Part 4 (2/2)
”It hurts,” Colleen whispered, her voice hoa.r.s.e.
”I know. Just try to breathe and it will be over soon.” She rubbed the little girl's back, then glanced at the computer pad lying beside her. She looked worried.
”Hey, Dr. Maria,” I said.
She looked up. ”Oh, Owen, hi. How are you-”
Colleen lurched over and barfed again, the liquid splattering into the basin. She coughed a little, then looked up, staring off into s.p.a.ce. Vomit dripped from her nostrils.
”Is it over?” Dr. Maria asked gently.
Colleen exhaled hard and nodded. ”I think so.”
”Okay.” Dr. Maria helped Colleen lie back on the bed.
Without really meaning to, I glanced into the basin, and looked away fast. But I'd seen that the vomit had red swirls of blood in it. I backed away and stayed by the door.
Dr. Maria pulled the covers over Colleen. She moved quickly over to the counter, and returned to Colleen holding a little gun-shaped tool with a needle at the end and a clear gla.s.s vial mounted on top. ”I'm going to take a quick blood sample. Just look toward the window and you'll feel a slight sting.”
Colleen turned away. Dr. Maria stuck the needle in her arm, and blood splashed into the vial. ”Okay, that's it. Just rest for a bit, sweetie. I'll be back to check on you soon, okay?”
Colleen nodded, her eyes already drifting closed.
Dr. Maria put the syringe back on the counter, grabbed her pad, and tapped the gla.s.s a few times. She put that down and picked up the vomit basin. ”Just a second, Owen.” She hurried around the bed into the little bathroom. There was a sound of pouring and flus.h.i.+ng.
”Now let's take a look at you.” Dr. Maria smiled at me as she walked around the bed, but she also glanced worriedly back at Colleen.
We crossed the hall to another room.
”She seems pretty sick,” I said. I'd been thinking about my incident the night before, throwing up some blood, too. Was something going around? Did Colleen have the same condition I did? But her neck had looked fine.
Dr. Maria sighed. ”Yeah, the poor kid. Could be some minor food poisoning. I think she just needs to rest.” But Dr. Maria sounded more worried than that.
I sat on the bed, and Dr. Maria snapped on new rubber gloves. She sat down on a rolling stool, untaped my bandages, and started unwrapping them. The attention caused fresh itching. ”Things any better with your cabin today?” she asked. She was looking at me with a smile that felt genuine, like she cared.
”I guess,” I said, thinking, Not really Not really. But they hadn't gotten any worse.
She pulled off the last layer. The fabric stuck again and caused a fresh throb of pain. She threw out the bandages and returned with a small exam light. ”And how are these doing?”
”Fine,” I said. ”They itch, but less today. They-” I paused, thinking of my talk with Lilly. It was almost like she knew something about these wounds. And even though Dr. Maria seemed like someone I could trust, too, I wanted to talk to Lilly first. ”They just get kinda sore,” I finished.
Dr. Maria leaned in and ran her finger gently over the wounds, but didn't try to separate them like I had. ”Well,” she said, squinting, ”they are looking a little better.” She rolled to the counter and got a little square towel that she used to wipe gently around the wound edges. ”There's some blood here, but not as much. Do you remember any more about getting these?”
”I don't,” I said, a truth, but I also felt the weight of the unspoken lie, about being under for ten minutes, and now I'd added to it by not telling her about the shower.
”You sure?” Dr. Maria asked, and I worried that she was onto me, but when I looked over she was just tapping on her pad, like her question was routine.
”Yeah.”
”Okay, well, I'm going to put fresh bandages on your neck and then I'll just need a quick blood sample. Does that sound all right?”
”Sure,” I said. ”Is that to check for an infection or something?”
”Oh, the blood?” Dr. Maria was turning away as she said it, getting bandages from a drawer. ”Yeah, we just want to, basically, just keep an eye on things.”
”Okay.”
Her answer sounded vague, almost like I was a little kid who couldn't understand the details. And then I wondered, were there unspoken lies on her side, too? I thought about little Colleen. Maybe.
Dr. Maria gently put on the bandages, then rolled over to get a new vial and needle for her syringe gun. She clipped them on and took my hand. ”Just push up your sleeve.”
The needle stung, the blood leaped into the vial, and then it was over.
”Miss Maria?” It was little Colleen, calling weakly from across the hall.
Dr. Maria got up and put her supplies on the counter. ”I should get back to her. See you tomorrow, same time?”
”Sure,” I said.
She rushed out.
As I left, I heard Colleen retching more, and I wondered again if our conditions were related. It would be Dr. Maria's job to notice that, wouldn't it? And she hadn't said anything. Except we'd both had the blood samples taken. And what were those for?
More questions. I had to get to electives and talk to Lilly.
Chapter 5
ELECTIVES WERE RIGHT AFTER LUNCH. ONLY AS WE left the dining hall, Todd turned in the other direction. ”It's time for a special tradition,” he said. left the dining hall, Todd turned in the other direction. ”It's time for a special tradition,” he said.
”Oldest cabins get a tour of the Eagle Eye!” Leech finished for him, grinning big.
”This way,” muttered Todd.
And so instead of me seeing Lilly, we met up with the Arctic Foxes in a paved area with a security checkpoint, by a set of large metal double doors where I'd entered the dome two nights ago. I followed along in the back, so annoyed that I'd missed my date, well, not date date, but meeting time. My neck started to itch more, almost like it agreed.
Leech, Noah, and Jalen started joking around with the Foxes. I hung back by the edge of the group, away from where the girls and boys were mixing.
”Good afternoon, kids.” We turned to see Paul approaching. He was wearing a black hat with the Eden corporate logo on it. Despite the shade that the brim cast over his face, his sungla.s.ses were still on and as dark as ever. He didn't slow down as he neared us, and we parted to let him by. ”Right this way,” he said over his shoulder.
We followed him to a rectangular metal column, an elevator shaft stretching straight up until it was lost in the SafeSun glare. ”Open,” he said, and the doors slid apart.
We all crowded inside the metal box. Elbows and shoulders jostled, and I found myself against the back wall, right behind Paige and two other Arctic Foxes. The doors slid closed. There were narrow windows in them. I had to get on my toes to see out.
The elevator shot up, the force pressing me into the floor. I saw other kids wobble.
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