Jem was forced to go through the process of being hypnotised many more times over the next few days. Eventually, he began to lose track of time. Often, he would wake up in Dominic's office or in his room, with no memory of the last few hours. Sometimes there would be ink on his hands, or strange burns and marks that he could not explain. He was not sure how many days had passed. He felt like he was going insane.

Dominic had been satisfied at first. But after a few days, he began to be more and more gruff. More than once, Jem awoke to find bruises on his face, as though someone had hit him.

Then, one day, Jem entered the office to find a black metal machine sitting on Dominic's desk. Long coils of wires sprung out from it. As usual, Dominic forced Jem to sit on the chair. Jem sighed and prepared for the inevitable. But the injection did not come. Instead, Dominic grabbed him and hit him hard against the sides of his head. Two sharp bolts of pain erupted at either temple.

"What?" Jem tried to ask. He lifted his hands to touch and was shocked to feel wires coming out from his head. "What did you do to me?" he shouted. He tried to get up but the older man pushed him down roughly. Jem struggled against his hold; every movement sent fresh shards of pain through his head and he felt hot liquid, possibly his blood, roll down the sides of his face.

"Sit still! Before I tie you up!" Dominic ordered. He cuffed Jem around the head.

Jem cried out and fell back into the chair as the pain overwhelmed him. He heard the click of a switch being thrown and two twin forces slammed into his temples. He threw back his head as the forces squeezed his brain. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came. His body began to convulse uncontrollably.

It felt like an eternity before he finally lost consciousness.

When he woke up, he was back in his room. He was lying on the bed and his head felt like it had been pounded upon by a hammer. A very very big hammer.

It took him a moment to remember what had happened. He gingerly lifted a hand to feel his temple, frightened those wires might still be there. He groaned as he moved. It felt as though his bones had been replaced by heavy iron bars and it took a lot of effort to do that small action. There was a small puncture on his skin, and it was extremely tender when he prodded it.

Closing his eyes, he summoned his strength and sat upright. Bright light flashed across his vision, and he felt momentarily dizzy. There was a sour taste in his mouth and he fought the urge to throw up over the bedsheets.

When his vision cleared, he noticed a tall glass of water on the table. He staggered towards it and drank thirstily. The water was room temperature but he felt better after drinking. He was halfway through before he noticed that there were two tablets on the table, placed next to the glass. He picked one up and examined it suspiciously. They were small, white and round. On one side was carved the word "aspirin".

Jem turned the tablet over and over, considering whether or not to trust that this was truly aspirin. In the end, his pounding head won and he downed the two tablets. He finished the last of the water and staggered to the bathroom. Looking at the mirror that hung above the sink, his appearance startled him. He did not remember looking this terrible since the old days when the yin fen made him ill.

Now, his eyes were bloodshot and ringed in dark circles. His skin was ghostly pale, even his lips were white. There were bruises on his cheeks as well as massive bruises around his temples. Again, he prodded at the wound but had to stop when he began to feel dizzy. He bent over the sink and turned on the tap.

At first, the water came out hot, and the smell of rotting eggs was too much for him. He dashed quickly to the toilet and began retching. His body cramped up, but only water came out, indicating how long it had been since he had last eaten. When his body finally stopped cramping, his pounding headache was back again and he painfully dragged himself back to the sink.

This time, he made sure the tap was turned to the cold side before turned it on. He splashed the cold water on his face and gargled. The sour taste in his mouth was lessened, but his head felt worse than before. Groaning, he left the bathroom and collapsed onto the bed.

But the relief of oblivion was not to be his. Jem lay awake in bed, his head feeling like someone was drilling into his skull. He groaned and tried to regulate his breathing to force his body to relax. Nothing helped. Finally, he curled up into a ball and allowed the pain to take over.

Jem did not know how much time had passed before he felt a hand on his shoulder shaking him. He lifted his head and saw Oscar bending over him, looking extremely concerned.

"Are you ok, Jem?" he asked.

Jem slowly sat up. Oscar grabbed his arm to help him. "My head is killing me," he whispered.

Oscar tsked loudly. "I left you some aspirin. Didn't you take it?"

"I did but then I threw up."

"I never heard of anyone not being able to keep aspirin down."

"Could you lower your voice, please?" Jem pleaded.

Oscar let out a disapproving huff. He stalked to the bathroom and returned with a glass of water. Then he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small Ziploc bag. "Gimme your hand." He grabbed Jem's hand before Jem could react and shook out two more aspirin tablets into it. He then thrust the glass of water into Jem's other hand. "Take them," he ordered.

Jem did not have to be told twice. He took the aspirin again and washed it down with a large gulp of water. He and Oscar then sat in silence staring at each other for more than five minutes. Jem was grateful when he felt the aspirin starting to take effect. He was still dizzy but at least the pain was down to a manageable level.

"Thanks, Oscar," he said. "You're a good friend."

The other man just shrugged. "It's nothing. You were in terrible shape when he sent me to collect you," Oscar told him. "I thought I would've had to call a medic. I would have, if you weren't better when I came in to check on you."

Jem smiled wanly. "I can still pass out if you want. Do you think they would take me to the medical wing then?"

Oscar laughed. "I knew you were still on that," he said. "I can't believe they haven't told you anything. You've been here nearly 10 days now. It's not right." He pulled a cellphone out of his pocket. "Luckily for you, though, me and my buddy had been planning a treat."

"What?" Jem asked hopefully.

Oscar shook his head. "Hang on. I gotta call him to check. It's the middle of the night, you know? So it's a bit more tricky." He dialled a number but left the room, shutting the door so Jem could not hear him.

Jem waited eagerly on his bed. It had been 10 days since he last saw Tessa. Would he finally get to see her? What would he say to her? Suddenly, he began to feel nervous.

Oscar re-entered the room and Jem looked eagerly at him. He handed Jem the phone. "Go on," he prompted and then left the room again.

Jem was confused. Then he held the phone to his ear and tentatively said: "Hello?"

"Jem?"

The sound of Tessa's voice pushed him over the edge. He dissolved into uncontrollable tears and could not speak.

"Hello? Jem? Are you there?" Tessa's voice called again, sounding a little more worried this time. Her voice was a little hoarse, as though she were ill.

Jem pulled himself together as best he could. "I'm here," he choked out. "Oh god, Tessa. I…" He was overcome by his emotions again.

"Jem? Are you crying? What's wrong? Are you ok?"

Jem roughly rubbed his eyes. "I'm…If I said I was fine, I'd be lying," he admitted. "I miss you Tessa. I was out of my mind with worry. I wish I could see you and hold you. Are you alright? Are they taking care of you? Is our little girl ok?"

"We're both well," Tessa assured him. "I was told that they kept me in a medically induced coma until four days ago. They said it was to spare me the effects of any side effects of the drugs they gave me. But I'm completely alright now. No fever, no cough. I've had four days of rest so I'm not as tired as I was." She paused, but Jem did not say anything. He was too overwhelmed with relief.

"The baby is fine too," Tessa continued. "The drugs had an interesting effect on her, though. She's growing at a much faster rate than normal. The doctors say it's nothing to worry about. She's developing like a normal baby would, only faster. My stomach is huge now."

"They're not hurting you? They're not making you do anything you don't want to?" Jem asked anxiously.

"They've been doing lots of tests, but they don't hurt much, beyond the usual needle pricks," Tessa answered. Then in a gentler voice, she asked: "Jem, what's wrong? You sound like you're freaking out. And you said you weren't ok. They told me you're working on a top secret project. Is everything going alright?"

Jem wanted to tell her everything, but he knew there was nothing she could do, and it would only worry her. So he decided to lie. "Everything's fine," he said. "What I said earlier, I was just having a moment. I'm alright, really. It's been so long since I heard your voice, and I was afraid I… I should never have brought you to that hospital, Tessa. That's where all the problems started. It was all my fault."

"No, James, it wasn't your fault," Tessa said. "You were trying to take care of us. How could you have known what would happen? I don't blame you. And there's no lasting damage. We'll get through this."

There was the sound of someone talking in the background on Tessa's end. Then Tessa said: "I've got to go, Jem. Take care of yourself, ok? I love you."

"Love you too," Jem echoed before Tessa hung up. Jem placed the phone on the bed next to him and buried his face in his hands. Speaking to Tessa eased his worry about her well-being, but it pained him that he could not be with her. He let his tears flow now. When Oscar came back into the room, he found Jem hunched over and sobbing quietly. The man said nothing but he sat beside him and put a hand on his shoulder in silent support.

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