I can smell the fear emanating from Charlotte's sedated self; her scare stained body odor permeates the room.
"I'm not assisting you with this crime, Professor Merton," I say, with authority.
"I think you should, Tanya. It would be very unwise not to," she says this with a hint of threat in her tone.
"No – I won't be involved in any kind of surgery," I assert.
Professor Merton smiles and continues preparing Charlotte.
"You won't be directly involved in the surgery, just assisting me, that's all," she says.
I could easily overpower Professor Merton and get out of here. Then I realize – this is probably another of their (my parents) set-ups/tests.
I decide to go along with it for a short while, to see if I can gain any useful insights to help me beat them.
"So, I scrub up to reduce the risk of infection, right?" I ask.
Her smile grows wider, "That's right. Full instructions can be found in the bathroom," she says, while preparing a needle to insert into Charlotte's vein.
......
In the bathroom, I decide to text Kade Kendal, the guy from the diner. He might be on my parent's side, but he might not, I've nothing to lose.
I look at his card: Art Director – cool.
I hope he's legit, I need a friend.
My text: Hi Kade, it's Tanya, the crazy girl u met 2day. Txt me 4 a coffee sumtime.
......
My focus is back to the scrub up.
A Poster with pre-surgery scrub instruction hangs on the wall. A surgical gown, mask, gloves and shoes are laid out.
As I guessed, this has all been planned.
......
Whoa – there are eight stages to this scrubbing up business, it's pretty complicated. I begin it, because I guess I'm being watched and I want to be seen to be compliant; I'm playing their game.
......
As I'm getting to grips with the routine, a voice from behind startles me – "Hey, Tanya."
Is it – BROGAN?
I spin round.
He's not there.
Was that my imagination?
"Hey, up here," his voice fills the bathroom, again – this is for real.
I look up. OMG – the whole of the ceiling is like a High Definition screen and Brogan's bandaged face fills it, peering down at me with bruised and blood-shot eyes.