Finally Home
Chapter Two
As soon as Norm was out of the shower, we headed over to the Bio lab. Jake showed up five minutes after us. I smiled as a girl dragged me over to one of the links and opened it up. She told me to get in and just relax. I did as she told me to, while watching her put a thin metal contraption over my chest area, before closing the lid on me. I heard the lock click.
I've never been one for tight spaces, but I slowed my breathing and let my mind go blank, letting go. I felt like I was drifting peacefully away from mind in a stream of bright colors, before being pulled forward in fast motion into the colors.
As the pull stopped, I gasped for air. Slowly I peeled my eyes open, glaring at the bright light blinding me that was above my head. My vision was a little bit blurry, but eventually went into focus. Two men stood above me, staring at me.
One of them got a small flashlight and passed it over my eyes.
His voice was deep with a southern accent. "Pupillary reflex is good."
The other snapped their fingers right against my ear. I twitched my ear from the noise.
"Pinna response is looking good."
One smiled warmly at me. I smiled back. "How are you feeling Anabelle?"
"I feel pretty good." I giggled excitedly as I wiggled my toes a little, before slowly sitting up.
"Ana!"
I turned my head and grinned at Jake and Norm. "Isn't this great guys?"
They both nodded happily, but I could see that Jake was extremely excited about the prospect of walking. He got off his cot quickly, and wobbled around a little. One of the male doctor's was telling him to slow down, but he started wobbling around and I had to quickly dodge his tail that was flying around the place as he stumbled around.
I laughed a little but Norm and the doctors saw no humor. The male doctor tried to get him to sit down, but Jake wasn't paying attention. I was shocked when the doctor started yelling to sedate him.
Norm shook his head. "They're going to put you out Jake."
I quickly pulled off my leads as Jake avoided the doctors and opened a door that set off an alarm. I got off my cot and quickly went to the door and yelled that I'd get him, before running out the door. I saw Jake a little bit ahead of me accidentally bump into some other avatars that were playing basketball. I apologized to them as I dashed past them and into a small training course. Just for the heck of it, I jumped over some of the logs that were set up, before following Jake into a garden.
I almost bumped into him, when he stopped suddenly at the edge of the garden, breathing in the air greedily, while burying his toes in the warm soil. I closed my eyes and did the same, enjoying the feeling of the warm soil and the cool Pandora air against my skin.
"Hey, newbies!" I opened my eyes and saw a tall female avatar walking towards us. My eyes widened in shock as I recognized her.
"Dr. Augustine?"
"Well who did you expect, numbnuts?" She grinned at me before pulling off two strange fruit from a plant.
"Think fast!"
She tossed them towards us, and we caught them, before taking a big bite out of the fruit. I groaned at the sweet flavor of the fruit. I have never tasted such a fresh and enticing fruit in my life.
When Norm finally joined us, Grace introduced us to all the other avatars. All of them were really nice and told us all about what they had experienced here on Pandora. Before I knew it, the sun had long since gone and the moon glowed proudly in the sky with stars twinkling brightly all about. Jake and I followed Grace and Norm into a wood cabin as they animatedly talked about Pandora. The cabin was filled with rows of long beds and big chests.
Grace showed us to the beds that we would us before, walking back to the front of the cabin and locking the cabin. I got under the sheets just as the lights turned off. Closing my eyes, I blanked my mind of all thought and felt the same feeling of being pulled in fast motion into bright colors.
I opened my eyes, a little bit disappointed. I was back inside the link. The hood popped open and a doctor helped me out of my link. I glanced over at Jake who was situating his legs in his wheelchair. Norm was already out and talking to Grace again. I rolled my eyes, before going over to Jake.
I smiled. "I think you and I should go ahead and go to the mess hall. Norm and Dr. Augustine seem to be pretty busy."
He laughed. "Yeah, let's go." We walked around a bit, trying to find the mess hall, but we were completely lost. I was out of it for second, trying to think about where we hadn't checked, when we rounded a corner, and I ran into something hard.
That hurt.
Arms wrapped around me, steadying me. I felt sick in the pit of my stomach though, when I heard the familiar voice of someone I was hoping that I would not see for a while.
Quaritch released his hold on me, as I pulled back and stood next to Jake. I felt ten times safer next to Jake, but I still shuddered a little when Quaritch seemed to undress me with his eyes.
He stared straight at me, a smirk on his face. "You all right there sweetheart?"
I grimaced. Yeah, I really hated this bastard. "I'm good."
He looked at Jake. "You guys look a little lost. Do you need help with something?"
Jake nodded, oblivious to the tense atmosphere between Quaritch and me. "Yeah, we were looking for the mess hall and got turned around."
Quaritch continued to smirk as his gaze landed on me. "It just so happens that I am headin' to the mess hall myself. You can come with me."
Jake grinned. "Thanks man."
I walked silently behind Jake and Quaritch, hoping that they would leave me out of the discussion as they talked about security measures and recent attacks from the Na'vi. We eventually walked up to double doors that had a big sign above it that said 'Mess Hall.' How did I miss that? Fate must be against me today.
Quaritch "kindly" held a door open for Jake to pass through. When he passed through the doorway heading towards the line, Quaritch turned to look at me with a smirk on his face that made me sick.
"Go on sweetheart."
Holding in the bile that threatened to come out, I walked passed him quickly. When I passed him, I felt his hand graze my hip. I refused the urge to turn around and yell at him, as I quickly made my way to Jake, who was waiting in line. The cafeteria was practically empty, except for a few that sat in small groups scattered around the hall.
Jake smiled up at me, and I smiled back. Picking up a tray and utensils I slid down the lane behind Jake, picking up this or that. There was quite a variety of foods, which I was thankful for. I was picky eater. Opening a small refrigerator, I pulled out a water bottle for me, and a soda pop for Jake.
We went to a small table by the windows that faced the fence. As we ate in silence, I stared out into the dark expanse of trees and strange plants. I was transfixed by the way the moon's light reflected off the leaves. It was beautiful…
When we finished eating we dumped our trays and left to our room, thankfully avoiding Quaritch. I opened our door wide open for Jake to pass through, before closing it behind me. I grabbed my nightclothes, before going into the bathroom to change. I put my clothes on the counter as I pulled a rubber band off my wrist and quickly braided my honey brown hair. I slipped out of my clothes and put on a red tank top with gray shorts.
When I walked out the bathroom, Norm walked into our room and closed the door. He looked at me a second, a red blush on his cheeks, before he spoke.
"I ran into Trudy on my way over here. She told me that we will be going out tomorrow, so we can get some samples."
I nodded my head and glanced around, looking for Jake. I smiled when I found him, already lying in his bunk; sound asleep with his blanket on the floor. When Norm went into the bathroom, I put Jake's wheelchair in the corner and picked up his blanket, placing it on him securely, before turning out the lights.
I got into my bunk and pulled out my journal. I wrote down some of the things that happened today, before putting it back. Getting under my covers, I fell into a dreamless sleep.
Would love to hear your thoughts through PM or on reviews:)