Fate

7

Chapter 7

I opened my eyes and things were blurry but not completely black. Was my sight coming back after all? What was going on?

I looked around me and saw I was by myself. I couldn't see the room well but the bright lights helped. There was a chair in the corner, facing away from me. There were no windows but a single door. Everything was white, even the chair. I was lying on a metal table with a hospital gown on. There were no blankets on me. A machine stood beside me and it beeped every few seconds. A heart monitor?

The door opened and I tried hard to keep my eyes on anything but the person walking in. I had to make it seem like I was still blind. Even though I wasn't.

"Julia, sweetheart, you're doing great." He was smiling. Was he proud of what he was doing? He was so sick. How could anyone be happy to ruin another person's life?

"Where am I?"

"We're in the exam room."

"Exam room?"

"I had the doctors run some tests on you."

"Why?"

"That's none of your concern. It's grown up stuff."

"I'm not a child."

"Julia, you-"

"I'm not a child." I said more sternly.

"I don't mean to upset you, Julia. But there are some things that I don't think you are capable of handling."

"Like that fact that you're insane? Because I can definitely handle that."

"This can go two ways, Julia." He walked over to the chair and carried it to my side. I stared at the door to avoid looking at him and blowing my cover. "You can either obey our rules and do as we ask or you can resist and force us to punish you."

"So it's good cop/bad cop?"

"Essentially, yes."

I sat up and felt something tug on my chest. I reached up and felt a circular pad under the gown. "What is that?"

"Just a simple monitor. Nothing to cause alarm."

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly. Of course I was going to be worried. Why would he be monitoring me?

"We've scheduled an immediate surgery for this afternoon."

"Surgery?"

"There are... abnormalities in your body. This surgery will restore them to their correct state."

"Abnormalities?"

He nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "It's minor. You won't feel anything. You'll actually be awake during the surgery."

I was going to faint. "What?"

"Trust me, honey. I know what I'm doing."

"Like hell you do."

"I would never harm you. That's not my plan."

All my fears were gone. For the most part, anyway. I was mostly just mad. I was so aggravated. I wanted to be home with Lucy. I wanted Aryan to be okay. I was tired of not getting to make my own decisions and be a puppet for people to use me as they pleased. I wanted to start living my life.

"Can I have something to eat?"

His eyes widened. "Of course. I'll have someone bring something over."

"I can't go back to my room?"

"Not until after the surgery." He said. He left without another word. I waited a few seconds before I got up from the table. The floor was so cold on my bare feet. It'd been so long since I got to walk that it I almost fell over in the process.

I looked out into the hallway and it was empty. I couldn't hear anyone coming or going so I took a right and headed to the corner of the hallway. No one was around the corner so I kept walking. I passed several doors with no windows and no identification on them. Everything was white and bland and identical to the previous door and hallway. If you didn't work there, you would have no way of knowing where to go.

Maybe that was the plan.

I found an exit sign that pointed to a stairway. The words were blurry but the neon red was unmistakable.

I pushed the doors opened when sirens went off. A red light filled the hallway. I cursed and headed back the way I came.

I had just rounded the corner when I heard footsteps behind me. And in front of me. They were everywhere.

They had to have cameras watching me. Yeah, I'd gotten to the steps unnoticed but that didn't mean someone wasn't watching from a camera room.

I was trapped.

Lucy's dad came around the corner and our eyes met. Mine widened and I took off in the opposite direction.

I had to find a way out somehow. I was determined to.

I'd done it before. I could do it again.

I had to do it again.

Two men approached me, ready to grab me. Neither of them looked familiar to me. I ducked down and ran between them at their knees. Being as large as they were, they couldn't grab me until it was too late.

I heard yelling behind me but the adrenaline was filling my ears more than the noises were.

I reached the stairway again and took it. It wasn't like another alarm was going to go off.

I stumbled down the steps, almost tripping as I did so. My feet weren't working well and neither were my eyes. Even though I could see a little, I still couldn't see at my normal 20/20.

I shoved the doors at the bottom of the steps open and there was a sea of people waiting for me. I was trapped. I couldn't go back up the steps without getting caught yet any of the people in front of me would have been glad to catch me.

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw another exit sign. This one led outside. Finally!

I ran out the door and kept running.