The Forest (Complete Unedited)

The Forest Chapter 35

AIDEN

After the gathering of people in mother's house, I felt overwhelmed. There are so many people, they dress very openly. The women don't cover themselves and the men I didn't know, acted very rudely. I want to protect Alice but she is surrounded by her friends. She saw me getting upset and took me upstairs. Then I just waited for hours until she came back.

The next few days she always seemed busy, first she organised the room. Then she gave me so many lessons. I seemed to be studying so much my head hurts. But Alice seemed very distracted. She made me feel like a child sometimes. She wasn't paying me any mind.

On Thursday she kept snapping at me. I feel like everything is my fault, I hug her all the time. I don't want to make her sad. When my work is done, I hold her tight but she pushes me away. What did I do? I will just stay by her side until she feels better. Friday comes and it's time for my hospital appointment. I'm surprised that both Alice and mother want to come with me. We take a bus there, I'm good on buses now. I think the home gathering made me realise that people are different now.

We go through some large gates into this hospital. It's different from the one I went to before. I understand why it has the name King's in front. This hospital is like a village of its own, many buildings are a part of it. There is a huge manor and many brightly coloured cars are in front. I can read the word ambulance on them but I don't know what that is. There are no large trees outside this hospital, only small bushes and shrubs I don't recognise.

Inside, the ceiling is very high. Many people are walking around. Several have different uniforms. I have too many questions so I stay quiet, I don't want to upset Alice. Mother is talking to someone at the desk, then we have to follow her through many corridors. We go through doors and in a lift again. This time I know what the moving box is, I still don't like it! We go to a wide corridor, filled with chairs. Alice calls it the waiting room but it is not a room. Many doors lead away from it and on one side there is a much larger desk.

I'm so overwhelmed again by what I see. I am led to a small box room where I'm prodded and measured. A torture device strapped to my arm, I cry out but Alice shakes her head.

"Don't worry Aiden, they need to do all these tests to put you on the system. That machine just checks your blood pressure. If you get sick they can check and see the difference."

Alice rubs my sore arm when they take it off, looking worried. I hold her hand, she does care about me! I feel better just knowing that.

Next I'm embarrassed when they ask me to pee in a cup. Why do I need to do that?

"Aiden you can use the toilet over there. Many things can be found out from pee, you'll be surprised!"

My interest has been sparked, I want to learn all these amazing things. When I looked after Alice in the forest I didn't know these small things. I just knew if she was sick or healthy. Maybe I could have saved many more injured creatures.

I'm curious at the notices on the wall about different illnesses, also magazines about different things in the hospital. I watch the people in uniforms, some push trollies with strange implements, others have strange objects in their hands. This distracts me from my fear.

Finally we are all called into a room. There are machines on one desk. The doctor sits behind another. I'm shocked to discover it's a woman. The other shocking thing is that she has the strangest eye shape. Her skin is very pale but her hair is straight and black like mine. When she speaks she has an accent that makes me realise that she is a foreigner. I don't realise she's talking to me until she repeats herself and Alice taps my arm.

"Hello Aiden?"

"Oh hello Miss, I mean Miss Doctor Madam?"

"It's ok, you can call me Dr Song."