Reality

Chapter 8

"I heard what happened, I'm so sorry you had to witness such events." Dr. Daphne tried to comfort me as I ran on the treadmill. My heals hit hard on the moving belt. I huff out every breath harshly trying not to pass out. "They should've done better, it put all of you in danger." She's been going on for the last hour, I've never heard someone apologize so much for something she couldn't control.

I don't even care that much, at this point Gulliver has to be on our side right? My ribs feel like they're being stabbed with every step. I've been trying to keep up with the pace but I grab the handrails and pick myself up and rest my feet on the outside of the belt. The machine slows down and I collapse in a heap of heavy breathing and shaking legs. I feel like I've been hit by a bus.

"Good, you actually did really well." Don't sound so surprised, it's not like I had practice the first few months here. She grabs all the little patches and remove them along with shutting off some sort of x-ray machine. She hands me a water which she holds for a second too long, "If you need any one to talk to." 

I chug the water and sit down at a nearby chair, "I was thinking, maybe I could actually talk to someone more my age." After Mason's suspenseful comment I've been thinking about all the ways I could try and regain the trust of these people. I need to find a way to Mason if he can't find his way to me. 

Daphne knew exactly what I was hinting at, I could see her face twist into so many emotions. "I've been going insane the last few days, can you blame me? I've had nothing but rejection since I got here. I'm so lonely." I smear the sweat across my forehead trying to look desperate. "Seeing them this morning," I sigh, "makes me miss how much I loved school." Lies. "I had so many friends, I never realized how dependent I was on the company of others."

Her face softens, "I'm trying Azure, I really am. I want to trust you again. I'm afraid it'll take time to convince Mr. Price to allow any confrontation with another patient. But don't worry, I'll see what I can do." She smiled down at me and offers a small pack of vitamins. I take them with a sarcastic smile, I pop the chews and swallow them whole. "I'd really appreciate that, thank you."

The rest of the day, I went back and forth between vascular age tests, mammograms, and another pee test. I've peed in a cup so many times. For once I wasn't playing the devils advocate and trying my damnedest to be compliant. Pestilence had a point, if I kept on pushing everyone away I'd be further down the rabbits hole. Now that I'm loosening up and allowing them to believe I've changed and was just being harsh out of fear, I'll make my way through this game like it's nothing. I've finally got a plan, I just have to keep it up and not mess anything else up.

I'm no longer as curious as I was towards what they're testing on, each new trial and exam I've grown comfortable with the fact that they're doing this for a reason. If them find something life threatening, something worse than prison, then I'm all ears. For now, I have bigger things to worry about. Daphne's routine warnings and schedule details blurred into a whole lot of nonsense. I stopped listening awhile. 

But who could blame me? My mind is consumed by what Mason had said and not knowing exactly what he meant is driving me insane I'm not the only one who's been falsely accused. Then again, Mason could be mentally unstable and he's having some fun with how gullible I can be. Though I feel like the only ones I can trust here are the kids and Pestilence. Even then, I know I need to keep my guard up. In reality, you can only trust yourself.

At the end of the day I'm back at the baths with the three women. I keep quiet as they carry on with their work without any delay. I steal a look into the room where Gulliver made his first impression, everything's clean and shinning like nothing ever happened. Pestilence helps me to the bath, she runs my water and stacks the soaps on the stool. "I spoke with Price." She starts as I step into the bath. She's hanging new clothes on hooks across the room, "Don't hold it to me, but I think I may have convinced him to be more lenient." I look back at her as the water swallows me up to my neck. "Why? How?"