august ❀ Lamina

Chapter 8

My eyes shot open as the truck stopped. I was confused.

When had I fallen asleep...?

I didn't have time to think about it much though. Peacekeepers tossed us out of the truck and back into the zoo cage. I glanced around. There weren't many visitors today, but there were some.

I stumbled on my feet. It was like my left leg had gone limp or something.

Weird.

I found Marcus and followed him around. I was clutching his sleeve for dear life so I wouldn't fall. I wasn't sure why I was having so much trouble with my mobility. This had never happened before.

Then, I watched peacekeepers take away the boy from district 1 (at least I think that's where he was from) and they led him to a room away from the cage. I hated being locked in this cage. I hated being treated like an animal. And I hated that my life was ending before I even had the chance to live it.

I balled my right hand up into a fist. I wanted to hit something. I was about to hit whatever was nearest to me. Then-

"Are you alright?"

My entire body eased at the sound of her voice. Weird, I noted internally.

I looked at her, unable to form words. I hadn't noticed that Marcus had vanished. But Lamina was here, so that certainly made up for it.

"You passed out when we were in that truck. It was only for about a minute, but you just... fainted and wouldn't wake up." She informed me. "I was worried..." she added that part quietly in a mumble, just an afterthought. But it made my heart race.

I was trying to speak, but my brain was extra slow today. Probably from the terrible headache I had, I'm talking so bad my ears were ringing.

"I'm great." I blurted out finally. Jesus, what's wrong with me? I thought to myself. "No, I'm fine. Don't worry about me" I assured her with a gentle expression. My left hand only twitched when I tried to move it. I ignored it.

Then, peacekeepers showed up and took me away from her. That was when Marcus reappeared.

"Uh... just give me a sec!" I called to her before disappearing behind a wall.

I was led to a white room that instantly made me uneasy. It had tiled walls and there was a woman standing in there wearing something like almost a doctor, but not quite.

"Hey," she gave me a soft expression that said that she didn't want to be doing this either. I sighed slightly and slowly approached her, saying nothing. "My name is Dr Claudi Niston. I'm technically a veterinarian, but I'll try my best to keep you healthy."

She's a veterinarian.

Great.

At least she was honest about it? At least she didn't fill me with some false sense of hope?

But I could really use some of that right now, even if it was fake.

"I'm just going to check your heartbeat." She told me, pulling out a stethoscope. I reluctantly allowed her to listen.

She furrowed her eyebrows as she heard my heart beating in my chest. "Your heart's beating kind of fast." She noted, looking confused.

Not the kind of thing you want to hear.

"Great. I'll add that to my list of problems right now. A freaky heart rate." I muttered bitterly to myself.

Dr Niston furrowed her eyebrows in concern for me. That was new from a Capitol lady. I looked down at the white tiled floor. I glanced at her again, glaring. She pursed her lips and wrote down something on a piece of paper. She then looked back at me.