Chapter 25

Sam moaned as she woke from a fog, light filtering through her eyelids. The pain in her stomach from the gunshot radiated outwards in increasing waves. She grunted and tried to turn over, only to feel something stopping her from moving.

“Doctor! She’s awake,” Lord Robert said.

“That’s not good. She needs more sleep to heal from the surgery. Nurse, prepare the sedative.” Sam opened her eyes. A hefty blob in a white coat ran toward her.

“Where am I? Eon?” Sam shook her head to clear her eyes. Everything was blurry. She could make out a bearded man with a soft, round face when he slid up next to her bed. He was well-fed and must weigh around twenty stone.

The doctor leaned down and smiled. “You’re at The Elder Downs Hospital. You got shot, but don’t worry. We’ll take good care of you.” He patted her hand.

“Why is he here?” Sam tried to point at Lord Robert, but her hand was tied to the bed. “What’s going on here?” She saw straps holding her legs and chest down. “Let me go!”

“Calm down,” the doctor said, grabbing her shoulders.

Sam jerked her body and let out a scream.

“You’ll pull your stitches,” the doctor warned.

She gritted her teeth and tried to flex her arms. “Let! Me! Go!” She noticed the right side of her bed had some give to it, allowing her to move her hands. Baling her fingers, she jerked, and her right hand broke free of the strap. Seizing the doctor by the throat, she squeezed. Her stomach felt hot and wet. “You shot me!” She said to Robert.

Lord Robert sighed and scowled at her. “Let him go, Samantha. He saved your life. Show some respect.”

“I’m going to kill you.” She glared. The doctor was hitting her arm and trying to force open her fingers. She ignored the fat man. A nurse ran into the room and jabbed a needle into Sam’s arm, near the doctor’s head. Nothing happened. The nurse grabbed Sam’s fingers and tried to pry them off, but it was like an insect buzzing around.

“Wha?” Sam felt her fingers slack, and the doctor jerked his head away, knocking over the nurse. Sam’s stomach burned.

“You can certainly try. It might be interesting to pit my strength against yours, but not now,” Lord Robert said, turning to the doctor. “I hope this doesn’t set back the schedule. I still expect you to operate by the end of the week.”

The doctor rubbed his throat as he tried to stand. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid the psychosurgery will have to be pushed back, Lord Robert,” he rasped, pointing to the stain on the blanket. “She’s ruptured her stitches.” He turned to the nurse. “Prepare the operating room for some emergency surgery.”

“Yes doctor,” Sam heard the nurse say through the haze. No way was she going to let this quack perform any kind of surgery on her. She tried to rip off the rest of the straps holding her down, but couldn’t move her fingers. They flopped against the bed.

“If it isn’t one thing, it’s another,” Lord Robert shook his head. “Let me know when you can reschedule. And don’t forget to test her blood. I want a fresh sample. All of mine are several years old. I need to know why she is so strong.”

“Damn you!” Sam said. The two men left her and closed the door.

***

The room had a tingly pine smell that invaded her nose, causing a sneezing fit when she woke up, and leaving her face covered in snot. Sam tried to wipe it off but was still strapped down on the bed, wearing a white nightgown. There was no blanket, and the room felt cold. Bending her head, she used her shoulder, but could only get some of it.

She needed to think of a way out of here. That doctor and Lord Robert were talking about psychosurgery. There was no way she was going to let that happen. The rumours said it was popular over ten years ago, but most of the patients who had it died. She turned and saw a small window, high up on the wall, covered with bars. A sliver of sunlight peeked through, hitting the white wall near her head. There was no way she was getting out through there. The door was the only other option.

She tensed her arms and tried to break the straps, but there was no slack this time. “What the hell?” She pulled harder, but the straps around her arms were too tight.

She took a deep breath, clenched her teeth, and tried again.

Sweat poured off her face as the pain exploded from her stomach. Sam grunted and released her strength. Flopping back against the bed, she grit her teeth, forcing the pain to subside.

“Dammit! I should be strong enough to break these. Why do I feel so weak?”

“We drugged you with a powerful muscle relaxant, of course,” the doctor’s voice said from the doorway. “I see you are up and making a lot of noise. You haven’t pulled your stitches again, have you?”

He came over and lifted her nightgown. Sam felt him probe her stomach with his sausage fingers and grunt.

“No, they’re fine,” the doctor continued. “The rib is still taped up nicely. Please try not to move so much. I’d hate to operate again.”

He lowered Sam’s gown and turned to her. Sam watched the soft smile fall from his face. He still had the bruises from where she’d grabbed his throat. The purple stood out as he turned pale and scurried back to the doorway.

“Don’t get violent again.” His eyes were wide with fear. “You’ve already been under for three days, and need to sleep naturally. I don’t want to give you any more sedative than I have to.”

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“What did you mean, drugged me?” Sam glared at the man.

The doctor gulped. “Based on the reports from Lord Robert and the abnormalities we found in your bloodwork, we were able to develop a temporary muscle suppressant. You may feel weak for a few days as your body gets used to it. If you let the medicine work, it should help you heal."

“Where am I?” She thrashed in the bed. She fell back down, panting. “What did you do to me?”

“You’re in the insane ward at the Elder Downs Hospital,” he said. “I’m your doctor, Dr. Lyndt. It’s nice to meet you,” he stepped to the edge of the bed. “As I said, we’ve injected a muscle suppressant for the chemicals in your blood. It’s allowing your body to heal normally. A good thing too. Without that stress, you’ll have time to heal up for the surgery later this week.” Dr. Lyndt smiled.

“What surgery?” Sam asked. “The last thing I remember was Robert talking about destroying my brain.”

He waved his hands in the air. “Nothing like that, of course. We need to purge those nasty illusions from our brains. According to your guardian, you’ve been pretending to be a magic hero in another world for the last few years,” the doctor said, frowning. “It’s put a great strain on your family and caused some injuries to the people in the household. With this new procedure perfected by Burckhardt, we can have you back into society in no time. Your guardian has already given his consent.”

The doctor checked Sam’s chart, made a note, and left.

“Fat porku.” Sam sighed, watching the doctor leave. I’m going to kill Lord Robert. No, I refuse to think of him like that again. Bob.

Sam smiled at the name and closed her eyes. What did that quack mean by injuries? She had to get out of this place and find out. There was no way she was going to let that doctor touch her head, but with her strength gone, she wouldn’t be able to break out of these restraints. She needed to find a better way.

“Damn that bastard.” Sam sniffed.

The warehouse. If what he said was true, then Bob was responsible for everything that had happened to her this last year. For her whole life. He killed her parents. He destroyed her happiness, and she wasn’t going to let him win.

She paused. “I know how Akira felt now.” Shuddering, Sam forced the sympathy from her mind. That bastard had used her for his own means. There was no way she could ever forgive him.

Putting Akira out of her mind, Sam turned back to Bob. He didn’t know about Timothy. Her father’s old partner was the only one she had left who could help her. She remembered watching him work. He was usually silent, speaking only to her father. When she was ten, he was so gallant and mysterious. She had a crush on him and loved watching them work. Looking back on that now, she had no idea what they were doing. Her father was probably experimenting on her then, but it had been so much fun. After her parent’s death, the house was sold and Sam never saw Timothy or any science again. Bob wouldn’t have any of that in the house.

I need to find Timothy. Maybe he can help me.

Biting her lip, her eyes darted from side to side as she discarded the memories she didn’t need. Then she stopped and a grin lit up her face.

“That’s right, he was the son of the local lord. Father was hoping to get patronage away from Bob, and Timothy was his way in. The Lord was happy to see his son get out of the house and was willing to support us,” Sam mumbled. As scientists, her parents weren’t very successful. Most of the money they had came from her grandfather. “He might still be there. I just have to find him.”

Sam gritted her teeth and tried the straps again. This time, she felt some movement. Maybe she could get out of here and crush Bob’s head. Whatever they had given her must be wearing off.

“Now dear, we can’t have that,” a nurse chided, coming into the room. She placed a metal tray next to the bed and prepared a syringe. “It’s time for your shot.” She jabbed the needle into Sam’s arm.

“What did you give me?”

“Nothing serious, dear. Just something the doctor prescribed. You need to relax or you’ll never get better.” The nurse patted her arm, packed up everything, and left the room as quickly as she entered.

“What am I going to do now?” Sam asked herself, crying. She was feeling weaker than she had in a year. All her rage had failed her.

“That’s a good question,” a familiar woman’s voice came from the doorway. Sam turned to look at the new visitor. Her raven-coloured long hair reflected the sunlight from the small window, brightening up the room.

“Nadia. What are you doing here?” Sam couldn’t believe it. “I missed you so much.” She looked the same. If three years had passed, as Bob said, then they didn’t touch her. “Can you undo these straps?”

“Why would I do that, you silly gorilla? Did you have to cause so much trouble at the warehouse? Father was very put out with you,” Nadia said, moving into the room and standing by the bed.

“He wants to operate on my brain,” Sam said. “Why? You have to help me.”

“It’s what you deserve, dear, after all the trouble you’ve caused us. Caused me,” Nadia said, sitting down and opening a fan. “I mean, coming back, destroying property, getting yourself shot and all. Could you be any more trouble?” She started to fan herself and scoffed in indignation.

“What are you saying?” Sam’s eyebrows shot up. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Bob had said something about Nadia just after Sam was shot. Was this what he was talking about? “Why are you acting so strange? What did I do to you, to make you hate me?”

“Can you still say your memory is missing?” Nadia scoffed again. “How convenient. Well,” she shook her head, “if you wish to continue living this lie, I won’t stop you.” She continued to fan herself harder while shaking her head.

Sam felt the tears running down the side of her face. Nadia hated her. Bob always hated her, no surprise there, but he seemed to have an extreme distaste for her, at the moment. Why? She had no more excuses to hide behind. She had resisted digging too deep into the reasons she was in Relancia and blamed the spell Mel had placed on her. Now, she had to find out about the missing memory. Sam closed her eyes and recalled the day she was summoned to Relancia.

“I remember looking at my father’s notes,” she said. “I couldn’t believe I’d found them after all those years. Bob must have taken them after Father died. I snuck them from Bob’s office. He’d left them on the desk, by accident one day, and I recognized my father’s handwriting. I wanted to see what he was working on. I missed doing science with them. It was as much fun as fighting was in Relancia.”

“Yes. You’re getting there,” Nadia said. “Keep going.”

“There were a lot of mathematical formulas on them, but they were easy to follow. The equipment was easy to set up too,” Sam continued. She’d had placed it in a small shack on Bob’s land. She had to keep it a secret from him. The staff had helped. Nadia disagreed with Sam but didn’t stop her. There, Sam worked on deciphering what her father was doing. She thought she could honour her parents’ footsteps if she followed the formula, exactly.

“You were there. You tried to tell me it was dangerous. I was mixing chemicals and using a Tesla current. The coil was a new design, untested.” Sam opened her eyes and turned her head to Nadia. “There was an explosion in the shack. The next thing I knew, I was in Relancia and you were…” Sam gasped. “What happened to you?” She didn’t wasn’t to think about it. “Bob said you were still alive.”

“What do you think, you gorilla? You always had to do what you wanted to do, no matter the consequences,” Nadia replied. “I tried to warn you, but you brushed me off.”

“I’m so sorry,” Sam sobbed. “It’s all my fault. I hurt you, didn’t I? But you look fine. Why do you want to see me suffer?”

“Yes, it is your fault. And who said I was fine?” Nadia smiled. “Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean I wasn’t injured.” She narrowed her eyes and glared at Sam. “You know what you must do now to atone, don’t you?”

Sam looked deep into Nadia’s face. There was a harshness there she’d never seen before. Her eyes were harder than Bob’s ever were. This wasn’t the same Nadia she thought of as a sister. “What do you want me to do?” Sam knew she would do anything for forgiveness.

“Let them perform the surgery, of course.” Nadia stared directly into Sam’s eyes, hers shifting from violet to a deep black. Sam shuddered, watching the light drain from her.