After finishing about the seventh card game of war, I was done with cards. I think Emily, the nurse who stays with me, was too. All I wanted to do was go to the gym, workout, run or do something athletic. This sucks. Doctor Ashlar comes for his daily check up. They are so booooriiiiiing. It's the same every single time. Blood pressure, heart rate, pain in a scale of one to ten, check my stitches and then he leaves. I have been here for 4 days and it's exactly the same every day. He comes up today and I know what a boring 45 minutes this is going to be.
I hold out my arm and he take my blood pressure. He checks my heart beat and nods his head. Alright that's different he normally says nothing. Oh well it's probably nothing.
"And how much pain are you in?" He asks like always.
"A four. There is some pain, but not a lot."
"That is great" he replies.
He checks my stitches. I then expect him to leave but he doesn't. This is different. He goes into a drawer that is beside my bed and takes out tiny electrodes like the ones we used for the first couple exams. He places them on my temples,, the inside of my wrists. He then lifts up my shirt and places two electrodes on either side of my stomach making sure to avoid the stitches, and one on my chest, over my heart. He carefully lifts each of my legs, placing electrodes on the back of my knees, and then on the arches of my feet. Finally, he attaches one to the nape of my neck and one at the base of my spine. He then turns to me.
"I assume you're familiar with the monitors?" Dr. Ashlar says. I nod.
"Am I going to use my powers?" I ask. The only time I have ever used the monitors were when we were using our powers during examinations. He nods And walks over to the wall where the television is. He moves it so it extends and is next to my head but not blocking his view of me. Pulling up a stool, he sits and taps the corner of the screen. It begins to glow, then he moves it so I can't see it anymore.
He reaches out to the tray beside the hospital bed and picks up a blue marble from the among the other silver instruments. He presses the marble into my palm. It's heavier than I expected.
"Make this yellow please." He tells me.
I picture the marble my head turning from blue into yellow. Cracks of yellow appear on the smooth blue surface. I try to focus on the marble and turning it completely yellow, but the ache in stomach keeps breaking my focus. I drop the marble and clench my stomach. Dr. Ashlar pushes the screen out of the way and looks at me in a bit of concern.
"Are you alright." He asks. I shake my head. I'm not sure if I answered that right. Sure my stomach still had a dull ache but it didn't burn like it did. What bothered me was me. I was the best in my class, always striving for perfection and I couldn't complete this simple beginners test. I was failing. He notes my response then puts the screen away and sits back down.
"Don't worry Teryn. I didn't expect you to pass. Pain has a way of taking away your focus on something else. We are going to start training you to ignore it during our daily appointments." He squeezes my hand in I guess a way to reassure me then leaves.
God what did I just do. I failed the simplest task ever. I couldn't turn the stupid marble yellow. I clench my fist. How much I wanted to punch something. My hand bursts into flames, one of my four powers. I had the ability to call on the elements. Fire, air, water and earth. I watched the mini flames that were dancing across my palm. At least I could still call on those though it was quite painful. The flames extinguished and pain took over once more. I needed to control my powers. If I didn't I would never get an assignment.
