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5. Restart

I've had every chapter I've written so far, up till chp. 11 completely edited and ready to publish for 5 months, I just forgot to give them proper titles....
I hate myself sometimes.

~~~~~~~~~~Jax

I step back into the room, a warm cup of coffee in hand, and watch as the cylindrical container opens with a hissing sound. Riley stumbles out, coughing, and is caught by one of the lab coat-toting weirdos. The weirdo gently wraps a blanket around Riley’s shoulders and guides them over to the corner where another weirdo questions them on the after effects of the dive.

After they’re done, Riley makes their way over to me, glancing at my warm cup with envy. “How long was I under?” they ask.

“About five hours out here, so twenty years in-world,” I say, hating the taunting grin that comes from them a second later.

“Oh yeah? And how long did you last, Mr. I’m-gonna-win?”

I roll my eyes at their mocking tone, and hesitantly say, “Three hours forty-five. Fifteen years.”

“Yep. Which means you owe me ten dollars. And don’t think I’ll forget about it this time.”

“I hate you,” I say, not really meaning it.

Riley doesn’t get the chance to say anything back, as another hiss soon sounds, and Collin stumbles forward from the tube. The same scientist that caught Riley almost stumbles under Collin’s weight as he leans against them heavily. But when he doesn’t get up, or even try to, the scientist’s eyes widen. They turn back to their colleagues, calling for help, but I’m focused on the man in front of me, who isn’t moving at all.

Riley takes a step forward, their eyes wide with a slowly building panic, but I hold them back, knowing that we’d only get in the way. We watch helplessly as two of the stronger scientists lift him onto a table as others rush around with medical equipment and clipboards, but Collin’s still not breathing.

“Jax,” Riley says, drawing my attention to them. “What if…?” They don’t finish their question, but I know what they’re asking.

“Don’t worry,” I say, “I’m sure he’ll be fine. They’ve got tons of doctors here who are all trained for this.” Riley nods, but their eyes are still locked on Collin, and I know they’re already thinking of the worst case scenario.

We wait in tense silence for a moment more, until it’s interrupted by the sound of someone drawing in a deep breath then falling into a coughing fit. Riley and I watch in relief as Collin props himself up on his elbow, his eyes twisted shut as he coughs out any chemicals left over in his airways. 

When he can finally breathe steadily again, he lays back on the table and sighs, then slowly opens his eyes as they adjust to the dim lighting in the room. When he catches sight of the scientists, his eyes widen, and he quickly sits up.

He has to swallow a couple times to get his voice working, but when he does, he says, “Wh-Who are you people? Where am I? Why-?” I look to Riley, whose eyes are wide open, and feel a cold sliver of dread creep its way up my spine. “I- I don’t-” he stutters, unable to find the right words, and shakes his head. When the panic finally gets to him and he starts to hyperventilate, one of the scientists quickly injects him with a sedative.

But the damage has been done.

~~~~~~~~~~

The room is completely silent save for the quiet whoosh of the air conditioning as we wait for Collin to wake up. The scientists are all bustling around, trying to find out what went wrong, but they have nothing so far. Riley wouldn’t stop pacing for the first half hour, but they’re quiet now.