Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
Alump rises in my throat as the guards set X’s unmoving body on the table.
They restrain him thoroughly, leather straps pulled taut around his wrists and ankles, tentacles bound tightly to his sides.
I tell myself, for the dozenth time, that this is for the best. It sickens me to be working with the people here at the MRF, but they have the best chance of saving X.
Forgive me, I beg silently as I watch the scientists tend to the wound on his chest. I force myself to keep watching, even as they make an incision with a scalpel and dig around in the wound for remaining debris from the bullet. Not even that is enough to rouse X from his sleep.
“What’s the verdict?” I ask after watching them poke and prod at him for a few minutes. I try to make myself sound as close to indifferent as possible, burying my emotions deep. “Will it survive?”
The seconds of silence feel infinitely long.
“I believe so,” one scientist says, peering down at the wound. “It appears to be in stasis, and its body is knitting itself back together, albeit slowly. All regenerative processes seem to be intact. It was in a much worse state when it first arrived at the Facility, and it survived that.”
“Good,” I say. “It’s a valuable research subject.” I swallow a lump in my throat. “I believe we can hurry the healing process by keeping X-11 in an extended hibernation. H— It told me that will heal its wounds, but it might take years.”
It will keep him safe until I find the opportunity to free him. No more scalpels, no more experiments; he’ll be safe as long as he’s in hibernation.
I watch, my expression stony, as the guards lift X’s stiff body into the sleeping chamber.
I don’t think about being curled up inside with him.
I don’t think of the way it felt for him to hold me, cocooned safely in his tentacles.
I don’t wonder if I will ever feel him wrapped around me again.
But I do take one last, small inhale of his musky-sweet scent, hoping to God that I won’t forget it.
The temperature in the room is already dropping. It’ll stay that way for at least the next several years.
Ramsey arrives as the other staff members are finishing up their work. He carries himself with new authority after his promotion. He has new power, which I practically handed to him. I hope I won’t regret it.
“Looks like we’re done here,” Ramsey says as the other scientists trickle out of the room.
“Give me one minute,” I say, struggling to keep my voice steady. He looks sideways at me, and I return his stare with a cool glare. “I survived a lot in this room,” I say. “One minute alone is the least I deserve.”
He lifts his eyebrows but holds up his hands and steps back out of the room. I wait until his footsteps recede and then step closer to the sleep chamber, putting my back to the cameras.
“Wait for me,” I whisper, pressing a hand to the side of the pod.
I doubt he can hear me in this state, but I have to say it, nonetheless.
My fingers curl against the cold metal, and I lower my voice even lower as I whisper, “I’ll be back for you one day.
And when I wake you again, we’ll both be free. I promise you, taujak.”