Arthur Bennett
After passing out on the gym floor, I awoke to a harsh, bright light above me.
I was lying on a soft plastic mattress, and a distinctly sterile scent filled the air, it was such a specific smell that I immediately knew where I was.
A hospital.
Straining to open my eyes fully, I sat upright and began to take in my surroundings. The walls were white, and the fluorescent lighting reflected off every surface, making my head ache as my eyes tried to adjust.
As my vision cleared and the pain in my head began to dull, I started to take in the sights and sounds around me.
A slow rhythmic beep came from the machine beside my bed.
Next to it sat a tray, bloodied and littered with broken IV needles, each one bent and discarded.
Attached to me were multiple cables, all leading to the machine that continued its rhythmic beeping. In my arm, it looked like they'd managed to get at least one IV to stick, its tubing ran up to a half empty bag hanging beside the machine.
With a sigh, I leaned back against the mattress and let my body sink in.
My thoughts spiraled, leading me through everything that had brought me here. Scenes flashed in my mind vomit pooling in my mouth, my throat closing as I struggled to breathe.
The memory played on a loop, no matter how hard I tried to think of something else. Anything else. My breathing turned shallow.
The machine beside me picked up, its beeping growing faster and faster.
I gripped the sheets, trying to catch my breath, but the harder I tried, the worse it became. The beeping quickened, each pulse melting into the next until it felt like one continuous shriek.
Time slowed.
My vision blurred.
Dizziness fell over me, and I clenched my jaw, trying desperately to hold back the vomit rising in my throat.
Finally, the machine erupted into an alarm the noise cutting through the room, alerting the staff that something was wrong.
Multiple footsteps rushed toward the door.
Two nurses entered, speaking quickly to each other, one immediately rushing to my side while the other sprinted back out through the door.
The nurse who stayed approached me, her mouth moving, but I couldn't make out the words. Her voice was lost in the scream of the alarm, all of it melting into one overwhelming noise.
She seemed to realize it was only making things worse. Without hesitation, she reached over and shut the machine off. The room fell into a brief silence, until the nurse spoke up her voice calm and steady as she tried to help me come down from the panic.
"Hey, you're okay. Just breathe. You're safe now. Slow, deep breaths. In... and out..."
Listening to her speak, my breathing slowly began to even out.
The panic that had gripped me started to fade, bit by bit, as I focused on her words, grounding back to reality.
By the time the other nurse returned with the doctor, I was calm again. Still shaken, a fragment of the panic still lingering in my chest.
The doctor stepped forward, a clipboard in hand.
"I'm Dr. Orrin," he said, voice level. "You're safe now. You've been through something... intense, to say the least. But you're stable. Nothing seems to be out of place or wrong with you, yet you've been unconscious for nearly two days."
Two days? I thought to myself.
I've been asleep for two whole days?
Everything felt like it had just happened. The memories were fresh in my mind.
As if reading my thoughts, the doctor spoke again.
"Do you recall why you're here?"
"Ye... yes, I do," I replied
"Good... that's good. You seem to be in perfect condition," he said with a nod. "I'll have one of the nurses run a few tests. We'll keep you here for observation, and once we're confident there's no lasting damage, you'll be free to go on your way."
As he finished speaking, he turned to one of the nurses.
"Go contact them. Tell them he's awake," he said, then turned and left the room without another word. I looked at the nurse he spoke to, the one who had left to get him,
She glanced back at me, then down at the tray of broken IV needles.
"Oh, we should get rid of those, huh?" she said with a half laugh, picking up the tray. "Your body just wouldn't accept them. It wasn't until a day later when most of your classmates were already discharged that we finally got one to stick." She spoke while picking up the tray.
"Seriously, we tried everything. Your body kept rejecting them like it was fighting back," she added, shaking her head.
With the tray in hand, she turned and stepped out of the room, leaving me alone with the last nurse.
She spoke, pointing toward her name tag with a smile.
"I'm Nurse Erin, but you can just call me Erin."
I gave her a small nod,
"Nice to meet you, Erin.... I'm Arthur."
An hour or so passed while Nurse Erin ran me through a series of tests and a full physical.
To my surprise, my body felt… better. I was stronger. Quicker. My reflexes sharper than they'd ever been before.
The feeling, while nice in the moment, only confirmed what I had been trying not to accept.
What happened to me wasn't some dream.
She has control over me now.
Even when she's not exerting it, I can feel it, her chains wrapped around my spine. I turned to Nurse Erin.
"Is Mara here?" I asked.
"Who? Oh, one of your classmates, I presume?" Erin said, tilting her head slightly.
"Well, I doubt she's still here. All of the students brought in have already been discharged. You were the only one who seemed to be injured, even though you showed no physical signs."
"I can check if she was brought in though," Erin said with a smile. "Just for you."
She paused, raising an eyebrow.
"Is she your girlfriend or something?" she said as she nudged my shoulder playfully
I shuddered at the thought, as I laughed off the remark,
Nurse Erin left the room and returned moments later
"Okay, so Mara was the rich girl, huh?" Erin said with a smile. "You gold digger, you."
She crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame and spoke.
"She left when most of the other students were discharged. Some agents from DPOC tried to talk to her, but I think her father shut them down or something. He showed up in person and took her himself."
Erin looked back at me, her tone softening just a little.
"Anyway, she seemed fine if that's what you were worrying about."
Thank you," I said, my voice low.
Before Erin could respond, the door opened.
Multiple men in plain clothing walked in, their presence was authoritative One of them stood out instantly he was towering, a full head or more above the others.
The smaller one wasn't short by any means, but next to the giant beside him, his height seemed almost average.
the shorter one turned to Nurse Erin, removed a badge from his pocket, and flashed it quickly.
She gave a small nod toward the man, then a parting wave to me before quietly stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her.
I began to shift, sliding off the edge of the bed to greet them properly, but before I could fully stand, the tall one raised a hand.
"You can remain sitting," he said, his voice deep. "We just have some questions we'd like to ask you."
With that, I settled back down into my spot on the bed. The two men moved quietly, each pulling a chair from across the room and setting it down in front of me.
Then they sat.
The shorter one leaned forward slightly
"I'm Agent Clint, and this is my partner, Agent Lance. We have some questions about the other day."
The two agents questioned me one after another, methodical and sharp, trying to piece together my account of the events.
I answered truthfully. I didn't leave anything out not Mara's command, not my death, and not my resurrection.
I couldn't risk being blamed for something I had no control over. I didn't want to end up in prison for something I never chose.
After I'd answered every question they had, Agent Clint spoke again.
"Both we and the hospital tried to contact your parents," he said . "But we got no response. When we dispatched agents to your home, it looked like only your room had been lived in. Most of the appliances were gone. The place was nearly empty, Why is that? "
For the first time in our conversation, a question caught me off guard.
"Well, I..." I started, unsure how to even begin explaining.
But before I could finish, Agent Clint spoke again.
"We know your parents have left you," he said. "And that means, as of now, you're an orphan. So, DPOC has kindly decided to take agency over you."
I was taken aback.
Where would I go? What did that even mean?
I let the confusion show on my face, and Agent Clint didn't miss it.
He spoke again, calmly.
"You'll be enrolled into the nation's number one hero academy, FORTIS."