear me? I hope she can. Then something is stuck in my upper arm, and I descend into darkness.

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I wake up in a white room. Why are the rooms always white? New life goal: wake up in a room that's covered in rainbows and unicorns. Then I remember what happened; Lela's gone. It looks like I'm trapped in the hospital again. 

I have to find her. It's just been us two for years; it's like I can't remember my life without her. I'd be lost without knowing that she's safe, that she's out there and that she's okay. 

"Adrian! How.... lovely..... to see you again. It's been a long time." Marie. That woman just can't bear to leave us alone, can she?

"Not long enough." I say coldly. I don't want to see her. I want Lela back. But maybe she can tell me something.

"So you attempted to escape the hospital. Dear, dear, we musn't have that. Think of all the people you're helping to save." She sighs as she sits down.

"What, the people that are being given treatment that doesn't work? What's the point of taking us and using us for things that are useless?" I look into her eyes. They're cold and grey, but I can see a tinge of sadness behind the emotionless wall.

"By 'us' I assume you mean you and Lela. We don't know her whereabouts at the moment, but I'm sure you'll be reunited soon enough." Her voice is as cold as mine. It must have been what I said about the useless treatment. Her niece, Susie, has been in the hospital for as long as we have, receiving the same treatment that was made from their studies of us.

I remember when Lela managed to get hold of Marie's login for her emails. We were trying to send out an SOS message to someone, anyone. There were some enlightening emails, too.

                                                                                                                               marie.gabriels@re:mail.com

Dear Marie,

I cannot take any more of this. You are using innocent people for your experiments, to make medicine that doesn't even work. I have already lost my husband to this disease, but at least he did not suffer as much as Susie is right now. She has been in the hospital for three years now, and I still haven't seen her for two of them. The only contact I have with my daughter are the letters that she sends me saying how unhappy she is. I myself have contracted the disease, and as I'm getting on in years I doubt I will last long. My son, thank goodness, is immune and is taking his wife (who is expecting my first grandchild) going to go and seek refuge somewhere safe.

I just want to see Susie, I want to see my daughter one last time. I want to tell her I love her.

Rhiannon

x

We could finally pick up the pieces as to what was happening in the facility. I just hope both Lela and Marie's nephew have found a safe place. I need to find Lela.