Patient #0061792
Genna sipped her coffee, slowly and with pleasure. Slow-roasted, dark beans with a hint of nutmeg. Hell, sure was better than what was offered at the last joint: tepid water and whatever alcohol the guards happened to smuggle in. This place sure knew how to keep it’s employees happy.
And happy she was, at work at least. This place had a simple, clean atmosphere around it, permitting no clutter of discomfort to get in the way of their goals. Genna wondered why the outside world couldn’t be that way too, but supposed that was pointless speculation. She was sorting through the new admittance files had to be processed as she drank from her cup (sitting straight back, of course, so that no drop could ruin the pristine paper). Paperwork was an easy chore for her-which was why she didn’t complain about doing her colleagues’ share as well as her own. Better this than having to-god forbid-handle those filthy patients on a daily basis. She couldn’t avoid them entirely, though, and supposed that was just another unfortunate part of life.
Her office was white, unornamented except for a small ceramic dog a younger nurse felt would be funny/kind to give her. On the wall, the blue clock ticked steadily, inevitably. Her desk was neat, the papers stacked in trays and color coded according to importance. She didn’t tolerate mess in her life. And , though they’d never done so before, who knew when one of her bosses would come to inspect her?
After Genna went through these admittance forms, it would be time for rounds again. She’d check medication levels, patient behavior, and ensure the guards were on task. She did this four times a day, and thankfully it was the only time Genna had to leave her office. Then her day would be over and she could go home. There was a documentary on TV she was looking forward to.
Case File #0082216
Female mutant, approximately twenty five years of age, transferred from OSCAMS on November 12. Observed abilities: aqua manipulation…
Case File #0043617
Female mutant, approximately nine years of age, obtained December 19. Observed abilities: shape shifting, confined to the optical…
Case File #0011542
Male mutant approximately thirty one years of age, transferred from USSR Bardoll November 27. Observed abilities: pyrokinesis(note: has some…
Case File #124613
Female mutant, approximately thirteen years of age, transferred from OSCAMS November 4 observed abilities: green skin and...
Case File #0061792
Male mutant, approximately thirty five years of age, obtained November 17 observed abilities metallic claws, healing...
#0061792. Him. Genna saw the patient when Gerald and that new guy-what was his name?Stephan- brought him in. She took another sip of her coffee, fingering the purple tab on the folder. He was a handsome one, though Genna didn't usually permit herself, or the other employees from thinking in such terms about the subjects. The guards dragged him in yesterday morning, four backup men behind, ready with guns and sedatives. You could never tell how one of those creatures would act. But this mutant didn't fight; he trudged along quietly, if a bit sullenly, along. Though Nurse Loraline swore he'd received enough sedatives to choke a whale, the subject never tripped. Genna only saw him look up once,after the guards secured him in the restraints and sealed the Plexiglas cage.
His eyes were calm, dark and intelligent. Not frightened, not upset,certainly not drugged, not broken. Angry.
Tllickk..tlickk..tlickk..tlickk..
Genna glanced up at the clock. Seven thirty-eight. Time for rounds. She placed the five reviewed files in a tray to be stamped, and left the other seven for later.
This hospital really was a work of art, all metal and white walls and glass. Genna wasn't an architect, but she had to admire this brand of imposing clarity.
She passed the cafeteria, the offices of other nurses and doctors, surgery chambers, the showers, the euthanasia ward...patients were kept at the farthest corner of the hospital. It was less distracting for the staff that way, to not have to see the beasts every time they turned around.
"Nurse Sutter," one of the guards-she couldn't remember his name, but he always smelled of prunes- nodded a greeting at Genna as she passed.
"There's mustard on your uniform. Clean it off. Now." She told him.
"Yes ma'am."
In the patient ward, two janitors were busy mopping up a pool of purplish blood. She carefully eased around them, grimacing. These were her new shoes.
Genna was pleased to see her assigned orderly waiting quietly in front of the first cage, a clipboard in hand. Last time the silly girl had been flirting with one of the guards. She had learned.
"Ready, then?" Genna asked her curtly.
"Yes ma'am."
They checked each cage, one by one, and it's patient within. This one can be moved to the Euthanasia Chamber--this one's bandages need to be changed--tell the guards not to play with her, she's under the disease experiment--don't waste a food tray on that one, it won't live anyway--are they giving it the full dose of sedatives? He's a pyrokinetic.Most of the patients kept their eyes closed,or to the floor, too scared or injured to pay much attention to the nurses. Except for one.
Genna didn't notice him until the orderly and she were standing in front of the cage parallel to his own(--have the cleaning crew hose her down, she's peed everywhere--). She glanced up,and found the mutant's eyes trained on her face. It caused an unpleasant jolt to run through Genna, and she felt for a moment like vomiting.
#0061792, that new patient. He was watching Genna from the floor where he was shackled. his expression was filled with contempt, like she was the worthless one...and bitter amusement. Slowly, deliberately the patient drew his eyes down her body. From the top of her tightly braided hair to the bottom of her pale loafers, though those certainly weren't the parts he was focusing on. Genna blushed. She felt his gaze like a calloused, inexorable palm. It was vulgar. Genna had a feeling the act was a joke to him. She felt both confused and frightened.
"Nurse Sutter? Ma'am?"
"Skip his food tray."
"They continued down the row. When the screams started, they didn't pay much attention as you might have expected. Sometimes patients would begin to act up, usually inside the operation rooms, but the guards would have them settled down soon enough. Genna didn't realize something was wrong until the explosions started, dull thuds to their left. She turned to find a guard, ask what the hell was going on-
and then her vision was filled with orange light, her lungs with smoke, her ears with screams and breaking glass. Genna was thrown against the wall. The floor seemed to exchange places with the ceiling, spinning around and around. Her skin was wet and sticky.
There were shadows moving all around, foul smells. People were talking, yelling, but she did not recognize the voices.
As ash shifted around her, Genna stumbled to her feet. Her clothes were torn, as was her skin. Her leg was bleeding. She could see through layers of pink flash, and a hint of the paler bone underneath. But there was no pain yet.
Shapes, all around her. She didn't know any of them. Something terrible was happening. Instinctively, Genna knew she had to hide. She had to.
The rooms were covered in a sick kind of confetti. She realized it was their files-some of which she herself had signed-torn to scraps. Years of work ruined, just strewn across every available surface. But that wasn't her problem right now. There was a cabinet, knocked over on it's side. Genna crawled into the gap between the wall and it's metal.
Footsteps echoed everywhere. There was constant screeching, but that may have been only the ringing in her ears. Gradually, the babble separated into individual voices.
"Where is he, Scott?"
"He's fine, he-"
"Where is he?"
"Over there. Do you need me to help you unshackle him?"
"No. Got it."
"Good. We've got to get the other prisoners out. Tell Logan I said good undercover work."
"Yeah, alright. See you on the plane....Logan! Logan!"
Genna coughed, and missed the next few words. It was getting harder to breathe. Her throat seemed coated with tar.
"Goddamn it, kid. You're not supposed to be going on any missions."
"Goddamn it, Logan. You're not supposed to be in any labs."
"Oh, nice. Nice, Darlin. I'm gonna kill Scooter-"
"Are you okay? I was so scared. When the Professor-"
"I'm great, Darlin-hey.Hey, don't cry."
"I'm not crying."
"Is that so?"
"Logan. Okay, you gotta-you gotta let go now. We have to go help the team."
"Anyone hurt?"
"The prisoners? No. The blasts were pretty concentrated. Of course, I can't say the same for those lab fuc-"
"Language, Kid."
"Hypocrite....You ready to go, or you wanna sniff me some more?"
"Uh-huh. Kid?"
"What is it?"
"Something about hospitals put me in the mood for Canada. You wanna....think about getting away for awhile?....What with you finishing school and quitting the team and never ever ever going on missions again, you might wanna come with me."
"Logan!"
"Darlin', stop squeezing me so hard. Gonna choke me."
"Wolverine! Rouge! It's time to go! Now!"
"Come on, Logan."
"I am...gimme one second. Go on, got something to take care of."
"Jean, he's on his way. Lower the ramp."
There came the sound of feet on gravel, and a strange SNIKKT. Genna trembled as the filing cabinet was pulled away. Dust fell on her face. She blinked it slowly away and looked up into the hazel eyes of patient #0061792.
They were the last thing she ever saw.
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Story Notes:
I apologize for the summary, it's not one of my strong suits. Hopefully you'll believe the story makes up for that. I would like to thank the amazing, brilliant, funny people over at nanowrimo.com-way too many to mention individually. Their Adoptable Stuff page enabled me to finally break through my Writer's Block(which had congealed into a thick wall after a year of barely picking up my pen). Thank you thank you thank you.
Chapter End Notes:
Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please please please review. If you didn't...please please please review and offer suggestions. Thank you!