Death's Exception

Chapter Seven

"You are doing fine, there is nothing wrong with you." I am in my room, surrounded by faces that I have never seen before, and equipment that seems even more threatning. I have just woken up from a nap that Titus demanded after my break through.

"What are you doing?" I struggle, but realize they have me strapped to my bed yet again.

"They are just inserting a tracheostomy. It is a breathing tube. Your lungs are not working the way we want them to." My throat burns as it swells around the strange intrusion. I open my mouth to object, but a scientist closes it quickly as they twist the tube around in my nose. A scientist I cannot see stabs my arm with a needle, inserting a liquid that I do not recognize. I close my eyes that are now tearing up at the unknown.

Silly, isn't it? That the unknown can scare you so. You'd think that you'd be scared of the things that you understand. The things that you know will kill you, hurt you, or damage you. But no. Whether there is a murderer in the mix, or a bunny, there is one thing that will always scare you. And that is being put into a pitch black room with the knowledge that something is in there with you. Because humans itch, they burn with passion to figure out the unknown.

"We are going to sedate you now. When you wake up, everything will make sense." I'm tired of being sedated, but I comply.

~~~

I jerk awake, Lilly sitting at my side, and Titus standing at the other, his hands combing through his untame brown hair. I feel that I am still restrained, hooked up to a million and one wires, and my lungs being cared for. Pain stabs my lower back, and I groan.

"What happened to me?" Lilly glances at Titus nervously.

"Just some complications with your breathing. You stopped." My eyes suddenly spring wide-open, and I feel myself become more alert instantly.

"FOR HOW LONG?" I roar, but my throat punishes me for it with a jab of pain.

"Just, two minutes." My mouth drops, and my heart follows suit. I almost died. Again.

"Why?" The last part of the word catches. Titus, for the first time looks up from his tablet.

"I think you were not ready to run." My head turns automatically to Lilly, who looks on the brink of tears.

"Do you think he'll fire me, Ty?" He throws his tablet in my lap, and ruffles his hands through his hair, and rubbing his face.

"Do not call me that, but no. I mean, it ruins my perfect integrity record, mind you, so do not expect me to do it again, but it shall not be spoken about to Dr. Finley. But be careful, my girl, I beg of you!" She beams, and runs into his arms.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"So many thanking, and I do not know what for." The tension in the air rises as I recognize Dr. Finley's voice.

"Ah, Doctor. She was just thanking me for the praise I gave her on her thesis." Titus recovers fantastically, without blemish. Even I am convinced. Dr. Finley, however, is not. He steps closer to me, and examines the tube, and the machine hooked up to it.

"Her lungs were perfectly fine. Explain to me why my prized possession is damaged." My blood boils at the words "prized possession". The fact that he sees me as his own, this terrible person, stabs me in the stomach. I want to believe that I am not his, that I am my own person. That I have the right to be my own person. But I look around, and everything here is his. Everything including me.

"I believe the halucination serum caused her heart to beat at an irregular pace, Dr. Finley." His face is close to mine. Examining me with great care, yet such harsh eyes. His thick untamed hair swirls around his aged face. I am guessing that he somewhere in his fifties. His eyebrows are thick and black, and his chin is bristled with an unshaven face.

"Do you now?" Titus stands his ground, and nods. Analzing every face in the room, Dr. Finley finally stands.

"Fair enough." Titus looks as stunned as I feel.

"Sir?"

"Oh, I don't believe you, Titus, trust me. But I do not have time for this. I will take the story given." And he storms out of the room. Titus, looking distressed, buries his face in his hands.

"You're lucky we both didn't get fired. Go clean the testing tubes," Lilly's face is crestfallen.

"Of course, dear brother. But- I was ordered to feed her-"

"I will do it. You do as I say." Lilly leaves the room with one more apologetic glance at me before the door stays shut behind her.

"You don't think you were a bit harsh?" Titus sits on the bed beside my feet, and ruffles his hair.

"No. Lilly likes punishment. She would have punished herself much more if I hadn't done it myself." I can understand that. I can understand being so disappointed in yourself that you have to do something to make yourself feel better. "I'll be right back." He sighs and leaves me to my own silence. I examine the tubes I am attached to, and the needles that intrude my wrist. I do not know what they are for, but I have come to accept what people do to me. Compliance is comfort. Titus comes back with a tray filled with fresh berries. I sit up in anticipation. He gives me a look of pity.

"Sorry, darling, but you cannot eat for a couple days. We will have to teach you how to swallow with the tracheostomy, first. It may take a while. That is what this IV is for." He points to yet another intrusion in my wrist. "By feed you, Lilly meant to refill your bag." His eyes motion towards a bag filled with a liquid that must be my nutrients.

"Well, thanks for coming to eat berries in front of me." I snap. He laughs, but looks at me apologetically at the same time.

"Yeah, sorry about that, actually. Food helps me calm down." I sink into my bed, and let him fiddle with my bag of nutrients, and IV.

"There you go. Delishes, right?" I roll my eyes.

"It'd be better if I could taste it." He smile and nudges my shoulder.

"You'll be tasting again in no time." I eye the berries on the tray next to me, and shoot Titus a dirty sneer.

"You should eat those." He smiles, his cheeks growing pink.

"Yeah, I'll do that." I smile to let him know that I am not actually as mad at him as I let on. His face softend a bit as he bites into a strawberry. He loves his job so much.

I wonder if he could ever learn how to love something else.