Several weeks later...
“Eat.” He pushes the tray back towards her and she shakes her head.
“Why should I? And why are you the only one I can remember perfectly after every blackout?” He looked surprised. “Yeah, I can remember every detail that I know about you with just a look at your eyes and I want to know why.” She pushes the tray back to him.
“Because” He pushes it back again, ignoring her last question. “You need to. It doesn’t help you if you don’t.” She looks down at her food. It’s a hot stew with a small portion of bread on the side. She sighs.
“I need a spoon.” She informs dully. He chuckles and gets up. He returns with a spoon and napkin.
It’s probably poisoned. Don’t eat it. The voices warn her. But if that is the case then that merely means she finally gets out of here. NO! The voices jar her, she grabs her head and squeezes her eyes shut. No, you can't! Throw it! Throw it or die! The overwhelming voices chant until finally, she bolts up out of her seat and grabs the tray in an instant. Before anyone can react the bowl smashes into the far wall and the little bread loaf hits another young patient square in the head, which causes an even more annoying bout of wailing and complaints. Ula crouches to the ground, holding her head again and begins hyperventilating.
Salem is by her side in a flash, rubbing her forearms and encouraging breathing exercises. A nurse hurries over, needle in hand ready to end this drama as quickly as possible so as not to alarm the other patients in the cafeteria.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
"No." He pushes the nurse away from Ula. "She can do it."
"With all due respect, doctor, I don't think-"
"No, you don't think. That is why I am the doctor, and you are the nurse, give her some space." He refocuses his attention to Ula and continues to softly encourage her. His anger slowly fades as the nurse backs off and Ula's breathing slows down. Some nurses were already leading other patients to their rooms or appointments by the time she came back to her senses. The nurse who had bothered them before remained watching them like a vulture from outside the kitchen doors.
They don't say anything for a long time as he takes gently leads her by the arm. Afterwards they take her vitals again, give her vitamins and other mysterious consumables.
“Salem?” She asks as they walk down the halls.
“Hmm?” He looks at her from the corner of his eye, but she keeps her gaze at the ground.
“Why do I keep blacking out?” It’s been almost a month since she was found in the city and already, she has blacked out three times. In fact, she has a hard time ever remembering much of the day before at all. There could not be a more uncomfortable feeling in the world.
“It is a side effect of our studies. We have attempted to help you recover your memories however it is not an integral part of our purpose and thus remains on the backburner, so to speak. For now, we must get you to the next level of the program and if you find your memory along the way then all the better for you."
“Please stop testing me then! I don't want to be in your stupid program, I hate your fucking program! I want to remember!”
“You do?” He stops walking and so she does too. “Hmm, I suppose I can arrange for some new approaches to it then.” She likes to think that he smiled then, but she wouldn’t know. He always wore that damn mask. He has no feelings, anyway. That man is a monster.
He takes her to a room labeled D268 and they both go in. He orders them to not sedate, insisting that she must be her own witness today. Then he does something he has never done before. He locks the door and pulls up a seat.