𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 (𝐃𝐚𝐛𝐢 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

34

Just a warning, these last set of chapters are pretty dark and intense. There will be some pretty graphic violence throughout, and occasional scenes of torture that may not be ok for some people to read. This chapter has a little of that, so if you're super sensitive to those things, I'd recommend skipping to the end.

----------------

You knew what the president meant, but you weren't able to comprehend it. "Access to my power?"

"Yes, dear. Now that the blocker is removed you'll be able to use your abilities to their full extent," she paused. "The room you're in has been built with suppressive materials, meaning that you cannot activate it while inside. But you'll have the opportunity to test yourself in just a little bit. A guard will come and retrieve you in two hours, please make sure to be ready by then." The mic cut off, and you had a feeling that she'd just ended the conversation without caring about any of the questions you had.

You tried to sit up again, fighting against the burning pain in your back. Carefully moving your legs over the edge of the bed, beads of sweat formed on your forehead. By that point, you should have known that your body was in no condition to move, but you made yourself stand up anyway, and paid the price when your legs crumpled beneath you the second you put too much weight on them. You collapsed to the floor, hitting your head hard enough to lose your vision for a moment.

The president had said you would be picked up in two hours, yet you couldn't even walk. You let yourself lie there for a bit, knowing that trying to stand again wouldn't end well. You'd hoped that they would've given you pain meds after the surgery was finished, at least to help you heal before they tried to test out your new, unblocked power, but clearly, they weren't willing to spare the effort. Maybe you could call up the nicer doctor and see if he had any more of that ibuprofen from before.

You attempted to use your arms to push yourself upright, at least to get into a sitting position, but even that demanded too much from your weakened body. You must have tried ten times before giving up and letting yourself lie down again.

You were surprised by the sound of your door being opened. It hadn't been two hours already, had it? Lolling your head to the side, you saw the same guard who'd brought you to the room after the Doctor had run his tests on you. She walked briskly and kneeled by your side. "Oh, hey," you said sluggishly. "Sorry, but I don't think I'm ready to go just yet."

"Your test isn't for another hour and a half," she brought a gloved hand to the opening in the back of your hospital gown. "I needed to make sure that you didn't rip your stitches. And you didn't, luckily."

"Well, that's good, I guess." Normally, you might've felt a little embarrassed having some random girl seeing you half-naked in an undignified position like this. But you couldn't bring yourself to care right then. "But even so, I don't think I'll be ready to do... whatever it is in less than two hours."

"Well, you're gonna have to be," the masked girl took your shoulder and slowly helped you sit up. She was nice enough to ignore how your face contorted in pain. "The Higher Up's have the president on a schedule."

The Higher Up's, fucking assholes. Of course, they were the ones pulling the strings. You looked up, curious as to why the girl was offering up any information when she'd been so quiet before. "A schedule for what?" You asked. "What's their endgame?"

You couldn't see the expression behind her mask, but you thought that the girl looked nervous. Her tone of voice didn't reflect it, though. It was still very monotone-sounding. "I'll help you get back into bed. Rest until it is time for me to come back."

With quite a bit of struggling and a good amount of curses, you were able to lie back down. Vision swimming, you watched the girl stand and make her way back toward the door. It surprised you when she stopped and turned her head back. "You seem like a good person," she said quietly. "But take my advice, let go of that. Morality will only make your suffering worse in here." She pressed the key card to your door and disappeared into the hallway.