I. Awakening

Pain…..

It was a sensation I seemed familiar with. With great effort, I opened my eyes. The white lights hit me like a punch, and I reeled back from it, shutting my eyes tight. Slowly, I opened them again and repeated the process until my eyes were accustomed to the light. As I moved my head, I realized it was the only limb I could move. My eyes widened as I lifted my head and looked at my body. I was on a bed of some sort, dressed in a white shirt and pants. However, it was the things on top of me that got me.

Straps.

I was strapped to a bed. Frantically, I thrashed about, as though my movements could simply snap the straps. As I moved, I suddenly gasped with pain and fell back onto the bed with a dull thud. Christ, it hurt so much. It was more pain than I'd ever experienced in my life. Not even the time I broke my arm could compare to this. I realized the source of pain emanated from my stomach, and with a groan, I lifted my head again to see what was wrong.

Blood.

A pool of blood spread slowly over the white shirt, threatening to overtake the white as dominant color. No. I wasn't going to die, was I? Breathe slowly, I told myself, as I took deep breaths, trying to filter the pain from my mind. There was a beeping next to my ear, and I turned to it, noticing the console next to my bed. Reading the display, I saw something flicker up and down really quickly, while a diagram of a human glowed red in the stomach area. Hey, is that me? I mouthed, looking at the picture. I sure hoped it wasn't, because it read "Critical: Urgent Attention Needed."

"Everything feeling alright?"

I turned my head to the other side, and saw a woman who appeared to be in her early thirties. She was dressed in a white uniform, a small red cross on the breast of her shirt, with a nametag that read "Sarah McKinley." She was fairly attractive, with shoulder length blonde hair, and a small frame. She couldn't have been taller than 5' 7", I figured. With a grimace, I nodded in greeting. However, I found that my response didn't answer her question. Rather, it was a question of my own.

"Where am I….?" I asked. When the sound waves came out of my mouth, I paused. So that was my voice. Strange, because it felt like I was hearing my voice for the first time. "Heh," I added, wanting to hear it again. Was this how I sounded? I turned my head up at the ceiling and pondered. Now that I thought about it, I didn't know how I was supposed to sound.

"You're in the medical section of the Aegis," she replied nonchalantly, removing a syringe from the tray that I didn't notice was next to my bed. It was then that I noticed the wire sticking out of the forearm of my left arm. But her voice caught my attention again. Aegis? What was that? A building? "Now, on a scale of one to ten, tell me how much it hurts," she ordered, syringe in hand. My eyes widened in alarm. What was she going to do with that?

"Twenty," I replied, grimacing again, as another wave of pain spread from the stomach to my entire body. Where were those painkillers, God-

"Okay," she replied, and jammed the syringe into a port on the tube connected to my arm. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. What the hell? But I breathed a sigh in relief as the pain began to fade, almost proportionately to how much of the fluid she injected into the tube. She must have noticed my smile, because she then asked, "How about now?"

"Zero….," I replied in a lazier manner, able to relax now. I looked to the console, and noticed that the "Critical" warning was no longer present. However, "my" stomach was still outlined in red, whereas the rest of my body was green. Although I was no expert in the medical field, I quickly put two and two together, realizing red was "bad," and green was "good."

"Good," she replied with a bright smile, and removed the syringe. The nurse then placed it in a trash bin while removing a small device from her waist. "Colonel? The subject is awake." There was a reply from the other line, and she nodded. "Alright, I'll meet you outside." Sarah then placed it back on her waist and murmured, "Be right back," before leaving the room via a sliding door. However, as I watched her, I realized something. I was alone, and the room was small. Plain, too. White walls, white floor, white ceiling, with lights embedded in the ceiling and walls. The room was empty except for me, the bed, and the console. Feels more like a cell than a hospital room. My ears perked up as I heard voices outside.

"He's in excellent physical condition, but he's severely injured. A piece of shrapnel had pierced his intestines, so he might not be able to do things he might have once done, such as strenuous activities."

"Top physical condition? Is he a soldier?"

"I don't think so, but-"

"Let me judge that for myself."

The door slid open again, and this time, two people walked in, behind them, two armed men. The two people in the front were women; one of them Nurse Sarah, the other, presumably the "Colonel," along with two of her soldiers. The Colonel's black uniform contrasted sharply with the white in the room. Although she'd been referred to as the Colonel, the only sign of military rank on her was a small gold nametag reading "Colonel Jean Smith."

"I'm Colonel Jean Smith," she began, extending her hand for me to shake. I would have shook it, but there was a problem: I was bound to the bed, and I could only move my head. In surprise, she looked from the straps to me, and motioned for her soldiers to remove them. Wordlessly, they approached the bedside and unstrapped me. With a groan, I slowly moved my limbs and sat up on my bed, putting my right hand out for her to shake. "Sorry about that. How are you feeling?" she said, taking my hand.

"I've been better," I murmured. The Colonel smiled and nodded understandingly. For a second, I could see why she was a leader; there was this quality of reassurance in her smile about her that made you think, "Yes, I can depend on her." However, my sentiments disappeared as quickly as they came, and I remembered the reality of my situation.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Can I ask your name?" The Colonel brushed some hair out of her face. For a second, I was mesmerized. Whereas Nurse Sarah had been fairly attractive, Colonel Jean was downright beautiful. In fact, I had to stop and stare for a moment, wondering why she was in the military, when she belonged on the cover of a magazine. Her uniform showed off her curves nicely, and accentuated her long dark hair. However, my fantasies were brought crashing down when I realized I had to answer her question.

My name….

"My name….," I began, but the words wouldn't come out. What words? "Ummm…," I tried again, but found that I had nothing to say. What's my name?! My heartbeat began increasing, and the console began showing warnings. I closed my eyes tightly, and tried to think, but no matter what corner of my mind I searched, I was met with no answer.

"…You don't know your name?" Jean asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I-," I began, but suddenly, the pain came back as Jean suddenly reached out and pinched my stomach. I guess looks really can kill. The pain came back all at once as she held fast to my wound.

"Would a shock make you remember?" she asked coldly, looking at my face. I imagined myself to be a beet red pathetic creature, writhing in pain, until she let go, and I collapsed backwards onto the bed, gasping.

"Colonel, please don't do that…."

"I…swear….," I breathed between gasps, clutching my stomach tightly. I was acutely aware of the returning scent of iron, but at this point, I was in too much pain to care. Was I going to die? Then I wanted to die at the Colonel's hands. The last things to touch me would be her beautiful hands.

"Well, I'll come back when you remember," she replied, turning around casually, and heading towards the exit. "Until then, you stay here in isolation." There was a sharp 'fiss' as the door slid open, and she disappeared into the white corridors outside. Her soldiers followed suit, while Nurse Sarah stayed behind, probably to help me.

"Sheesh, she could have killed you….," she murmured as she injected me with another shot of the pain-relieving fluid. I smiled as the fluids did their job, and the pain was soothed. I sighed in relief. The Colonel may have been beautiful, but as Nurse Sarah made me realize, beauty wasn't skin deep.