Burning Blue

Burning Blue (part 1)

'Unbelievable,' someone above him murmured. 'What's with his hair?'

'Dr Aida, how is the hair a problem?' a deep male voice interrupter, sounding frustrated. 'Is he alright?'

'Oh, about that,' the doctor approached a torch light to Nathan's eyes. The boy tried to raise a hand to cover his eyes and with surprise realised he could not move. 'Whatever captain McCoy has given him is too strong. I'll need to take him to the hospital.'

Where was he? What was this place? Nathan felt panic building in his chest, his heart beating faster than it was used to. The last thing he could remember was... The boy traced his memory back to the last moment in his mind. He was sitting in a cell at the police station, awaiting someone to tell him what was going on. Why was he in the cell to start with? Yes, now he remembered. He was taken there after being interrogated by some man, whose name he couldn't recall. And what was before that? A group of armed officers had taken him to the police station because...

'Out of the question,' the man with the deep voice barked at the doctor. 'You treat him here. It'll be alright.'

'Captain Owen, do you even realise how unhygienic this place is?' the doctor protested taking his torch away from Nathan's eyes. 'Why is he even here?'

'Security decisions are my responsibility,' the one called captain Owen responded.

Nathan returned to his little mind game of retracing his steps that led him to wherever he was now. The armed officers were interested in him because... this part of the puzzle was hard to come. They had accused Nathan of conducting some sort of an attack, but it was all such a blur. The people on the streets, he could remember very well. The crowds of people crying or just standing with their hands hanging unnaturally as if they were dead. But they were not the ones who had died. The others inside each and every house were. And then Nathan remembered. His mother was inside their house, laying on the floor motionless, eyes fixed on the ceiling.

'Only because you convinced the Council he is some sort of a threat,' Dr Aida returned the light at Nathan's eyes.

'The majority wins, doctor,' the captain replied with satisfaction. 'Isn't this something you like to tell?'

'I wish you'd paid a bit more attention when I talk about taking care of others,' the doctor murmured, taking one of Nathan's hands and lifting it up. He released it and it dropped with a bang. 'Totally paralised!' he concluded with a sigh. 'If you want me to take care of him here, then I will need some of my stuff.'

The two men continued arguing on what could be brought to where Nathan was as they walked away from the paralysed body. Meanwhile, the boy was still trying to contain the panic in his chest, his head feeling as if it would explode any minute. His mother was inside their house when the attack had happened. Nathan remembered running down the road to their home, opening the door and finding her on the floor. White foam was coming from her mouth, a small pot with some cream in it next to her. He didn't have much time to think about what had happened before the first emergency services arrived. They took him out and left him on the street. The whole neighbourhood had been hit.

Then a police van stopped in front of the house and when four armed officers approached him Nathan wasn't even given the chance to look back at his mother. They shoved him in the van and drove away. They accused him of being part of some terrorist group he had never heard of before. And no matter how much Nathen denied it, they refused to listen.

When the van arrived at the police station they were greeted by a large group of journalists and cameras. People were shouting at Nathan, asking questions, cursing him. But for what?

The boy was left alone in one of the interrogation rooms for what felt like an eternity. No one offered him water, or most importantly any information about his mother. Was she really dead? After a long while a tall, young man walked in. The reassuring smile on his face didn't help at all and only made Nathan more anxious and worried.

'How is she?' the boy asked right away, but the man sat silently on the chair opposite and just stared. 'Tell me something,' Nathan begged. 'Is she alive?' No answer came.

After a long silence the man asked one question: 'How does it feel?' Then he again accused Nathan of being part of the terrorist group that had poisoned all food deliveries in the city. He didn't stop for a second to hear what the boy had to say. With no explanation Nathan was sent to the cell awaiting whatever was supposed to come next.

Somehow Nathan was sure that whatever happened was not what the police and his interrogator had planned. There was a piece of the story that the boy couldn't still remember as he was paralysed on the bed. He could hear voices around him, feel a small draft from somewhere, even sense the damp in the air. Looking at a red bricked ceiling with a single light, the boy had no chance of figuring out where he was.

'Just leave it there,' Dr Aida's voice came suddenly and Nathan was sure he would have jumped from surprise had he been able to move. 'Okay, young chap, how are you doing?' A large shadow appeared above the boy. 'I realise this must be very scary for you,' the doctor said with a soothing voice. 'Everything is absolutely fine. They have just given you more than enough of that...Honestly, girl, it is a simple suitcase. How hard is it to put it on the table?' the doctor turned away, anger in his voice. When he reappeared his voice had calmed down again. 'You should get back to normal very soon,' he assured Nathan.

The boy couldn't tell what was being done. He was acutely aware of people's movements around him, but they meant nothing. He couldn't even feel if his arms or legs were being touched. Trapped in his own body he had no choice but to listen to Dr Aida continuously telling off whoever was with him. Nathan chose to close his eyes, but then even that was beyond his abilities. He could feel his eyes drying slowly.

'There, try to move a finger for me,' the doctor poked Nathan's left arm. Surprised he could feel something the boy shot his hand up in the air too fast and hit the man in the face. 'Ouch! Oh, I say this is a signal you are getting back to normal. It will, of course... No, don't put it there,' the doctor turned to instruct his assistant something, 'sorry, she always misplaces stuff. Anyway, give it another twenty minutes and you will be able to speak.'

Maybe it was twenty minutes, maybe it was more or even less, Nathan didn't know. But when he regained full control of his body, he jumped from the bed.

'Where am I?' were his first words before he collapsed back.