Transcendence ✹ Septicgab

Twelve

I watched how Ethan was behaving as I stood off in the corner of the gym with my occupational therapist. My forearm had been deeply lacerated, causing damage to my muscle, so my hand was weak. I could hardly move it. Ethan's irate behaviour made me feel a little more uneasy, but as he left, it made me feel worse.... As he left, I watched a woman come in with two officers, and that woman was easily recognisable as the woman who stood idly as her boyfriend ripped into my abdomen.... Marzia Bisognin.

"Amy?" She saw me. "Can I please go talk to her?" She talked the cops into letting her come near me. "How.. How long have you been here?" I stayed silent. "You remember me.."

"Your boyfriend tried to kill me," I said, crossing my arms. "My arm is torn up, my ribs were scraped, and I have an infection in my pelvis... Because your boyfriend tried to kill me."

"I know," she sighed. "I.. I don't know what all happened.. but I'm sorry." Marzia pulled the sleeve of her blouse up to reveal she had a prosthetic arm. "If it's... any consolation.. I lost my arm to that hunter in the forest.."

"Robin?" I asked, and she nodded. "He told us he didn't get to any of you.."

"Well, he caught me. Felix flipped out on him, and I had just run out vials," Marzia sighed. "Christine... Finished me off.." My eyes widened. "Yeah. She killed me.."

"Did.. Did you see anything happen.. before you-"

"Just my boyfriend going berserk.." She started to tear up. "I don't know what could have happened after that.... All I know is that I woke up in... some bedroom... and someone called the cops on me. I wasn't even supposed to be at this hospital.. The detectives investigating this whole thing... They wanted to keep me local."

-

Later that same night, Ethan wasn't able to sneak a keycard from the resident therapist, but she was meeting with me right before visitation hours were over. She made sure not to drop it, but I had the code the card had set memorised. As soon as the hallways were pitch black, I snuck out and headed to find Ethan's room.

"All of this shit is fucked up," I heard a security guard and a woman talking. "If yet another patient comes in and says they were in some fantasy world, I'm gonna lose it."

"Ma'am, please take a deep breath.."

"No!" She was irate. "I've been told a thousand times... Your son is dead, your son is dead, YOUR SON IS DEAD!" Her voice began to sound more and more familiar as I listened. "And now his girlfriend's here, and you won't let me see her?" I gasped, covering my mouth.

"Me? Is.. that.. Sunok?"

"Ma'am... please.." The guard said. "Like I tried explaining before... Visiting hours are over. You can come back in the morning, but I cannot promise you that Miss Nelson will be able to visit." I was breathless. If Sunok had been told her son was dead, and she didn't believe it.... then she believed in what we've been saying all along.

-

I scurried toward Ethan's room, knocking very gently on the door to make sure he was awake, before opening it and finding him sitting on his hospital bed, staring at his prosthetic leg.

"E?" I said. "Ethan?" He turned to look at me, but stayed silent. "What's wrong?"

"I can't remember anything," he said. "I overheard... someone say there was a new patient coming in... and... I can't remember a thing about... about exactly what I did.." I sat next to him. "The.. The cops are saying... There was a body found."