Stolen

Page 28

"Peaceful, isn't she," Carmichael's voice said from behind me.
"She's not restrained," I said as Carmichael walked around the bed and waved Tess out.
"The sides of the bed are high enough to prevent accidents."
"Not the type I'm thinking of. She needs arm and leg restraints. The best you can find."
"She's sleeping soundly. I'm not-"
"Restrain her or I leave."
Carmichael stopped checking Bauer's pulse and looked up sharply. "Don't threaten me, Elena. You've admitted to Doctor Matasumi that you can help Sondra, and you will, with no conditions. At the first sign of a violent reaction, I'll restrain her."
"You won't be able to."
"Then the guards will do it. I want her to be comfortable. If that's all I can do, that's good enough."
"Noble sentiments. Ever wonder how comfortable we are in the cell block? Or don't we count? Not being human and all, I suppose we aren't covered under the Hippocratic oath."
"Don't start that." Carmichael resumed her survey of Bauer's vital signs.
"You have your reasons for doing this, right? Good, moral reasons. Like everyone else here. Can I guess yours? Let's see… discover unimaginable medical breakthroughs that will benefit all of humankind. Am I close?"
Carmichael's mouth tightened, but she kept her eyes on Bauer.
"Wow," I said. "Good guess. So you justify imprisoning, torturing, and killing innocent beings in the hopes of creating a human super-race? Where'd you get your license, Doctor? Auschwitz?"
Her hand clenched around her stethoscope, and I thought she was going to hurl it at me. Instead, she gripped it until her knuckles whitened, then she inhaled and looked past me to the guards.
"Please return Ms. Michaels to her-" She stopped and swiveled her gaze to mine. "No, that's what you want, isn't it? To be sent back to your cell, relieved of your obligations. Well, I won't do it. You're going to tell me how to treat her."
Bauer's body went stiff. One tremor shuddered through her. Then her arms flew out, ramrod straight. Her back arched against the bed, and she started to convulse.
"Grab her legs," Carmichael shouted.
"Restrain her."
Both Bauer's legs flew up, one knee knocking Carmichael in the chest as she leaned over to hold her down. Carmichael flew back, air whooshing from her lungs, but she rebounded in a second and threw herself over Bauer's torso. The guards jogged across the room and fanned out around the bed. One grabbed Bauer's ankles. Her legs convulsed, and he lost his grip, sailing backward and toppling a cart to the floor. The other two guards looked at each other. One reached for his gun.
"No!" Carmichael said. "It's only a seizure. Elena, grab her legs!"
I stepped away from the table. "Restrain her."
Bauer's upper body shot up, hurling Carmichael to the floor. Bauer sat straight up, then her arms flew up, windmilling in a perfect circle. When they passed her head, they didn't veer from their course to allow for the normal range of motion. Instead they went straight back. There was a dull double snap as her shoulders dislocated.
Carmichael grabbed the slender straps that hung from the bedsides. I was about to say that Bauer needed to be restrained with something ten times stronger, but I knew I'd already gone too far, turning this into a battle of wills that the doctor wouldn't forfeit. The guard who had grabbed Bauer's legs earlier took a tentative step forward.
"Get back!" I snarled.
I walked toward the end of the bed, ignoring Carmichael's frantic efforts to attach the bed restraints, paying attention only to the movements of Bauer's legs. As I passed the spilled cart, I picked up two rolls of bandages. I counted the seconds between convulsions, waited for the next one to subside, then grasped both of Bauer's ankles in one hand.
"Take this," I said, throwing one bandage roll at the nearest guard. "Tie one end to her ankle, the other to the bed. Don't make it tight. She'll break her own legs. Move fast. You have twenty seconds left."
As I talked, I tied Bauer's left leg to the bedpost, leaving enough room for her to move without hurting herself. Carmichael picked up another bandage roll from the floor and reached for Bauer's arms, ducking as one flailed awkwardly.
"Count off-" I began.
"I know," Carmichael snapped.
We managed to get Bauer's arms, legs, and torso loosely tied to the bed, so she could convulse without hurting herself. Sweat poured from her in musky, stinking rivulets. Piss and diarrhea added their own stench to the bouquet. Bauer gagged, spewing greenish, foul-smelling bile down her nightgown. Then she started to seize again, torso arching up in an impossibly perfect half-circle off the bed. She howled, closed eyes bulging against the lids. Carmichael ran across the room to a tray of syringes.
"Tranquilizers?" I asked. "You can't do that."
Carmichael filled a syringe. "She's in pain."
"Her body has to work through this. Tranquilizers will only make it harder the next time."
"So what do you expect me to do?"
"Nothing," I said, collapsing into a chair. "Sit back, relax, observe. Maybe take notes. I'm sure Doctor Matasumi wouldn't want you to ignore such a unique educational opportunity."
***
Bauer's seizures ended an hour later. By then her body was so exhausted she didn't even flinch when Carmichael fixed her dislocated shoulders. Around dinnertime we had another mini-crisis when Bauer's temperature soared. Again, I warned Carmichael against any but the most benign first-aid procedures. Cool compresses, water squeezed between parched lips, and plenty of patience. As much as possible, Bauer's body had to be left alone to work through the transformation. Once her temperature dropped, Bauer slept, which was the best and most humane medicine of all.
When nothing else happened by ten o'clock, Carmichael let the guards return me to my cell. I showered, put my clothes back on, and left the bathroom to find I wasn't alone.
"Get off my bed," I said.
"Long day?" Xavier asked.
I hurled my towel at him, but he only teleported to the head of the bed.
"Touchy, touchy. I was hoping for a more hospitable greeting. Aren't you bored with talking to humans yet?"
"The last time we spoke, you tossed me-handcuffed-into a room with a very pissed-off mutt."
"I didn't toss you in. You were already there."
I growled and grabbed a book from the shelf. Xavier vanished. I waited for the shimmer that presaged his reappearance, then launched the book.
"Shit," he grunted as the book hit his chest. "You learn fast. And you carry a grudge. I don't know why. It wasn't like you couldn't handle Lake. I was right there. If something had gone wrong, I could have stopped him."
"I'm sure you would have, too."
"Of course I would. I was under strict orders not to let anything happen to you."
I grabbed another book.
Xavier held up his arms to ward it off. "Hey, come on. Play nice. I came down here to talk to you."
"About what?"
"Whatever. I'm bored."
I resisted the urge to pitch the book and shoved it back on the shelf. "Well, you can always turn yourself into a werewolf. That seems to be the common cure for ennui around here."
He settled farther back on the bed. "No kidding. Can you believe that? Sondra, of all people. Not that I can't imagine a human wanting to be something else, but she must have a few screws loose to do it like that. It's bound to happen, though. All the exposure. Inferiority complexes are inevitable."
"Inferiority complexes?"
"Sure." He caught my expression and rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. Don't tell me you're one of those who thinks humans and supernaturals are equal. We have all the advantages of being human plus more. That makes us superior. So now you get these humans who, after a lifetime of thinking they're at the top of the evolutionary ladder, realize they aren't. Worse yet, they discover they could be something better. They can't become half-demons, of course. But when humans see what the other races can do, they'll want it. That's the rotten core of this whole plan. No matter how high-minded their motives, they'll all eventually want a piece. The other day-"
He stopped, glanced at the one-way glass as if checking for eavesdroppers, then vanished for a second and reappeared. "The other day, I walked into Larry's office, and you know what he was doing? Practicing a spell. Now, he says he was conducting scientific research, but you know that's a pile of horseshit. Sondra is only the beginning."
"So what are you going to do about it?"
"Do?" His eyes widened. "If the human race is intent on destroying itself, that's its problem. So long as they pay me big bucks to help, I'm a happy guy."
"Nice attitude."
"Honest attitude. So tell me-"
The door clicked and he stopped. When it whooshed open, two guards walked in, led by an older uniformed man with a grizzled crew cut and piercing blue eyes.
"Reese," he growled at Xavier. "What are you doing here?"
"Just keeping our inmates happy. The female ones at least. Elena, this is Tucker. He prefers Colonel Tucker, but his military discharge was a bit iffy. Borderline court-martial and all that."
"Reese-" Tucker started, then stopped, pulled himself upright, and turned to me. "You're wanted upstairs, miss. Doctor Carmichael asked for you."
"Is Ms. Bauer okay?" I asked.
"Doctor Carmichael asked us to bring you up."
"Never expect a direct answer from ex-military," Xavier said. He hopped from the bed. "I'll take you upstairs."
"We don't need your help, Reese," Tucker said, but Xavier had already hustled me out the door.
As I passed Ruth's cell, I noticed it was empty.
"Is Ruth okay?" I asked.
"No one told you?" Xavier said. "I heard you made a suggestion to Sondra before she flipped out."
"Suggestion? Oh, right. For Ruth to visit with Savannah. They let her?"
"Better yet. Come take a look."
Xavier headed down the row of cells.
CRISES
"Doctor Carmichael wants her upstairs now," Tucker said.
Xavier kept walking, so I followed. I glanced in each cell as we passed. Armen Haig sat at his table reading a National Geographic. Leah napped in bed. The Vodoun priest's cell was empty. Had Matasumi "removed" him from the program? I shivered at the thought, yet another reminder of what happened when captives outlived their usefulness.
When we came to Savannah's cell, Xavier reached for the door handle.
"Don't you dare," Tucker hissed, striding toward us.
"Relax, old man. You'll give yourself a heart attack."
"I'm in better shape than you'll ever be, boy. You're not taking this… young lady into that cell."
"Why? Afraid of what'll happen? Four supernatural beings in one place. Imagine the incredible concentration of psychic energy," Xavier said in a passable imitation of Matasumi.
Xavier pushed open the door. Savannah and Ruth sat at the table, heads bent together as Ruth drew imaginary lines on the tabletop. As the door opened, they jerked apart.
"Oh, it's just you," Savannah said as Xavier stepped inside. "What's the matter? Can't zap through walls anymore? That'd be a shame, losing your one and only power."
"Isn't she a sweetheart?" Xavier said, looking back at me as Ruth shushed Savannah.
Ignoring the older woman, Savannah stood and craned her neck to see behind Xavier.
"Who's with you?" she asked.
"A guest," Xavier said. "But if you're not going to be nice-"
Savannah dodged past him and looked up at me. She smiled. "You're the new one, the werewolf."
"Her name's Elena, dear," Ruth said. "It's not polite-"
"A werewolf. Now that's a real power," Savannah said, shooting a look at Xavier.
"Come in, Elena," Ruth said. When I did, she embraced me. "How are you, dear?"
"Surviving."
"I heard the most awful thing about that poor Miss Bauer-"
"So what happens when you change into a wolf?" Savannah asked. "Does it hurt? Is it gross? I saw this movie once, about werewolves, and the muzzle came right through this guy's mouth and ripped his head-"
"Savannah!" Ruth said.
"It's okay," I said, smiling. "But we don't have much time. They're taking me upstairs." I glanced at Ruth. "Is everything going well?"
Ruth looked at Savannah. A beam of pride penetrated her exasperation.
"Very well," Ruth said.
"Tucker's getting restless," Xavier said. "We should go."
"Bring her back sometime," Savannah said, returning to her seat. "I'm out of Mars bars, too."
"And remind me what should compel me to do you these favors?" Xavier said. "Your boundless charm?"
Savannah gave a mock sigh, eyes twinkling with a cunning that was half-child, half-woman. "Fine. Get me some candy bars and I'll play Monopoly with you. Since you get so bo-o-o-red."
"I don't think that's such a good idea, dear," Ruth whispered.
"It's okay," Savannah said. "He's a really shi-crappy player. We can both beat him."