Subject One

XII. Suspicious

I wake up in a room of the Hospital wing. There are dozens of tubes coming out of my chest and left arm. I try to grab at them but my arm doesn't respond. Confusion washes over me as I stare at the empty space where my right arm used to be. There is a nub of flesh about six inches from my shoulder. The arm is gone.

"No..." I try to rise from the bed I'm lying in, but I can't.

I hear a stirring to my side and I find Luca slumped in a chair beside me. He seems to wake up from an unrestful sleep.

"Margot."

I look down at my arm. "It's gone."

"You landed on your arm... They couldn't save it. Not even Supresin can fix something so mangled. I'm so sorry."

"I..." I try to move what I have left, but an unbelievable pain overthrows all thought.

"Shh, just don't think about it right now." He gets up and stands beside me on my good side. He runs his hand through my hair over and over. I nervously glance at the door to the hospital room, expecting Mafiona or another nurse to come bursting in at any second.

"Luca..." I say.

"Many beings were hurt during this gravity shift. They have other things to worry about than this." His hand rests gently on my cheek. How could he be so caring after what I did to him?

The heart monitor I'm attached to picks up pace.

The door opens, and we both jump. It's Eon Arthyr. He quickly shuts the door.

"My son, I must talk to the subject alone."

"Father--"

"Now." Eon demands. Luca throws me an apologetic look as he makes his way towards the exit. He leaves, but I can feel him linger right outside the door. His closeness gives me a certain resilience. I face Dr. Arthyr with confidence even though I'm a little less of a being with half of my arm gone.

"Subject." Eon addresses me. He looks like a man in mourning. "I'm telling you this because I expect your full compliance or I'll find a way to have you terminated."

I nod.

"I've managed to keep security quiet about your incident and Luca's outburst. Nurse Mafiona wouldn't dare say anything, so the only loose end is you." He sighs and runs a hand across his unshaven face. "I'm going to let him keep testing on you. I'm not sure if you have figured this out yet, but subjects are priceless. We don't want to waste you if we don't have to. Do you understand?"

"Yes." I gulp.

"I can tell that my son has feelings for you. It's quite obvious, actually." He says. "I know I'm not one to judge, so I've decided to let it go, even though it will certainly ruin his career and his status on this shuttle if word breaks out. I just want to make sure that you don't have a vendetta set out against the rest of us."

My eyebrows furrow. Luca told me that he had used me to feel better. The only incident that we were near being close was brought on by a drunken mistake. That must be what Eon is talking about. My mind is reeling. There is no way that Luca would have actual, real romantic feelings towards me. He views me as a corpse. Or at least... he did.

"Dr. Arthyr," I say shakily.

He sighs. "Yes, subject?"

"How did you bring Luca back?"

The doctor pales. "You know?"

"The Supresin made me adapt to more than you anticipated. I could hear everything. His heart stopped."