Her Essence

Chapter 18: Harvest

No one knows how it happens. No one knows how it's done. The harvesting of Seeds is a secret medical ritual that stays within the walls of each harvesting clinic. No one knows what mysteries lie beyond those secret doors. It takes two surgeons, two nurses and three hours. 

  Petra is fifteen minutes in. The medical staff buzz around her. Her arms and legs have been secured to the operating table with bonds that are strong but padded so she won't hurt herself if she struggles.
A nurse blots sweat from her forehead. "Relax, I'm here to help you through this."
She feels a sharp pinprick in the right side of her neck, and then in the left side.
"What's that?" she asked
"That," says the nurse, "is the only pain you'll be feeling today."
"This is it, then," Petra says. "You're putting me under?"
Although she can't see her mouth beneath her surgical mask, she can see the smile in her eyes.
"Not at all," she says. "By law, we're required to keep you conscious through the entire procedure." The nurse takes her hand. "You have a right to know everything that's happening to you, every step of the way."
"What if I don't want to?"
"You will," says one of the surgical assistants, prepping her, "Everybody does."

Petra is afraid. All she can think of is her husband, Dorian, her father, how it all started. She wondered, what if Aida hadn't sold her, would all this still happen? Or was it just meant to be? She never had a moment of peace in her life and when she finally did, this happens. She should have listened to him, they should have run, hidden. She was desperate to see her father, but where was he now? She was helpless, lonely, scared. She was supposed to be a savior but now she needed saving badly. Maybe it was for the best, she thought again. Maybe not.

"How are you feeling?" the nurse asks
Petra swallows hard; "I hate this. I hate you. I hate all of you."
"I understand."
The surgeons arrived. "Don't mind them," says the nurse. "Talk to me."
"What do we talk about?"
"Anything you want."

  Twenty-eight minutes in. So much activity. Petra couldn't remember ever having so much attention directed at her. She wants to look, but the nurse holds her focus. She's read her file. She knows everything about her. About rebel camp, about her votan lover. The things she never talks about. The things she can't stop thinking about now.

"I'm scared," she says "Please don't take my baby"
"I know," says the nurse.
"I want you all to go to Hell."
"That's natural" the nurse replies.

She tries to think of other things, other places, but her mind keeps being drawn back to this place. Everyone's so close around her now. She does not deserve this. She has done many things, not all good, but she does not deserve this.

  Someone drops an instrument. It clatters on the table and falls to the floor. Petra flinches. The nurse holds her hand tighter.

"You may feel a slight sensation," says one of the surgeons. "It's nothing to worry...." Before he completes his statement, there is so much blood and screams and more blood, but not hers. She couldn't understand what was happening. She felt light-headed and everything went black for a minute.

                              ***

  She opened her eyes, and saw his face, the votan guard. The one that brought her here from her dormitory, the quiet one. "You" she said weakly "Shh...I'm here to help you" he worked his way through the bonds that secured her to the table. When he was done, he picked her up in his arms. "C'mon we have a long way to go".