The Showcase

Chapter Four

"Her heart rate's picking up!"

"She's coming to!"

My eyelids opened slowly, and I squinted from the bright lights. It felt like there was a hundred-pound weight on my chest, and it was a struggle for me to breathe. I was weak and my stomach ached worse than anything I'd ever felt before, a throbbing, uncomfortable pain.

"Amia? Can you hear me?"

I nodded and swallowed; my throat was scratchy and dry. "Where--where am I?"

"Third floor. Your testing went a little...off course. You were slightly injured in the process, so we've just been holding you here for a while to patch you up," a nurse in green scrubs said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and smiling at me. Everyone else bustled out of my room, writing on their clipboards and chatting nervously.

"Why am I not in the hospital?"

His eyes trained on his clipboard. "This is a hospital. It's just a more private one."

"What did you mean by slightly injured?"

"In the simulation, you somehow punctured your stomach and small intestine, which needed stitches. Your spine was also blown clean through, which we fixed. We think you were shot. You suffered some mild head trauma from your falls, and now we've just been waiting for you to wake up so we could run a few more tests," he read off the chart hanging from the wall above my bed, examining me and adding a few notes.

"How long have you been waiting?"

"Three days."

I sighed and tried to sit myself up, but regretted it as a sharp flash of pain forced me to flop back down again.

"I'm truly sorry. I was just as stunned as you were when it started. You were bleeding and screaming, but we couldn't pull you out of it. I don't know how you did it," he said, shaking his head.

"You were there?" I asked. I looked closer at him, suddenly recognizing him. "You're the green shirt guy!"

He chuckled. "If that's how you want to remember me. Yes, I was at your Consideration, but this is my day job."

"So how'd you get assigned to the interviews?"

"I don't know. One morning, a schedule popped up in the break room. All of us were given a time to report to the eighth floor to 'perform simple tests' and 'run the simulator'. I'd never been above five before."

"Why not?" I asked, suddenly very curious. I tried to lean forward again, but my body resisted.

He shrugged. "It's out of bounds. Look, I've only been working here a couple months and you are too curious for your own good." I pouted as he stood up and headed towards the door. "You stay put and keep quiet. I'll be right back with the doctor."

I lay back on the pillow and closed my eyes, breathing slowly and listening to the steady sound of my heart rate monitor.

Beep.

Chastity's murderous eyes flashed in my memory.

Beep.

The knife glinted under the dim lights.

Beep.

The gun bucked as the bullet tore through the air.

Beep.

***

My final diagnosis? A mild concussion, two broken ribs, a fractured spine, and severe blood loss from multiple slash and shot wounds. The doctors said that I'd be in the hospital for a couple of days at most. So of course Brady, my favorite nurse, was in and out all day, every day, feeding me, helping me move, and shoving pills down my throat every five minutes.

He was a lot younger than he'd seemed at first, only 21. He'd been assigned to take special care of me, due to the extent and number of my injuries, so we talked a lot. He was really nice and funny. He had a girlfriend who was also an Intelligence, and he dreamed of working his way up to the top floor. He was like the older brother I never had, always nagging at me.

"Don't touch that!"

"Sit still already!"

"You never listen to me!"

Even though he was constantly yelling at me, I couldn't help but love him. Without him, I would've gone crazy during those long days at the hospital. It wasn't easy lying in bed all day, trying to find a daytime TV channel that didn't make you want to tear your hair out.

As the days wore on and I regained my strength, I was constantly dreading going back. I was so close to getting out of here, and I'd blown it. Now there was nothing left to do but go back to school, safety, and the same boring old things I'd been doing for the past 16 years.

So much for my great escape.

***

Author's Note: Thanks again for reading!! This chapter's song is 'Safe & Sound' by Taylor Swift!