Escaping Elysia

Chapter 15 - Let Her Down

Evita

I don't get much sleep after I'm returned to my room. Instead I spend the night contemplating what I'm going to do with the small bottle in my pocket. I told Sheer I would give the pills to Nadya, to get out of her office, but I don't think I can bring myself to follow through. The next morning comes too soon and I drag myself out of bed and into the showers, still undecided. The water stings as it hits the scrape on my chin. There aren't any mirrors here so I'm not sure how bad it looks, but it feels sore and raw.

By the time Nadya and I make it to the cafeteria I've woken up a bit more. Leah sits with her friends. I catch her eye and, when she sees me, her jaw drops and her eyebrows become dark, angry slants. She must not have expected me to still be here this morning. I smile back at her, and even wave. She glowers and turns away from me, her face red. I feel a smidgen of satisfaction at surprising her, but then everything that happened last night comes back and my smile vanishes.

We head to the table, where Dale and Weston are already seated. When Dale sees me, his face lights up. I pause, taken aback, but he coughs and his expression becomes disinterested. I guess anything's better than a glare. When I sit he looks at my chin and his brows knit in confusion. I self-consciously touch the still tender injury, blocking it from view.

"What happened?" he whispers.

Weston looks over, wrinkling his forehead.

"I'll tell you about it after breakfast," I tell Dale.

He frowns, but, when I look towards Weston and Nadya, he nods. "Okay."

Weston looks back and forth between us, but I pretend I don't notice.

Nadya, of course, has been oblivious the entire conversation.

We eat in silence and my thoughts return to the pill bottle in my pocket. In the showers this morning I thought about trying to flush them down a toilet, but we're watched at all times, even in the bathroom. I couldn't do it without the guard seeing. The only time we have access to any recycling bins is after meals, but the guards watch those as well. I thought about asking Dale to distract the guards, like he did when Nadya was too nauseated to finish her bread, but I can't. He's so protective of Nadya, if I tell him about the pills he'll freak out. And with test subjects quickly becoming expendable, I don't want his name to move to the top of the list.

I study Nadya, eating her food in small bites, gazing blankly at the table. I could give the pills to her, like Sheer asked. She can't get much worse.

Immediately, a wave of shame washes over me. How could I even consider putting someone so broken through even more suffering? I have no idea what effects the pill will have. I can't do that to her.

We finish breakfast and throw out our trays before walking to the medication window. Dale keeps glancing at me, and I can feel the curiosity rolling off of him. As we approach the windows I notice an energy building in the line for meds. People talk rapidly, their heads bent close together, and I see more than a few happy smiles on peoples' faces.

I turn to Dale. "What's going on?"

He shakes his head, frowning. "Not sure."

We get to the front of the line and Nadya shuffles to a window. When she shows her yellow dot tattoo I wait for the researcher to give her her pills, but he doesn't. He smiles. "The yellow trial is ending. Report to the clinic to have your IV removed."

Astonishment blooms across Nadya's face and she speaks, her voice shaking. "Am I being moved to another trial?"

The researcher shakes his head. "Not at this time."