After being ordered by the State to undergo Deep Sleep, a treatment for troubled teens, Jo awakens in the hospital with sporadic and unexplained memories. Upon celebrating her rebirthday, she recalls strange past events that makes her question reali...
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The tinge of red settled and dried in the crevices of Mom's broad nose and around her eyelids. Looking at her reminded me of my own features, and it was then that I realized we shared similar traits.
I remembered others comparing our physical appearance, and me taking pride in what she passed down to me. However, pain wouldn't allow me to reminisce too long.
A quiver in the pit of my stomach took me out of my thoughts as Mom wiped my lips like an infant after a filling meal. Except my stomach was empty of food or water and still fluttered and ached. Instinct told me to take the cloth from her and clean myself, but the straps held me snug in place.
"You'll be okay, Jo," she reassured, wiping my neck with a moist end of the cloth. Footsteps approached in the hall and she paused, frozen with a look of astonishment. Probably debating what to do next. "I need to get rid of these." She frantically rushed around the room, barely avoiding collision with the monitors and bulky equipment as she whipped back and forth to clean up the last traces of vomit.
She dropped the cloths in the trash bin just as the room door clicked and the tap of meticulous footsteps grew louder as they got closer.
She stood in front of me, scanning the room with worry in her eyes, not realizing the traces of evidence painted in the crooks of her face and clothes.
As Dr. Schwartz turned the corner he gasped. "Ms. Spencer? What on earth happened to you?"
She sighed in defeat. "It was an accident, but everything's alright. She'll be just fine."
He turned to me with wide eyes, switching on his flashlight. "Open. Let me take a look."
The thought of allowing him entry into my mouth, even to observe, made me grimace. Shaking my head in defiance, I made my refusal clear. "No."
"This may very well be a life-threatening situation." He glared, his dark eyes indicating his frustration. "Now, open up."
"No!" I turned my head away and clenched my teeth together, preparing for a repeat of my memory. He would have to pry my jaw open with a crowbar if he wanted to see inside.
He shook his head in annoyance, still holding back his anger that I sensed bubbled under the surface. "Ms. Spencer, excuse us please."
"You want me to leave?" She shook her head just as I did. "I want to stay. I want to know what's going on."
He rushed to the monitors, pressed a few buttons, and then the loud beeps and alarms began to reverberate inside the room. "I will have to sedate her to examine her wound thoroughly. It is a delicate process and only staff is allowed during that process. So please, Ms. Spencer. Your cooperation is imperative."
I shook my head to object, but it took much more effort to control my muscles than anticipated. Had he already given me the sedative? "Mom?" I managed, but my lips were not moving as quickly as I wanted. "Don't—" The words played out in my head but wouldn't escape my mouth. If I did what she had told me to, would he stop? Would he listen? "Ian," I whispered, trying to muster up the strength to fight the hands of sleep that threatened to pull me under. "Ian Rodgers."
