The Wrong Side

Chapter 4

I remember when I was twelve and instead of my regular E-day, Venning had decided to mix it up a bit by getting me to survive a night in the abandoned town on my own without Ada or any help. The only reason I was allowed to call was if a Freeborn or Endurance sky-craft landed near me and a search party had discovered me. It just happened that a craft had landed near me during the evaluation and a search party was roaming the streets. I had hidden underneath a pile of rubble until they had gone. They didn't find me, but I had called Ada because I was scared. Just my luck that I didn't get any reception from where I was. I was so scared back then that I can't describe exactly what I felt. What I felt then doesn't even compare to having a knife thrown into my shoulder, breaking my arm and being surrounded by two hostile strangers.

"What's your name?" asks the man, pushing his boot down harder on my shoulder.

As he pushes, black spots block out my vision of the world and there's someone who's yelling in the background. It may be me who's yelling as I feel as if my arm and chest is set on fire.

"Daniel," I can faintly hear the woman say, "he's just a kid."

The boot is removed and the blurred world around me focuses. The sky above is streaked with red light. So much red everywhere. I feel the pain in my arm slowly go away and the world around me feels muffled and distant, like my mind and body are detached. The man's face suddenly blocks my vision of the sky and his mouth forms words that I can't hear properly. My eyelids are heavy and they droop slightly, then I force them open again, not wanting to close my eyes lest they never open again.

Two hands are cradling my head a soft voice says in my ear, "What's you're name, child?"

I don't know why I respond, but I feel myself whisper, "Damon. Damon Ophia."

The man looks over my head; probably to the woman and he raises his eyebrows as if he's confused about something. His figure blurs and focuses several times. He's saying something but I can't hear. Then, someone screams. It's a woman's voice -- maybe the woman who was with the man who attacked me. The world is still blurring and focusing but it stays blurred longer than it does focused. Am I going to die here?

The man's face suddenly becomes surprised and then very angry. He disappears from my vision and I can hear a fight going on a million miles away. Then I see Venning leaning over my face. I want to say something to him, but I can't bring myself to speak. He puts two fingers on my neck, checking my pulse. His eyebrows are knit in concentration and he's doing something to my right shoulder. Everything is still numb and even though I know that I am seriously injured, I don't feel any pain. I feel relaxed -- like I can fall asleep peacefully. I'm tired and I want my bed. I want sleep. I let my eyes close and the world goes black.

------

I didn't think that I'd open my eyes again after that, to be honest. When I come to, the first thing I see is a blinding white light. I blink a few times until my surroundings focus and I reflect on what had happened. I remember I was climbing down the roof and I told Venning that I'd be back shortly after I went to pee. I was climbing down and someone -- those two people I met on the ground, had thrown a knife into my shoulder. I had fallen and broken my arm. I remember the two people standing over me and I remember that I told them my name. After that, it's all very fuzzy. I know that I must have blacked out at some point.

Surprisingly, the arm that was injured doesn't hurt. I wonder if I'm on a pain medication. After glancing at my left arm, I see an IV sticking in my hand and I decide that I am on some meds. My right arm is wrapped in bandages and in a thick white blanket. The room around me is pristine white. There are a few cabinets placed around the perimeter of the room and there's a small table beside me with a cup of water. A closed door stands opposite to my bed. The bed I'm lying in matches the colour of the room. Even the pillows, sheets and the thick warm blanket are immaculately white. I must be in some sort of hospital. I reach for the cup of water with my left arm. Even though my right doesn't hurt, it feels numb and I'm sure it's still broken.

As I take a sip of water, the door opens and a familiar face enters: Ada, who is closely followed by someone I don't know and Venning, who takes up the rear. I put the cup down and I straighten myself up in my bed. Venning holds his hand up, indicating that I don't need to sit up. His normal expression, with his eyes narrowed and his mouth tight is gone. It's replaced with one of... I want to say sadness, but I feel like that's impossible for Venning.

"How are you feeling, Damon?" he asks.

"I'm alright, sir," I reply. I look at Ada who is changing out the IV bag with the help of the other person who followed her here. "Who is that?" I whisper to Venning, as I jerk my head towards the other person.

"That's Doctor Gerald," Venning says, "She's one of our surgeons at the Endurance."

I look at her. She seems friendly enough. Her eyes are a warm brown which matches her hair and which is a few shades darker than her skin. She reads a few monitors that are hooked up to me and turns to Venning.

"He's going to be fine, sir," she says.

"Thank you, Tia," Venning says, "You and Ada can leave now."

Doctor Gerald and Ada incline their heads respectfully and they leave the room. After the door behind them closes, I wait a moment before I start talking.

"What's going to happen to her?" I ask.

Venning shrugs, "She's one of our best emergency surgeons. I'll probably have her either keep the secret, or I'll have this part of her life erased from her memories."

"You guys can erase memories?" I ask.

Venning nods. For some reason, he still looks a bit melancholy.

"Do you know who it was who attacked me earlier?"

"Yes. I heard you yell a few times from the roof and I saw the two people standing over you. I came down and took care of them and then brought you here."

There are two questions I want to ask right now, but I go with the first one that pops in my mind.

"Are they dead?" I ask, "And who were they?"

"They're alive and in the custody of the Endurance," says Venning, "Their names were Daniel and Haley Vermeer. They're siblings and are assassins for the Freeborn. They're hired to go and take out any Endurance they see."

"Where am I?"

Venning sighs. "You're in an emergency ward underneath your house. I had it installed a while ago in case of incidents like this."

"Sir," I say cautiously, "you seem a little bit upset. Do you mind if I ask why?"

Venning scowls at me and I reflexively flinch a little bit. "How's your arm feeling?" he asks, nodding towards the mass of white covering it.

I look at the bandages covering it which extend all the way up to my chest. "I can't feel it, to be honest, sir. Is that bad?"

He shakes his head. "Do you know what happened to your arm?" he asks and I shake my head. "You fell off the building and broke it in three places, but I'm guessing that you already knew that. The knife that was thrown at you had a poison dried into the blade which got into your blood stream." Venning sighs, rubs the bridge of his nose and continues. "In order to save your life, we had to amputate your arm."

I blink. Amputate? With my left arm, I tear the bandages off of my chest and shoulder, wanting to see if he was telling the truth.

Venning looks down and says, "I'm sorry, Damon. I really am," as the last bit of bandages come off and I find nothing underneath.

-------

At this point, I don't feel as awkward if I'm going to be gushing words at you because you kept reading and you probably know the routine where I express my gratitude for making it this far. I love you, seriously. Okay... maybe love's a strong word, but you have my undying gratitude for sure.

When my cousin read this, her first reaction was: "Omg... I can't believe it." Yeah me neither. But, there's a silver lining which will be revealed next chapter. So, stop reading my stupid author's note and go read the next chapter! Please. Because you like the story and not because I said so. I'm gonna stop now.

Love you all,

Ever