Inconclusive | E.C

Six - Tough Love

Kristian could hear voices. A mix of blurry voices, shouting and screaming. She could also feel her skin tingling, that sort of feeling when your arm or leg is numb for so long. Her eyes snapped open painfully from blinding lights above her.

She was on a table, a surgeon's table. She tried to sit up, but her hands, legs and chest were all bound. She barely lifted her head and she could see leather straps with thick buckles holding her down. Eyes snapping around, she could see figures, faceless and genderless figures all surrounding her, their voices distorted and unclear.

    They looked like doctors.

    Kristian suddenly felt pain in her throat, two had suddenly shoved her head down and a third was strapping her neck to the table she was on. An odd choking sound came out of Kristian's mouth as she began to struggle against them, but she couldn't move. Her wrists couldn't even lift off of the table with how tight they were, the heels of her feet ached from how harsh they were being held. It felt like her chest was being sat on with a good ton of weight.

    Her mouth flew open so she could scream, but another odd choke just came out as she just barely saw an IV in her arm.

    Paralyzed.

    Her body began to give out, but her mind stayed wide awake. She had no muscle, but she could feel them, those things, touching her. They tore her clothes off and began to do things she couldn't see, leaving the table and coming back with medical tools. She could feel pain, pure raw pain. Needles shoving into her skin, blades slicing her open. Tears pricked in her eyes as she could suddenly hear the buzzing of a blade.

    Kristian despised the idea of her body being ripped apart, opened up, looked at, touched -- all in some medical sort of case. The idea of surgery terrified her. The idea of anything medically being done to her terrified her. It used to be a fight to get her to go to the doctor for a simple check-up with her mother.

    Another choking sound came out, and suddenly the pain stopped. Kristian shot up and found herself laying on the floor of her old Abnegation bedroom.

    It was empty and cold. She could see her own breath almost as she looked around -- why was it empty? There were sudden footsteps. She snapped towards her door frame as she scrambled to her feet -- her blood went as cold as the room at the sight of her father. The man had a blank face as he took a step inside. His clothes looked clean and perfect, his skin clean and untouched.

    "D-dad?"

    "Kristian," Andrew hummed, raising his arms and walking forward, "my dear, how are you?"

    Kristian blinked and looked around where her father was as he got closer. "W-wh... what's going on?"

    Andrew grabbed his daughter's face lovingly despite the girl flinching at first. Kristian couldn't look away as he gently shook her. He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose with a sudden wide smile.

    "Why?"

    "...Why..?"

    Andrew's smile remained, "why?"

    "Why what," the girl asked as his thumb ran over her cheek to her upper-lip. It was oddly loving, oddly relaxing.

    No, something isn't right.

    She reached and touched her fathers knuckles gently, feeling his slowly wrinkling skin delicately as his thumb continued down, his hands slowly going down too.

    The man hummed again, "have I ever told you how much I love you?"

    Kristian's heart jumped. She looked down at his left hand on her right cheek, her fingers curling around gently. When was the last time he said that? Told her those words? Years. She knew it had been years, maybe almost a decade. He never said the words 'I' when he did refer to it, it was always... casual. 'Love you too,' or 'you too,' was always the response or no response at all when he told her it.