Time Bomb by Penelope Wright

Author:Penelope Wright [Wright, Penelope]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

June 23, 2018

Bereket and a small army of people race me through a maze of corridors, then into an elevator. Nobody says a word. Bereket’s eyes are as wide and confused as I’m sure mine must be. I want to jump from the wheelchair and take off running, but I know I can’t. I could barely toddle across my room just a few minutes earlier, and I’m still hooked to an IV, which one of the paper-suited minions drags rapidly alongside us as we charge through the hospital.

Bereket and I are pushed into separate rooms. I’m stripped of my hospital gown, and it’s stuffed into a large container marked ‘biohazard’ like the one in my previous room, but bigger. A paper-suited person unceremoniously slides the IV out of my hand, then guides me into a shower stall and I don’t even have time to be embarrassed that they’re seeing me naked before water blasts me from all directions. I’m dizzy, and my legs feel weak. I sink to the floor and wrap my arms around my knees.

When they’ve decided I’m wet enough, the water shuts off and someone in a paper suit scrubs me all over with soap and a soft cloth, then I’m hosed down again. I don’t talk, and neither does my handler. I almost feel like I’m outside my body observing the whole thing at this point.

Finally, I must be clean enough because the water turns off for good, and the paper-suited person helps me stand, towels me off, then holds out a fresh hospital gown. “Arms out,” a female voice says firmly but not unkindly. It’s the first thing she’s said to me this entire time.

Obediently, I thrust my arms into the short sleeves of the gown and she ties it in the back, then supports me as she guides me through a doorway and over to a bed.

There, she reinserts a new IV. It’s a little uncomfortable going in – the skin on my hand feels thin and abused – but it doesn’t take her long and she seems happy with her work. When she straightens the needle and tapes it down, the ache goes away almost instantly.

“Try to relax,” she says. “The doctor will be in in a moment.”

Try to relax? Is she delusional? I have little time to ponder that thought, however, because almost as soon as she’s stepped out, a man in a similar but different colored paper suit comes in.

He looks me up and down. “So, you’re the young lady who has this place in quite an uproar.”

I lift my chin, but I have no reply for him.

“I’m Doctor Blank. I’ll be taking over your case. We’ve recalled all the staff members who’ve worked with you, and we’re following decon protocols with them as well.”

“Everyone’s getting a surprise shower?”

The doctor nods.

“Becky must be thrilled.”

The doctor snorts behind his paper mask, fogging up his eye shield a bit. He waits for it to clear, and he has himself under control by the time it does.

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