“Aya~, wake up Aya~”
Obviously, it’s Ariq forcing me awake, calling out to me in a sing-song voice.
I’m too tired to respond, so all I do is whine at him. Quite useless if I do say so myself, since all he does is shake me more violently.
“Alright, alright..” I mumble at him. God, why am I always tired? Some sort of damn curse. Or I might just be a bit tapped.
Eh.
“Hurry up and get up, the breakfast cart is here and I can’t be asked to eat alone,” he says to me. “Also, how the hell did you fall asleep with all that beeping and shit? Wallahi, I could not sleep for ages, while you were blacked out. You didn’t even have any blanket on you ‘till a nurse tucked you in.”
“I don’t even know anymore man, I’m too tired to care.” I reply as I struggle to get out of the bed. How do they make this bed so soft and comfortable? It might just be that I’m used to a floor mattress, but I swear, these beds feel like they came down from the seventh heaven just to have me lay down in them.
Half the room is already awake, with most of them eating already.
Better not have taken all the good shit, if there even was any good shit.
I follow Ariq outside the room into the corridor, where the food cart waits. The shiny metal cart, with plates, bread, cereals and different spreads piled on top of each other, seems insignificant compared to the long ass corridor. Why did they even make it a completely straight line? It’s a damn hospital, not an indoor running track.
I grab one of the (surprisingly solid) plastic plates, along with Ariq, and take a couple pieces of bread and jam.
“I can’t lie, breakfast is kinda dead.” He says.
“What did you expect? We’re in a fucking hospital, not a five star hotel. At least it's better than school food.” I reply. I’ll admit, this ain’t exactly the greatest breakfast. But compared to my usual feast of absolutely nothing, it squares up pretty well.
“Doesn’t make it any less bad, you know?”
“Fair enough.”
We take our plates back to the beds, with Ariq’s plate significantly taller and more stacked than mine. Goddamn, it keeps surprising me how much teenage boys can eat at once and still be hungry. Once, in school, Meharab brought in a full loaf of bread, ate it all within 10 minutes, and then pulled out a full box of fucking cereal along with a gallon of milk (how did he even fit this all in his bag?) and ate that within another 10 while I just stared at him in horror. I was genuinely scared for him, yet he still ate more at lunch.
I adjust the bed table and place my food on it as Ariq mirrors me, countless packets of jam and butter tumbling out his hands as he does.
“The fuck you need so much jam for?” I ask him. You’d think that being in hospitals nearly 24/7 would give you a basic sense of healthy eating.
“Type 2 diabetes speedrun,” he replies.
Clearly not.
Cramming the burnt toast in my mouth, it is even worse than I thought; the crust is rock hard and fucks with the roof of my mouth and the jam tastes like a chemical concoction, packed with artificial sweeteners. Now, I’m no toast expert, but I’m pretty sure this is teetering on the edge between “toasted” and “cremated”, and I don’t like what it’s leaning towards.
Obviously, this does NOT affect Ariq, who is eating it all at an inhuman pace, practically unhinging his jaw, not unlike a snake, and inhaling slices of toasts smothered in jam. He’s not much different to my other friends, somehow shoving kilos of food down their throat at once.
Speaking of friends, I haven’t checked my messages in a while.
My phone is, thankfully, charged after I plugged it in last night. Knowing the quality of my shitty charger, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it didn’t charge at all.
Obviously, the first few notifications I get are from the idiots group chat on whatsapp. “Coalition of Idiots,” why did we even name it the “Coalition?”
Coalition of idiots
16:32 23/05/2023
mars (no way its maaz): @aya why did you get abducted
i swear to god if you were arrested again
humera: we are going to violently beat you if youve been arrested
with wooden spoons
just like how hassans dad beats him
jaden: i doubt she was arrested
hassan: jaden stfu ur black u cant talk about being arrested
mars: hurry up and come back to school
mr walker is so devastated you left
practically crying his eyes out that the idiot that keeps
throwing pens in his class is gone
the garbanzo (why are you named “the bean” meharab): @aya
we had to build that radio frequency blocker
stop being lazy and come back
hassan: meharab you literally are the most obese here you cant
chat about being lazy
the garbanzo: damn you hassan with the amount of cousin
marriages in ur family im surprised you can talk back you
inbred overly active shia chest beating monkey
A tad rude, no? Not to say I don’t agree partially, though...
19:57 23/05/2023
areeq (ariq): guess which retard is at the hospital with me
the garbanzo: why is she not responding to our messages
areeq: well she's dead on her bed rn
but before i think her phone was dead
crazy how she gave her life to her phone
mars: 😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔
08:49 24/05/2023
aya (thats me!!): ur all retarded
im ok tho
That should sort that, though I’m surprised they cared about my absence, didn’t think it would be that big of a deal.
Shit, Lykan messaged me; on Discord again, too.
What a mong.
13:51 23/05/2023
helicopter monkey: yo are you ok?
i got a message from affy abt what happened
if you dont feel well dont come reserve tmrw i can sort
smthng out
Cute, everyone’s talking about me.
08:50 24/05/2023
preo: yeah im fine now apart from having to eat this shit hospital
food
u dont need to do anything special for me dw i can live
without attending it
i prob wont be able to come yeah
It is what it is. A shame, it would’ve been pretty mad to visit the army reserve centre after only seeing it from outside its spiked gates.
Seems as if no one else messaged me. Ah well, not as if I’m some school celebrity, but I would’ve hoped that Aleezeh, despite being a twat, would’ve at least checked up on me.
Looking up from my phone, I can see a doctor looking at me blankly beside my bed with a clipboard. Why did he not say anything? You know, I can put my phone down to talk to people…
“Amaya Hussain?” he finally says, his mouth somehow unmoving behind his surgical mask.
“Yeah.” I reply. I can stand nurses, but I despise doctors (not racist, just dont like ‘em).
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Hello, Ms Hussain. My name is Dr. Sooriyakumar, I’m in charge of you for the duration of your stay here.”
What the fuck was the noise he made that he called his name, and they assigned a doctor just to me?
“Any concerns, issues, requirements, wants, needs, whatever.” He continues, “Just tell them to call me, I’ll get it sorted for you. You don’t know it yet, but you’re special. Very special.”
Are they calling me autistic? Excuse me mister, but I am definitely not special needs. Definitely not special either, the only thing that makes me stand out is the fact I play like 3 instruments.
“G- got it.” I stammer back. Calling me “very special” still caught me off guard, how come I’m so cool?
“We’ll start off basic, and as you probably already know, it’s protocol to perform a bodily inspection.” He says, while closing the curtains around the bed.
“Don’t get bummed, Aya!” I hear Ariq say behind the curtains. What a knobhead.
Wait, why don’t I get a female nurse to inspect (saying “inspect” makes me feel like some piece of art or something) me?
“I can tell you’re wondering why a female nurse doesn’t do this for you. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond our control, and some messages we received from higher organisations, say that only I can provide any medical support, intervention or assistance, or actually directly interact with you, unless it is life threatening.” He says, practically reading my mind.
What the fuck? “Circumstances beyond our control”, are you being held at gunpoint? Is Meharab threatening to eat all the food in the cafeteria again? Is Humera about to blow up the entire hospital?
This is stupid, but like, I am kinda flattered. Me? Special? Being given my own personal doctor? I ain’t complaining, even if it is slightly off protocol.
“If you could strip to your undergarments..” He mumbles, obviously slightly embarrassed. Me too, Dr Sooriyakumar. No one (except Ariq, that sadist) is enjoying this.
As I comply, albeit slightly reluctantly, I realise how bad I smell.
I could be mistaken for someone on our school rugby team, holy shit. I need some deodorant. Probably need to change out of my underwear too, only good thing now is that I’m not on my period. Yet.
I stand there, slightly bashful, as Dr Sooriyakumar looks me up and down. Y’know, kinda feels like my rights are being violated, if I even have any.
Maybe I hate doctors a tad too much.
He fills out that weird form on his clipboard before turning back to me.
“Are you comfo-”
“No.” I respond. I don’t even need to hear the entire sentence. Just, no. Never will I go nude for an inspection.
“I’ll leave you to get clothed, but I will be back in a bit.” He tells me while walking out of my little curtain cubby.
About fucking time.
I quickly throw on my clothes before opening the curtains, only to find Ariq just standing there, tensed up.
“What the hell are you doing?” I ask.
“Did you get touched?” He says, spontaneously.
“Wha- No, you dirty pedo.” Only with a “Coalition of Idiots” member, I fucking swear.
“Good.” he says, suddenly relaxed again. “Do you want to break into the rooftops tonight?”
“The rooftops? Aren’t they always locked?”
“Guess who stole the key?” He grins, showing me a small silver key, hidden in his hands. How does he do this shit?
You know, the offer is too good to pass up on. The more of a nuisance I am for the doctors, the better. Plus, I’m pretty sure only Dr Sooriyakumar can deal with me, or whatever.
“Fuck it, like 10pm the suns down. Let’s do it then.”
“Calm.”
Finally, something to look forward to, especially since I have no idea when I’ll be discharged.
I plonk myself back on my bed, and check the time. 09:08. Nearly 13 more damn hours until I get to trespass, damn. How does someone kill time in the hospital? Last time, I could ask for some things from the playroom and they’d usually give me it. Or I could waste time on my phone, and play more of that Project Sekai game. Despite it being filled to the brim with anime girls, the actual game itself (some form of rhythm game) is actually pretty good, and kills time like an american police officer killing minorities (i may have gone too far with that but who cares?).
I can tell that the nurses are asking everyone except me if they want hot chocolate. Guess Dr Sooriyakumar wasn’t exaggerating, they’re avoiding me like the plague. Didn’t he say he’d be back? Where is this guy?
Okay, it has only been 2 minutes since he left, but I expect my own personal doctor to be faster than the average. What requires more than 2 minutes to do anyways?
Yeah, a lot now that I think about it. Guess it is kinda justified.
Ah well, I can wait. Time is linear, and I’m pretty sure most people don’t realise that. No matter what, time goes at the same pace, even if it feels faster or slower. Watching the clock takes up the same amount of time as doing something exhilarating, it’s just that doing something exhilarating keeps you occupied and therefore it feels faster.
Holy shit, I sound like such a fucking nerd.
I’ll just lay here, lest I get accused of having revised.
After what feels like tens of minutes, Dr Sooriyakumar finally decides to make his long awaited reappearance, walking up to me like he owns me.
“Someone is here to see you, Ms Hussain.” He says. Someone here to see ME?! Can I get more popular? First all the commotion on the groupchat, then a personal doctor, now visitors. I wouldn’t be surprised if I got a call asking me to receive my nobel prize in bullshitting.
I lift myself off the bed and start walking with him out the room, taunting Ariq as I do. We walk through the stupidly long corridor, passing room after room. Where the hell are we going? After what feels like an agonising walk down the corridors, we finally stop at one of the pregnancy rooms that are often used for therapy.
Great, I’m back to being treated like I’m insane?
If it burns time, so be it.
“Alright, Ms Hussain, please remember that everything that is said in this room will stay in this room. That includes you, please refrain from talking about this to anyone else.” He tells me fairly sternly. I nod at him to show I get it. It does sound like I’m about to be kidnapped or something, but what can I do except trust him?
He slowly opens the door, and I can see that it's definitely not therapists in there.
Why are the feds here?
“Please, sit down,” one of them says. There's two guys, both in clad black uniforms and vests with what looks like regular police duty equipment on, but no markings of affiliation. They’ve also got pistols holstered on their hips. Armed police? For me? I must be really special.
Dr Sooriyakumar ushers me in as he closes the door without entering himself. Weird, I thought only he could interact with me.
I take a seat on the sofa (shit, even more deja vu) slightly awkwardly. How am I supposed to act around feds? Are they here for all the shit I did before? I swear, if this is just for the vandalism I’m going to be really pissed.
“Amaya Bin Hussain, right?” The same guy says. How did they find my middle name? It’s not on any records, and it was only used by my family…
“You aren’t in trouble, if you’re worried about that. I’m Sergeant Waites, and with me is Sergeant Campbell.” Sergeants? I must have fucked up sincerely if they got sergeants on me, though they don’t have any rank indicator on their shoulders.
“W- why are you here?” I barely manage to eek out. Shit, why am I stuttering so much today?
“How shall I say this… Me and Sergeant Campbell here are from a slightly unorthodox government organisation. We have powers of a constable, but we aren’t police. Technically a branch of the UK Special Forces too, but we aren’t exactly soldiers either. We’re part of REMSC.” He tells me. REMSC? The hell is that? I’m into this type of stuff, and I’ve never heard of an organisation, or regiment, called REMSC.
“What does it stand for? That is a slight tongue twister. If you can remember it, we’re the ‘Rapid Expeditionary Multifaceted Support Corps’.” He goes on.
“That’s pretty cool and all, but why am I here?” I’m still absolutely lost on what they’re talking about. Special Forces? Police? Multifaceted? I got a grade 6 in english, I have no idea what a “multifaceted” is.
“If we’re correct, a friend of yours called ‘Lykan’ had invited you to an event in the reserve centre today, no?”
“Yeah.” How does this correlate? Why would special forces have kids visit them in a public reserve centre?
“Can we confirm that you will refrain from repeating anything said here outside of this? Technically, by agreeing, you are bound by the Official Secrets Act of 1989 to keep this info to yourself.”
“Sure.” Official Secrets Act? Damn, I have a lot of questions. But then again, who wouldn’t? At the very least, I’ve read up on the act. Something about limited classes of info, or other bullshit.
“We are an organisation that relies almost completely on those who are under the age of majority to perform its duties, meaning we, in essence, hire under 18s to work for us. As such, we had multiple of our personnel already working for us invite those who they thought could perform.”
This is too much for me to currently comprehend. Are they saying Lykan, a friend of mine since year 7, has been part of this organisation? Some special forces shit or whatever? I guess it explains why he’s always absent, and why the teachers never question it when they find knives in his bag.
“Unfortunately, we were informed by him that you would not be able to attend due to being hospitalised, so we came to you. You’ve been one of our prospects since your first incident with the police, and even more so after hearing about the incident that led to CAMHs picking you up, so we’ve been told to make an effort to get you here.”
Fucking.
Bastards, bringing up my past.
“W- what do you want with me?” I blurt out. My fucking eyes are already tearing up. Fucking shit.
“Consider this a formal invitation of work. We can give you the details on the consent form, but only if you agree. If you disagree, though, you will be expected to stay quiet, as said before, or risk a minimum of 14 years imprisonment.” 14 fucking years? Isn’t that the max for espionage? That is quite literally how long I've been alive, and they’re willing to lock me up just like that? This must be some real shit.
Man, why do I have to make this decision?
“Fine, give me the form.” I tell them. If I’m honest, this sounds really fucking interesting.
The Campbell guy slides me a single sheet form, with a symbol taking up the top of the page. Some circle, with an X through it, and parts of it shaded in.
“We will supply everything you need while you’re with us, and you’ll receive a wage, accommodation, your insurance number earlier, and experience some things no one else your age would.” Sergeant Waites informs me. That is, a lot.
Fuck it, I’m probably gonna do it. If Lykan can, so can I.
“Finally, we should say it will not be too easy. We require high levels of mental resilience and physical ability, so please consider this. Also, after you’re done with initial training, you won't return to your children's home, and will instead live either on barracks, or in your chosen accommodation. You have the option to return to school while inactive, too, but keep in mind you get the option for formal education up to A level or equivalent with us.” He says while they both get up. Still, how do they know so much about me? "We’ll let you out first.”
I scramble out the door, sheet in hand, and half walk half run back to the dorm.
I must look pretty stressed, since as soon as I walk in, Ariq immediately questions me?
“You good? You look whiter than the people at the pub in town centre.” He asks.
“Yeah, I just need a second.”
I get back to my bed, close the curtains, and look at the paper in more detail..
REMSC CONTRACT
By receiving this, you have agreed to Annex C of the Official Secrets Act 1989
Dear Recipient,
You have been formally invited to join the Rapid Expeditionary Multifaceted Support Corps (hereafter referred to as REMSC) of the United Kingdom Special Forces. This is a highly limited opportunity, and as such we urge you to consider this option carefully.
REMSC is a support corp which covers many areas, but acts mainly in the interests of public safety and repelling the enemies of the United Kingdom. The corp consists mainly of an operational sector, which is entirely composed of those under the age of majority. This decision was due to an investigation performed by the Director General, in which we received more success in some operations by employing minors to perform duties to an extent.
By agreeing to join, you understand that you are agreeing to become a service personnel of His Majesties Armed Forces, and as such are consenting to be placed in situations in which your utmost safety is not guaranteed. You agree to serve a minimum of 4 years, or until you reach the age of majority, where you can choose to keep serving as part of the Training and Leadership sector, change branches of the Special Forces, or thereafter completely leave the Armed Forces.
You shall receive a wage, accommodation, education if sought, and all necessities. Alongside this, religious requirements will be accommodated.
By signing below, you agree to all the above and to be entered into initial training.
Signed,
Kya?
This is definitely something. I’ve always wished for something cool to just drop into my life, and I guess it’s finally happened. I never expected it to be like this, though.
“Aya, get the fuck out of there!” Shouts Ariq. The fuck does he need now?
“What do you want?” I scream back.
“It’s already fucking 10 at night, you’ve been holed up in there for ages.”
Shit, how the fuck did so much time pass? Do I have dementia?
“Alright, my bad.” I say as I get out of my bed, hiding the sheet under my pillow as I do.
We sneak through the corridors, trying to look as un-patient-like as possible (which is hard when you have inpatient wristbands on), and start climbing up the countless flights of stairs.
“Holy shit, how far up is it?” I ask, near breathless from hundreds of stairs.
“It’s at the fucking roof, ya retard.” He replies back. “We’re almost there anyways.” Unhelpful, if I do say myself.
We keep climbing, stair after stair, until finally we reach the top. There’s a rusty old gate, with a “NO ENTRY” sign on top of it and a lock keeping it shut. Unfortunately, rules are not what we are used to following, and Ariq unlocks it and we walk outside before I can comment on it.
The rush of cold air immediately hits me as I walk out, Ariq already running past me. The smell of ventilation shafts hits me like a fucking truck. Suddenly, I really regret wearing a vest up here.
“Aya, get here now!” he shouts, fighting over the rough winds blowing around us.
I run over to him, trying to keep myself from shivering. He’s moved to the edge of the roof, looking over the ledge.
“You can see all of Luton from here, even bury park.” He tells me, pointing off in the distance.
“It’s incredible.” I reply. What else is there to say? I’m rarely awestruck, but this is a sight to behold. The lights of the town glimmer like the stars, shining as bright as the sun. It's mesmerising, watching the cars drive down the road like ants walking on the ground. Really puts everything into perspective, how insignificant everything really is.
I keep having to push my hair out of the way of my face, the wind is still real fucking strong. Ariq, on the other hand, seems unfazed by the fact that his hair is going everywhere and his glasses are about to fly off his face at any second.
“I knew it was a good idea to bring you here,” he says, still admiring the view with me. “I’ve only been up here alone before.”
“Risks are always better when you’re with another retard like you.” I reply back. I mean, it’s true. The most fun I’ve had is when I’ve done crimes with some of the other idiots.
“Yeah, I can see that now. Aren’t you worried that someone will catch us?”
“Nah, Dr Sawmeandkunar or whatever his name was said that no medical person or something can interact with me at all. And since you’re next to me, they can't do anything, can they?”
“That’s pretty fucking cool.”
The air conditioning units and ventilation shafts roar around us, but it’s still insignificant compared to the view.
“Ariq, I’ve got a question.” I tell him. I should probably consider the repercussions of joining that organisation, the last thing I want is the coalition imploding.
“Yeah?” He replies.
“If I just disappeared one day, what would happen with the group chat and what would you guys do?”
“Well, geography would definitely be more boring without you fucking up Mr Walkers class at every opportunity.” He states, “Everyone would be pissed at you for disappearing, and it would feel empty, I guess. We’d definitely look for you, but if you’re just gone, well, what else can we do?”
Hm.
Y’know, I think they would understand if I joined. I wouldn’t disappear completely, they did say I could return to school.
Fuck it.
Being in this cold outside makes me feel so fucking vulnerable, but if I join this, I won’t be vulnerable again.
I’ll finally be strong.
I can finally stop what happened from happening again.