Chapter 4: Non-surgery
The strange man wheeled me out of my room, leaving mom and Raven speechless and nervous. He pulled me into an elevator, and hit the floor to go to the basement.
"Why are we going to the basement?" I asked.
"That's the only-" he stopped himself, "that is the best place for us to work on you." He was nervous, I could tell. He was sweating bullets, even though it was chilly. He held his wild eyebrows high, with a look of worry In his eyes. His nervousness didn't make me feel any better. When the elevator doors opened on the third floor, two doctors and a nurse stepped in. This made him even more tense. Dr. Baxter stared at the floor buttons; the sweat was practically dripping off of him now. Why was he so nervous about the workers? He knew them, right? When they left on the first floor, I asked him,
"Why were you so nervous around those guys?"
"Oh, gosh, you noticed? Ah, um, well, we- uh, they are just not very friendly, and they uh, they don't really like me, so, um, yeah." He sounded so nervous, and he stuttered so much. I knew he was lying, but I'm desperate to rid my body of cancer, so I'll try anything. It's not like I have much to lose.
We stepped off the cramped elevator and entered the dank basement. The concrete floor was cracked, and the paint on the walls were peeling. I wouldn't be surprised if there was mold growing, gross. The long hallway seemed to go on forever, and the dim hanging light bulbs gave off an eerie glow. As he pushed me along, I bounced up and down through the bumpy ride. I could feel my body getting weaker, so the sooner I get well, the better.
After almost five minutes of bumping along, he finally pulled me to a metal door with a cracked window at the end of the hallway. He pushed a small red button, and the door slide open.
"Woah..." I said in amazement. The room looked completely different than the rest of the basement. High-tech equipment surrounded the walls. Three other people scurried about the room, typing on this computer here, checking something there. A large metal table was in the center of the room, with the middle section cut out. I had a feeling that was for me. Dr. Baxter left me in the door way and ran to one of the many computers. A young man with strawberry blonde hair pushed me over to another small door on the left wall. He handed me a pile of strange black clothe.
"Put this on in there." The man said rudely. I took the clothes and wheeled myself in. It was more of a claustrophobic closet than a changing room. I struggled to put the one piece jumpsuit type outfit on, because I was too weak to stand. After struggling for almost ten minutes, I finally managed to get the suit on. It was spandex material; but thicker and more breathable. Their was thick padding on the front and back; they were black with small rivets. Even though it looked like it would be unbearably uncomfortable, it was actually the opposite.
I wheeled out, and Dr. Baxter came up to me to help me once again. He pushed me over to the large intimidating table.
"What is this outfit for?" I asked.
"Well, it's designed to ensure that your body will be able to withstand the injection." This "non-surgery" was beginning to sound worse and worse.
"Okay, and the padding?" I pointed to the thick covering over my chest.
"Um, well I guess Chris over there just added it for affect." He pointed to the young man that had been rude to her earlier.
"Chris, could you come here and help Anna onto the table?"
He grunted in response. He hoisted me up like I weighed nothing, and laid me onto the cold table. He proceeded to strap my wrists, arms, legs, thighs, and entire midsection to the platform.
Dr. Baxter returned moments later, with a glass box containing eight shots with the longest needles I had ever seen. I gulped down a scream.
"Now before we begin, I need to use the restroom, so Chris, go ahead and put the cure into the slots."
Dr. Baxter left in a scuffling hurry. Chris took the formula and set it into a chemical mixer. He reached into the backpack he was carrying and pulled out a thermos. When he unscrewed the lid, and a green eerie glow lit his face. He grabbed a eye dropper and filled it with the strange liquid. He dropped five drops of the green goop into each of the shots, making them turn green, also. He put the thermos back in his bag and looked up at me.
"What was that?" I said worriedly.
"Oh, the doctor missed out on one thing in his formula, so I went ahead and added it in for him." I did not trust this man at all. Why would he take it from his backpack if it was from Dr. Baxter? Well, it's not like I could just say no and walk out, for one thing I needed this cure desperately; I was so weak now I could barely hold my head up. And another thing; I'm kind of strapped down tight to this table.
I need to go through with it.
Chris put the strange liquid in small compartments behind me, and needles were to close for comfort. Seconds later Dr. Baxter returned with rubber gloves and safety goggles on.
"Okay, Chris, did you put the cure in?"
"Yep. We're ready whenever you are, doc."
"Alrighty then. Lets begin. Now Anna, are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be I guess."
Dr. Baxter walked over to what I assumed was the control panel, and he flipped a large red switch.
The front half of my body began to come upwards, and soon I was laying straight upwards. Something began to make a high pitched sound behind me; like a drill at the dentist. I could feel the eight needles pierce through the protective covering. They began to cut through my skin, and it really hurt.
"Ah!" I yelled. Dr. Baxter ran over to me.
"Anna! Are you alright?" I yelled out again.
"It's okay this is the worst part."
He stayed standing by me while Chris continued to monitor the control panel. The pain in my back started to die down. Chris started to mess around with other stuff, and Dr. Baxter did not like that.
"Chris! No! What are you doing? She won't be able to handle that level!"
"She will be able to with the healing factor of the serum I added to your formula. With it she'll be indestructible."
"Chris what did you do?!?" What did he do? Indestructible? What was he talking about?
Suddenly the terrible pain returned, except this time it was one hundred times worse.
"AAAAAH!!!" I screamed even louder. The pain was unbearable. Dr. Baxter just watched in horror and amazement; there was nothing he could do now. My entire body felt as if it were sizzling with energy. The needles dug deep into my spine. I closed my eyes tight to try and make the feeling go away. Suddenly the pain increased, and I thought for sure that I'd die. My eyes shot open, then everything went black.
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Phantom
خيال (فانتازيا)Anna was a regular girl, went to high school, had a dog, a mom, no dad; a pretty typical person. But her seemingly normal, pleasant life would soon take a desperate turn for an attempt towards a sense of normality. But with powers like these, that's...