All the Lonely People

Chapter 4

The harsh, white light of her room shone in her eyes as they flit open. The aching her body felt ran deep with in her. She felt stiff, like her bones had fused together while she was left to the darkness. She wanted to move, but couldn't find the energy. All she could do was breathe, stuck with tubes running from her nose and mouth. A blur moved near the doorway. She shifted her eyes to it, trying to make out what it was.

A man with graying, curly hair and glasses stood in the doorway, a folder filled with papers sat in his hands. He peeked over the folder to look at her, and his eyes went wide when he saw she was awake. "Oh shit, I—sorry, I wasn't expecting you to wake up for, well, months, actually." He tucked the folder under his arm as he sat in the short swivel chair next to her bed. "I'm Doctor Bruce Banner, I've been monitoring your condition." He took the folder from underneath his arm and pulled a pen from his chest pocket. Flicking through the pages in his folder, he peered over his glasses at her, studying her. Although this man seemed to be kind, and helpful, Aliana had a deep mistrust of doctors, no matter how "nice" they appeared. Her breath quickened, and her chest tightened. As if he could read her mind, the doctor pushed himself back, his hands raised and visable. "Hey, it's okay. I don't want to hurt you. I just want to check on you, see how you're doing. I want you to blink once if that's okay, twice if it's not, alright?"

Her brow furrowed, tears welling up in her eyes. Memories flooded her mind of men just like him, who pretended they were kind until that ploy didn't work anymore. Who asked the same questions as him until they realized they could use her for their own personal gain. As much as she wanted to tell this one "No," or tell him to fuck off in morse code, she knew how this game was played. If she played along, she'd get these godawful things taken out of her, and she could make a break for it. Slowly, she blinked once.

The doctor smiled. "Good, great. Now, I'm just going to ask you a few questions. I just want to get a feel for how you're doing. First, can you move at all?"

Ali looked down at her right arm. She wanted it to move. If it moved, she could get out of this faster. Though, as hard as she tried to lift even just her finger, there her arm lay on the bed, like dead weight. She sighed deeply, the frustration boiling in her blood, as she blinked twice.

"It's alright. In your condition, I'm surprised you're awake at all. Now, can you—"

As the doctor droned on, asking her to do more tasks that she could not, sunlight shone through window. The warmth of its rays bled into her skin. She closed her eyes, allowing the rays to wash through her. With each breath she took, she felt the sun fill every part of her body. Slowly, her fingers began to close. The doctor stopped his questions, watching as Ali gently lifted her arm before putting it back down on the bed.

"Fantastic! That's great! Alright, I'm gonna ask you to make as tight of a fist as you can. Do you think you can do that?"

Ali blinked as she balled her fists, her knuckles white, and her heart racing with the thrill of accomplishment. Gently, the doctor patted her hand. "It's alright, you can relax. I don't want you to strain yourself." Aliana jerked her hand back, and, without thinking, sent a backfist flying towards the doctor. As if it were nothing, he caught her hand before she could hit him. "Well, it's good to see your reflexes are on par." He smiled and spoke through his teeth, "But, don't do that again." He loosened his grip on her and let her hand drop to the bed. As the doctor continued to ask her to move various limbs, as Aliana willingly complied, all she could think of was how exactly she was going to make a break for it.

After a few more cognitive tests and vitals checks, the doctor informed her he was going to sedate her to take the ventilator and ng tube out. Aliana's heartrate rose, her breath on the verge of hyperventilating. She didn't want to succumb to the darkness again. She was lucky these past two times to wake up as herself. What if this next time the other one rose instead of her? She's already caused so much pain and destruction. She couldn't let that happen again. The doctor's voice cut through her panic like a hot knife. His tone was calm and gentle. There was a genuine air in his words. "Don't worry, we'll be able to revive you. Just trust me, you don't want to be awake when we take those things out. It'll hurt like a—" He paused, half chuckling to himself. "In any case, for now, rest. I'm going to inform the others of your condition, then we'll get those things out of you." As he left the room and headed down the hallway, he threw his last remark to her over his shoulder. "Don't worry, Aliana, I'm going to take care of you."