Death's Exception

Chapter Forty-Seven

"Ouch." Dr. Finley says under his breath, obviously amused. I am unable to be angry, though, because he is right. Ouch. Titus is the only person on this Earth that doesn't belive me a monster, and he just told me that I am one. There is nothing left of my reputation keeping me from completely embracing that I am a monster. I nod.

"Will you get rid of these?" I say, nodding towards the the leather straps on my wrist. He shakes his head sadly, which I am positive is genuine pity.

"I cannot. There was great commotion upon you getting here, and they are forcing me to keep you bound up for whatever reason. People are so gullible." He says, exasperated. I sigh.

"You are the one who convinced them that I am a monster." I don't say it angrily, just factually. He giggles.

"I suppose I did. Wanna know how I did it so easily?" He sits on the side of my bed beside my legs, forcing me to crain my neck in order to continue looking him in the eye.

"Sure."

"Because you are one." I stare up at the tiled ceiling, unable to argue with him. I have no reason to fight him, so I simply relax, and blink at him, undeterred.

"Ah hah. All you needed was to hear it from Titus, huh? He was the only one keeping you from accepting it." My heart sinks.

"Yes." He sighs, and slaps his hands on his knees before standing. He kisses me on the forhead again before leaving the room, forcing me to stay within my four walls with nothing to do but stare at the ceiling blankly, feeling nothing but the constant pain in my chest. I inhale and exhale, thankful that I am able to do so. And that is all I have left. The gratitude for my lungs. I look over at the blank white wall that used to hold Lilly's painting, where a nail is still there, and the wall is whiter within the rectangle that used to be blocked by the painting. I wish it was still there. But just like Lilly, it is gone. Because of me. The first implication that I am a monster. My wrist aches, and I long to scratch it, but I am unable to harm it any longer. I look at the ceiling, and bite my lip. I try not to cry, but I do anyways. The trouble is, I don't feel like a monster. I feel like a girl. A little, vulnerable girl trapped in this shadow of a monster. I hear the door swing open, and bang against the wall. I try to see who walked in, but I am unable to sit up.

"I knew you would end up here again." Sarah, who let us into the base to get my mom out, stands over me, holding a tablet. She sighs, and looks down at me over her round glasses. Her blonde hair is gathered into a ponytail.

"Your confidence is appreciated." I snap. She raises her eyebrows, and holds up her tablet, typing something in it.

"I didn't mean to offend you." I roll my eyes, and look away from her, convinced not to like her. She seems like every other scientist, with their cold calculations and their unconvinced faces. Their pushes aside emotions, and their zeal for only things that are unknown. She isn't like Titus. The thought of Titus makes my head throb.

"You didn't offend me." I lie. She looks up from her tablet and smiles slightly.

"We got off on the wrong foot. My name is Sarah, and I am Lilly's replacement." It rolls off her tongue as if it isn't the most terrible thing she could have thought of saying. I clench my fists, and grit my teeth.

"Still on the wrong foot."

"You aren't as nice as you were." She says looking down at me thoughtfully. I bring my shoulders up to my ears in a shrug. She is right, of course. I am not as nice as I was last time. If it were a couple months earlier, I would be kind to her. But I can't stand that anymore. I no longer feel like pretending I like someone because it is tiresome and frivolous. I nod. She laughs. "Welcome to my world." I raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"People mistake honesty for rudeness." I sigh, and turn my face from her, unwilling to humor her.

"Why are you here?"

"To take blood, ask you questions, and make you feel comfortable. Just unbearable nurse duties." I try not to like her, but it is hard not to. I enjoy her bluntness and her matter of fact attitude. In my world of simulations, she seems to be the most real. I let my eyes crinkle, but I do not smile.

"They are unbearable." She motions towards the ceiling.

"Someone gets it! See, the nurse doesn't like it either. And I know you aren't stupid, so I am not going to pretend to be a smiley happy camper. Because I am not. I am taking your blood and that is gross so I am not going to smile and laugh as I do it." She says all of this as she eases a needle into my forearm.

"I thought you said you got Titus' job. Titus didn't do this. Why are you here, actually?" She holds the blood up against the light to examine it, and then begins to empty it into a glass cylinder.

"A whole bunch of people left after Lilly was killed. Scared everyone away. I am left doing basically everything." I nod slowly, and watch her as she fiddles with the tubes attached to my arm and wrist.

"I am sorry." I make out, but my voice drifts off as she makes eye contact with me. Her eyebrows raise as high as possible, and her eyes squint as if she is trying to figure me out.

"A monster that doesn't want to be a monster, yet she accepts that she is a monster, while still being sorry for being a monster. You, Aurora, are an interesting human." And that was the time that I was never more thankful for being called human.