I was there, in the white abyss, for what it felt like 10 minutes before a loud voice reverberated through my brain and instructed me to go through one door.
I disobeyed. I sat there, head burrowed between my knees. I started humming a song.
"I miss my parents. Will I see them again?" Slowly, I hushed.
They sighed, "That's not necessary to think about."
Chucking, I said, "What if you could never see your parents or guardians ever again? Ever again. Ever again." Out of consciousness, due to being so devoid of reality, I was repeating the end of my sentence without the intention of reinforcing my point.
They had left my brain.
In a few seconds, I was back in that blazing room with the bosses and the vices clamped around my fragile limbs. Lucas was next to me, holding onto my skinny arm, teary-eyed.
"I'm so sorry." Lucas whimpered.
One of the bosses shouted, "That's enough, Lucas!"
Lucas' body shook as he scampered to find his crutches, hopping on one leg. He found them and exited the room, wiping his tears on his sleeve.
I quickly looked over at the bosses.
"Are you finding a cure for Lucas?" I asked.
Some of them awkwardly shuffled in their chairs. One replied hastily, "No, for all humankind. Don't snoop in business that's not yours, okay?"
I didn't reply, I only closed my eyelids slowly.
"Did I do bad?"
"No," they replied, "you were perfect."
My mentor came in and escorted me to my room.
I was exhausted.
My mentor sat me down on my bed and stared at the floor. Her face was upset and almost distraught. She opened her mouth and said,
"I have something to tell you 2206," my mentor whispered, "your friend, Willow Kirk, has attempted to kill herself."
