Mind Shatter

Chapter 2

             When Ruben woke up two hours later, he felt like he'd been asleep for days. He slowly opened his eyes to almost complete darkness and silence. The only light he could see was a dull red light in the distance in front of him. He saw there were three dark silhouettes against it. He didn't take his eye off of them. He wouldn't let himself be intimidated. They were engaged in a staring contest. At the same time, his eyelids were heavy, begging him to rest his eyes. He felt that he might just succumb to their wish. The cool, quiet breeze of a fan creates did little to comfort him. If anything, it made the scene feel more eerie. He snapped his head left and right in an attempt to discover where he was, but to no avail.             

            He quickly zeroed back in on the silhouettes. There were only two then. A chill shot through Ruben's spine. He debated whether to look around for the shadow or to continue staring at the two in front of him. Just then, a hand landed on his forehead. He tightened his hand into a fist, read to strike at any moment. “Turn on the lights,” says the mystery person.              

            Ruben snarled as the light blinded him. If these people want a to fight, they're about to get one, he thought. “Let's do this!” he said, still blinded. His fighting intentions were made in vain. His cheek met the floor after he tried to roll off of the bed. He realized that he must've been drugged. Rushed footsteps drew near and then six arms sat him up in the bed.            

            “How do you expect to fight without looking at your opponents, Ruben?”            

            He recognized the voice; It was Matt, one of the doctor triplets. He realized that he was in the doctor's office. “You sure do know how to scare a guy!” Ruben reply angrily. He was relieved but vexed all the same.            

            Suddenly the no-longer-mystery-men all break into a hearty laughter. Their white lab coats were almost as bright as the lights were. Ruben found it funny how they all had their short, light-brown hair at the same length. They were nearly identical and only people who knew them well could tell them apart by their voices.  “Ruben!” Paul said, “Scare you?! We're the one's who were scared for you! By the way, you've only been out for a couple of hours.”           

           “I swear I don't know why I became a doctor. I'm going to end up having a heart attack from all the stress! Whoo...” said Matt, bending over and taking a few deep breaths. Out of relief, Simon walked over and gave Ruben a friendly slap on the back.            

           “Ow! You didn't have to slap my back so hard, Simon,” Ruben shouted.            

            “Sorry Ruben, sometimes-”           

             “Everyday...” Paul interrupted.           

              “Ok, ok, everyday I forget my own strength,” continued Simon, rolling his eyes. “I haven't had a good laugh like that in a long time,” he rubbed his jaw.           

              Paul raised an eyebrow at Matt.

             “Oh yeah I almost forgot,” Matt went to look through a drawer.          

              Simon placed his stethoscope on Ruben's heart and motioned for him to be quite. He listened so intensely that he didn't even look at Ruben's face. “Well it looks like your heart rate has stabilized,” he said a few moments later. “Do you remember how you blacked out?”             

            “Nope. What happened?” he felt the back of his head and cringed at the pain.          

            “Well it seems that you slipped on some water and knocked your head on the floor.”        

           “It seems I'm a klutz then,” Ruben replied with a chuckle. “Must've been quite a fall.”                            

            Somethingmething small in Ruben's back pocket was stabbing him. What in the world could be in there? he thought. He slowly reached into his pocket and took out a piece of glass. As soon as he saw it the scene before his blackout quickly flashed in his mind. I didn't slip in water, I was knocked out, he remembered.

            He was lucky that Simon wasn't paying attention and the other two weren't looking. His heart rate increased as he shoved the glass back into his pocket. Simon snapped his head up and looked into Ruben's eyes with a hint of suspicion. His eyes were wide and his smile was gone.               “What's wrong...?” he asked. Simon focused on Ruben's heartbeat as intensely as he stared at him.            

            “Oh nothing,” Ruben said flatly. He didn't sound very convincing but it was the best he could think of. He calmed down and forced his heart rate to slow down. All soldiers learned techniques to lie effectively, not that they were working at that moment.

            Paul, who was looking through a drawer with Matt, looked over his shoulder at Ruben and then whispered something to Matt. Simon took the stethoscope off of Ruben's chest and looked at Matt who now held a small syringe full of some clear, slightly viscous liquid. “Well Ruben you look great. I just need to give you some medicine. It'll heal any damage done to your brain that may have happened when you fell,” said Simon as Matt and Paul started walking towards Ruben.            

            “Don't worry I'm fine. I'll take my leave now,” he said while trying to sound calm. He swung his  legs off of the bed. The ends of his boots barely touched the ground as Simon grabbed his arm.                            

            “You need to take your medicine Ruben. We can't have brain damage affecting you out on the battlefield,” Simon said, trying to sound sincere while tightening his grip.      

             Ruben knew he had to cut the calm act and force his way out. He snatched his arm away and stood up, alert and ready for the doctors to attack. “You're doctors and I'm a special soldier. I wonder who wins that fight?” he said.

            He forgot that he was drugged. He took a couple of wobbly steps and then fell to his knees. The triplets did not waste time in surrounding him. “Whatever you did to me, I'm not going to let it stop me,” Ruben said somewhat strained.

            The doctors now moved in slowly. They didn't expect him to be so resilient. One of the rules was that weapons weren't allowed in the doctor's office, which they regretfully honored. He wasn't a special soldier for nothing. He simply imagined that the drugs had no effect. Very quickly, he gained his strength back until he felt fine again. “You three already know that you won't be able to stop me if I want to leave,” Ruben said.              

           They firmly held their ground and made no attempt to advance. “Fine, we tried to help you” muttered Paul, “but you'll regret this decision, Ruben. You'll regret it...” His voice trailed off as he looked away from Ruben.            

           “Break that syringe, Matt,” Ruben said firmly. Matt only gripped it tighter. “Break it!” Ruben's voiced echoed throughout the room.          

           Matt threw the syringe to the ground and stomped it a few times. “Just leave,” Matt said.