A Price We Pay

Alyssa woke to a silent room apart from the gentle beeping of the heart monitor next to her. She could smell the pungent aroma of disinfectant that the room offered. Her eyes opened slowly, allowing her to adjust her vision to the bright room. Where am I? she thought to herself as she tried to remember what happened. Blank. She couldn’t remember a single thing.

Suddenly, light footsteps were heard coming down the hallway and into the room. This nurse had looked as though the definition of average had come to life. She had dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and had tan skin. She had a familiar look to her. She wore all white clothing: white scrubs, white gloves, white shoes, and white socks. She seemed as though she was trying to match the room.

“Hello, Alyssa, I am the nurse that will be helping throughout your stay here,” spoke the nurse with a monotone voice.

“What happened?” she croaked back in the same monotone voice. Have I always sounded like this?

“Don’t worry about such an unimportant topic,” she scolded. “I’m going to check your vitals.”

Alyssa watched her with an off-stance gaze. She couldn’t decide whether to question her or let her do her job in silence. Alyssa swore that she knew this nurse from somewhere. Of course, she couldn’t recall anything that had happened previously. She wouldn’t know if she was someone she had met before until she regained her memories or was explained to what had happened.

All that was heard in the silent room was the scribbling of the pen onto a clipboard with Alyssa’s medical information and the continuous beep from the heartbeat monitor making Alyssa aware that she was, in fact, alive. The air had almost seemed thick with the awkwardness that plagued the nurse and Alyssa.

“You can walk around your hospital room if you would like to. If you need any help, please press the red button on the bracelet that is around your wrist. I will be notified immediately and will return to your room in order to help,” uttered the young nurse.

As the nurse exited the tiny, white room, Alyssa slowly started to sit up in the uncomfortable bed. Alyssa could feel the strain of her muscles as she rose from the thin mattress. She knew that she had been in that bed for far longer than she had imagined beforehand. Her body had felt as if she had been beaten up, but her skin bared no marks. In fact, her skin had seemed as if it had never been scarred or even bruised. She started to exam her body to see if there was any hint that would allow her to figure out what had caused her to be bed ridden long enough to leave her with this soreness.

Alyssa had already noticed her fair, tan skin. She realized that her all clothing was quite like what the nurse had been wearing when she was visited. She had been wearing a white t-shirt and along with matching capris. It appeared that everything was matching. Alyssa slowly reached to touch her face. She noticed that her skin had felt soft. She went to touch her hair and realized that it wasn’t excessively long. Alyssa’ s hair was shoulder-length. Her hair appeared to be freshly washed. The hospital seemed to take care of their patients very well.

Alyssa decided to attempt to stand on her feet. She slowly turned body toward the side of the bed. She slowly let her feet touch the ground. Then, she slowly putting more and more weight on her legs. Once she had felt comfortable enough to stand on two feet, she tried to walk around the room. Her knees then gave out on her. She realized at this point that she was not only sore, but her body had been incredibly weak.

Alyssa was now laying on the floor with a slight amount of pain where her knees had hit the floor. Even though she now felt her knees throbbing from their hit against the hard ground, she felt the need to try to stand on her own again. She tried to stand once more, and once she was on her feet, she chose to return to the uncomfortable bed with a saddened spirit.

It was on her bed that she realized that she could see everything in the room. Did I just take a fall onto the floor just to realize that I didn’t even have to stand up? Alyssa indeed just tried to walk around for no reason.

The room had been plain white with the few exceptions of hospital equipment. A silver heartbeat monitor sat next to the bed with a steady tempo of beats. It seems as though it was detecting Alyssa’s heartbeat since it wasn’t attached to her. There were a few tables around the room, but Alyssa couldn’t tell what was on them.

The nurse returned to the room with a small cup. The cup was white and seemed to be made of plastic. It wasn’t completely sheer, but Alyssa could see a small amount of blue and red. Alyssa was curious as to what the little colorful tablets were for. Tablets? They aren’t called tablets…pills. They were called pills.

“Here. Take these with some water.”

“Why should I?” Alyssa asked with the angst of a teenager.

The nurse seemed taken aback by her response. She was shocked that Alyssa had the confidence to ask that question. She froze completely. The nurse hadn’t been programed to answer this question.

Alyssa watched the nurse with confusion. The nurse looked like she was glitching, but that couldn’t be happening. She can’t possibly be glitching. This isn’t a video game.

Alyssa argued with herself. It all seemed so real to her. Alyssa believed that there couldn’t be any possibility of it being fake, but that would explain the tight answers and this “glitching.” Could this be fake? Alyssa thought about it. What happened to me?

The nurse suddenly unfroze. She walked calmly over to a small cabinet with a lock on it. She pulled a set of keys from her pocket. She hurriedly unlocked the cabinet and pulled a glass full of clear liquid. She slowly reached over to a nearby table. She then grabbed a syringe that was sitting on it. The nurse then chose to fill the syringe up with the liquid.

She rushed to a frozen Alyssa. Alyssa was afraid of what the nurse was going to do with her. It was at that point that the nurse robotically grabbed her and stuck the syringe in her neck. Alyssa stopped breathing and passed out.

Darkness. All I can see is darkness. Wait... what’s on my head?

Alyssa reached towards her face. There was something plastic covering her eyes. She slowly took off the headset-like device and tried to look at the world around her. She let her eyes adjust to her surroundings. The room she was in seemed run down. The bed she was on had a thin mattress, and the bed frame was rusted. An IV hanging on an IV pole sat next to Alyssa’s bed.

She looked towards the window and saw abandoned buildings and no life. Everything and everyone seemed dead. There was no sign of life in the world outside of the building Alyssa was in.

Alyssa tried to sit up, but she felt sore once again. I guess that wasn’t just apart of that dream thing or whatever that was.

Alyssa sat up completely only to notice a red blinking coming from the corner of the room. There was no noise coming from it, but it almost seemed like an alarm.

A young woman suddenly entered the room out of breath. She had black hair with a tan skin-tone. She wasn’t breathing as heavily when she turned to look at Alyssa.

“Hello, Alyssa. I am Dr. Lydia. I’m sure you don’t recall us ever meeting, but I was very pleased with you when we met previously.”

Alyssa just sat there and stared at her with a puzzled look. Although Alyssa knew that Lydia had seemed familiar, she couldn’t recall any experiences with her.

“What happened and why exactly am I here?” Alyssa questioned with sass.

“No need for that attitude of yours,” scolded Dr. Lydia.

“Whatever,” Alyssa muttered under her breath. “Would you ever be so kind to explain to me as to what happened and why I am here?”

“Yes, I would love to tell you what happened. You see, for all of my life I have been treated as if I’m not a human being. I’ve never been truly accepted into any community. All I want is to be accepted by someone. That is what has brought me here today.

On October 12, 2048, a new gaming console was released. It was a device that allowed anyone to play video games in their sleep.

I immediately started to plan. I decided that I was finally going to have an equal world, so I got to work. I created a team to make sure my plan would happen. Soon enough, the plan was going into full action. While my team created a game to play, I created a virus that could be released in a gaseous state. It put the ones whose bodies could fight it into a coma, and for the others… well, I’m sure you can imagine what happened.

It was March 11, 2049 that the plan finally happened. At 9:35 A.M. I released the virus. At that same time, my team shut down the St. Elizabeths Hospital. They set up the air filters and kicked everyone out. We retrieved anyone who survived and disposed of anyone who didn’t.”

“Um… okay then. That still doesn’t explain why I’m here.”

“That’s easy. I went around meeting nurses choosing who I would allow into this safe haven. You and my staff were kind and understanding to those you don’t know. I chose to allow you in my new world. I wasn’t expecting you to wake up though, but I suppose it’s no better time than now. I would like to ask if you would join my team.”

“You want me to be a part of your team?”

“Yes, you would make sure that everyone would live the life I choose for them. Everything and everyone would be equal with no pain.”

Alyssa thought the proposition over. No one would have any personality and it would be super boring. I’m calling pass on this job.

“I don’t want to be a part of your team,” Alyssa told Lydia with authority.

“Very well. It was optional. I can’t allow you to stay here though. You’ll live in a better place. I’ll send Eleanor to help you.”

Dr. Lydia left with a rush. She knew what Eleanor was going to do, but she still hated it since the first girl had woken up.

A young girl entered the room with a set of keys. She said nothing as she unlocked the cabinet in the corner. She pulled out a small glass full of liquid along with a small syringe. She filled the syringe completely full with the liquid.

“Hello, Alyssa,” she spoke with a kind and gentle voice. “I’m Eleanor. This may sting a little. I apologize for that, but I need you to sit very still.”

She walked carefully towards Alyssa. She grabbed Alyssa firmly and placed the syringe into Alyssa’s neck.

“I’m really sorry. You’ll be in a better place now,” Eleanor said.

Alyssa understood what she had meant now. She was slowly fading into darkness. Alyssa felt nothing, and she would never feel anything again.

Eleanor gently set her cold, lifeless body onto the thin mattress and left the room to find Lydia.

“Is it done?” Lydia questioned

“Yes,” Eleanor spoke with sadness.

“Good. It’s just a price we have to pay for equality.”

The End.