Difference

Chapter 11

"Why're you here?" Tess asks me.

"Same reason you are," I respond, and sit on the bed next to her. She looks me over and sees me shaking.

"Oh, Erinn," She cries. I take her hand and squeeze it, and we're one shaking body. The nurse comes in at that moment and gasps.

"You poor dears!" She exclaims, "Both of you?"

We can only nod. She gets to work at once, wetting two wash clothes and directing me to another bed. She makes us lay down and positions the warm rag across our foreheads. It only calms be a little bit.

"Now what's the fuss?" She asks, and Tess and I glance at each other. We can't tell her why we're like this. You never know who you can trust, even if it's a sweet nurse.

"Something must've just spooked us. Or maybe it was something we ate," Tess lies, and I thank her silently for answering. The nurse nods like she totally gets it.

"It must be The Room. Kids always get a little nervous before they get fixed. But don't you girls worry. It'll be over before you know it," She reassures us. I guess we can't trust her.

"That's it!" Tess says with fake enthusiasm, "I am a little scared of The Room."

I nod, "Me too."

"You'll be fine, dears. Mr. Orion has never hurt anybody."

"What about Tommy?" Tess ventures. I try to signal to her to just let the lady heal us. She doesn't get the message.

"Tommy had no reason to do what he did. No one was going to get hurt, but then he attacked everyone," Ms. Nurse tells us.

"He attacked people?" Tess asks. Ms. Nurse nods.

"He went crazy. I've known kids who've been a little frightened of The Room, but I've never seen anyone like Tommy."

She turns her back to us to get something, and out of the corner of my eye I see Tess turn her head towards me. She mouths something, and I can tell what she says because it's exactly what I'm thinking. Lie. The nurse has to be lying. Kids don't attack adults without a reason. We're smarter than they give us credit for.

Ms. Nurse turns back to us with a glass of water in each hand.

"Here you go. I'll give you a couple pills. Take one now, and take some back to your rooms in case you're still a bit shaken up. These should stop the shaking, but they won't kick in for a few minutes. They'll definitely help, though. Now you two get back to your beds, but come back here if you have any more problems or if you need someone to talk to," She waves to us. We thank her and enter the maze of hallways.

"We can't trust anyone here, can we?" Tess mutters, and I have to agree with her.

I get back to my room and  finally fall asleep when the shaking stops ten minutes later. I keep the pills on my nightstand, though.

I wake up early in the morning to a crash. At first my sleepy brain thinks it's the breakfast bell and I had slept in super late, but I realize someone is in my room when I come to my senses. A man dressed in black is standing at the foot of my bed. I jump back and hit my head on the headboard. I wince, but I don't show any more pain in front on Peter.

"Get up," He commands, and I slowly climb out of bed. I'm glad I fell asleep in my leggings and t-shirt last night.

"Why are you in here?" I ask wearily, although I don't want to know the answer.

"No questions. Now move," He shoves me, and I stumble towards the door. I grab some shoes at the last second and slide them on, all the while still moving with Peter at my back. He walks me through the hallways and to a small, gray room. When we get in, I see Tess tied to a chair. I don't think about Peter and I rush towards her, only to be stopped by a violent tug on my arm. There's excruciating pain. I crumple to the floor.

"Peter! You actually popped her shoulder out of it's socket!" A voice scolds, and I turn my head from my position on the floor to see Mr. Orion glaring at Peter.

Peter shrugs, "It'll heal. Probably in two minutes or less."

Mr. Orion's fury turns to awe. He swivels around to stare at me, and I stare coldly back. The pain has already faded. I can feel my shoulder moving without my assistance.

"Let me see," Mr. Orion says eagerly. Peter pulls me up off the ground with my sore arm, and the blinding pain comes rushing back. I cry out.

"Stop it! You're hurting her!" Tess cries. The men ignore her. I'm dragged over to Mr. Orion, and he takes my arm. Tears are running down my cheeks, but I don't care. The pain has already faded again.

Just as it feels like my shoulder is back in it's proper place, Mr. Orion breaks my finger. He just snaps it, and I scream. Tess starts to sob.

I go limp, feeling like I might pass out, but Mr. Orion holds me up by my broken finger. He examines it, and as he's staring I can feel it fix itself. He's about to break another bone when Peter stops him.

"With all due respect, sir, could you please stop? This one is getting on my nerves," He nods towards Tess. Mr. Orion lets go of my finger, and I collapse on the floor. I can see Tess struggling against the restraints to get to me. There's no more pain, everything has healed, but I feel so broken.

Peter kicks my side, warning me that I should get up. I'm trying to stand when the door opens and two people walk through. I see Jakob first, and then I see Joe behind him, his hand on Jakob's shoulder.

Tess moans, "Not you too, Jakob."

Peter slaps her across the face, "Shut it!"

I wince. Jakob doesn't. They walk over to us, and Jakob looks at me, his eyes filled with no pity. Tess doesn't see.

Mr. Orion claps Jakob on the shoulder, "Nice work, Jakob. I'm very impressed."

Something Tess said last night flashes through my mind. "We can't trust anyone here, can we?". No, Tess, we can't trust anyone. Tess understands now.

"Oh," She sighs, and falls down into the chair as far as the restraints will allow her.