those hands pulled me from the earth || ethan winters x donna beneviento

v: a new day.

february 10th, 2021.
10:00am.
umbrella facility, usa.
———

when donna awoke the next morning, ethan was sitting in the chair next to the bed, fast asleep. angie was right next to her, looking as lifeless as ever. the lights on the room were on and donna could hear chattering from the halls, but didn't really recognize any of the voices.

donna sat up in the bed, leaning her back against the wall and gently put her hand over her wounded shoulder, the pain was almost gone.

she couldn't help but worry about angie a little bit, the doll hadn't spoken since they left the village. still, donna kept the doll next to her and made sure she was in a comfortable position.

suddenly, a man in a white lab coat entered the room, a clipboard in his hand. he carried himself the same was as the man from last night. donna wearily rubbed her eyes as he closed the door behind him.

"are you feeling alright this morning?" the man asked her, showing no concern for ethan as he stepped in between the two.

"i feel... alright," she said ever so quietly, looking around the room again. she could now see the room, which was mostly empty. there was a painting on the wall of a flower that she hadn't noticed before and a duffel bag by the door. "what is this place..?"

the doctor nodded, flipping through pages on his clipboard. he took a moment to read before speaking. "think of this as a temporary living situation." he explained. "we'll study you here for a while before we can decide if you're able to live in the outside world."

donna listened closely, nodding along. "and how long will that take?"

the doctor paused. "anywhere from six months to a year— or more." he then held out a plastic baggie with the flower seeds in it that she had brought from the village. "what are these?"

donna sighed. six months to a year? in this room? there was no way she'd survive alone; if the anxiety didn't kill her then loneliness definitely would. as he showed her the seeds, donna offered a small smile. "they're hallucinogenic flowers. i'm not sure how it works, but breathing in the pollen can have unexpected effects." she didn't go into great detail because she wasn't all too sure herself.

"good morning," ethan murmured as he rubbed his eyes, peeking around the doctor to check on donna. he straightened himself up in the chair, stretching a little bit before the doctor began to speak.

he jotted down a few notes on the clipboard, nodding along with his eyebrows furrowed in light confusion. "fascinating. i'll definitely have to study these further," he said before turning around to face ethan. "and you, how are you feeling?"

ethan shrugged. "i'm not dea—," he paused and stopped himself, looking down to the floor for a moment before answering. "i feel fine, thanks."

"how about that hand? is it giving you any trouble?" the doctor asked.

"no, it's fine." ethan shook his head.

the doctor sighed in disbelief, but wrote in his clip board some more and nodded. "okay. well, there's breakfast in the cafeteria if you feel like going there. if not, just let one of our staff members know and they'll bring your food here." he spun in his heel to leave, then looked to donna, pointing his pen at her. "i forgot to ask: do you have any allergies?"