Chapter 36…
Ashley's mind woke up long before her body did…
Her vision was pitch black, she had nothing to view other than the insides of her own eyelids. She couldn't find the strength to open up her eyes and view the world around her. Every single muscle in Ashley's body felt as heavy as lead; even something as simple as breathing felt draining.
But in this comatose state, Ashley could do little more than breathe - an autonomous function, and listen to the world around her.
And listen she did… because there was plenty to hear…
There were the sounds of struggle and the chaotic pattering of feet. Ashley could hear whispering and yelling, but the exact words and phrases were garbled and difficult to make out. Accompanying this cacophonous mess of sounds were the strange sensations on her body - she felt as if hands were squeezing down on her, only to release her just as quickly.
Finally, out of the babbling mess of sounds came a somewhat clear string of words…
"Get her on the table!" A single voice roared out over all the others.
Table? What table? Ashley couldn't remember being around any tables. The last thing she remembered was curling up and falling asleep in Cain's old cockpit - safe and warm.
Hey… wait a minute! She could see something!
On the inside of her eyelids Ashley was now watching small characters jump around. They were extremely bright and rapidly moving - like bolts of lightning; and they formed indecipherable characters that made Ashley's head ache in confusion. Ashley tasted something foul on her tongue; a taste akin to charred meat.
"Let her go!" The single voice roared again over the masses. Clear away! Move away everything!"
Like a light bulb being shut off, Ashley's brain went dark and the woman slipped back into unconsciousness.
The next time Ashley "woke up", no garbled voices occupied her head. She once again was stuck viewing the insides of her eyelids; this time, there were no strange flashes of light or indecipherable characters to keep her attention.
In this strange state of nothingness… Ashley began to hear the thrum of her own heartbeat…
'Thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum…'
It was a constant, rhythmic beat that began to fill Ashley's ears and occupy her mind.
And it was maddening to listen to…
'Thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum…'
An endless beat… Ashley could hear the muscle slamming against her ribcage and the blood roaring in her veins…
She could feel her own heart inside her chest. Expanding and contracting, expanding and contracting, expanding and contracting!
Again and again and again and again and again and again...
'Thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum…'
Ashley wanted to scream in frustration - but she couldn't, she wanted to slam her hands over her ears and drown out the noise - but she couldn't, she wanted to reach her hand into her chest and crush her heart so it stopped making such a racket…
'Thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum, thrum-thrum…'
But she couldn't… her body refused to obey her input…
After an indiscernible amount of time, Ashley mercifully slipped back into unconscious…
When Ashley "woke up" again, she found herself staring into the face of her mother…
This… was a memory that Ashley wasn't sure if she could still properly make out. She was only a toddler when her mother skipped town and left her husband and daughters on their own.
Ashley's mother had a face that was both like and unlike her own…
She had light brown eyes, and soft, mousy hair of a similar colour and tone. Her face betrayed Caucasian origins, with a straight nose and rounded eyes. Ashley could some of her own features on her mother's face; her slightly upturned nose, the gentle curve of her jaw, the way her thin eyebrows would knit together in a furrow.
But the look on her face wasn't all that motherly. She was looking down on Ashley with a rather unmoved expression and a cold gleam in her eyes.
Ashley silently watched from her high-chair as her mother turned to exit the apartment. She was dressed in business clothes, and picked up a matching travel case that had been left by the door.
She left without a word - closing the door with enough force that a rush of wind disturbed the letter she had left on the counter…
The long repressed memory ended there and Ashley was once again left in darkness...
Before, all that Ashley could see was pitch-black darkness…
Now, she was desperately wishing that her vision had stayed that way…
The bright, indecipherable characters were now dancing on the insides of Ashley's eyelids with frantic speed. They moved, twisted, turned and burned their images into the sensitive flesh of Ashley's eyes. A charred, rancid taste was lingering in Ashley's mouth as well...
Then there were the voices…
First, the voices were garbled but somewhat decipherable. But now all Ashley could hear were nonsensical strings of seemingly random words…
"Bed needle run stop flowers tree!" One voice frantically shouted - it sounded vaguely feminine.
"Hold stop struggle bad good calm now!" Another voice shouted back; this one was deeper and rather masculine.
Ashley felt a pinprick pain on her shoulder and once again slipped into unconsciousness…
'Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep…'
If Ashley's heart had been bad, the new sound was even worse. The steady beeping wormed its way into Ashley's ears and was making her head spin.
Perhaps it was just annoyance, but Ashley managed to crack open her eyes a little...
It was a titanic effort, and even the tiniest motions were enough to make the dark haired woman feel drained. Ashley's persistence won, however, and her eyes managed to crack open just enough to view the ceiling above her head.
The ceiling was white and unremarkable… and now Ashley was confused; the ceiling of Cain's cockpit looked nothing like this. That, and his cockpit was so cramped… why was the ceiling so high now?
Curling her fingers and feeling them sluggishly obey her commands, Ashley's hands made contact with soft sheets. She just barely managed to lift her head - the slightest motions were making her vision spin.
A light blue gown had been slipped over her at some point. Ashley's arms were wrapped up in multiple layers of bandages. Next to her wrists were two shackle-restraints, but neither of them had been closed around her arms.
'Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep…'
Ashley weakly growled in annoyance and turned her head to find the awful beeping noise. Propped up next to where she was lying was a strange looking machine. The central monitor was resting atop a thin pole and a representation of her heart rate was jerking around on the screen.
Ashley's heart rate visibly spiked when a crashing realization fell over her…
She wasn't in Cain's cockpit anymore…
Ashley tried to move off of the bed she was laying on, but her muscles felt slow and heavy - as if weights had been hung off of her joints. She moved about an inch before collapsing back onto the sheets from sheer exhaustion. Her vision was spinning, and her tongue felt more parched than it ever had in her entire life.
The dark haired woman nearly gagged when she spotted the tubes that had been jabbed into her left arm. Said tubes led upwards to a rack that held several IV bags filled with clear liquid.
There was a clicking noise from the room's door and Ashley moved her vision in the direction of the noise. Light from the open door poured into the room and a man's silhouette quickly entered Ashley's view.
"Who… are you…?" Ashley rasped out. Something as simple as speaking felt incredibly laborious.
The silhouette of the man froze and quickly darted out of the room.
"Come… back…" Ashley breathed out. With her strength failing, the dark haired woman let her head collapse back down onto her pillow; her eyes were closed the moment it did.
Ashley felt two calloused fingers gently pry apart her eyelids. A bright light shone down onto her bloodshot eyes, simultaneously blinding her while also creating a burning sensation.
A rattling hiss of annoyance escaped Ashley's lips and the fingers released their grip on her eyes - shrouding her vision in comforting darkness.
"Can you hear me?" A deep voice uttered. The voice was clear and their tone easily discernible; however, a thick accent hung off of their words.
"Can you hear me in there?" The accented voice repeated again. "Can you squeeze my hand? Do you feel it?"
Ashley felt rough fingers pressing against the calloused skin of her palm. She curled her own fingers in response, feeling the tips of her digits brush against skin that was not her own.
"Good… good!" The thick voice chuckled. "Very good! Now… can you open your eyes up? I promise you… I will not shine a light into them… for now, at least."
Ashley obeyed the voice's request. She cracked her eyes open as best as she could, once again viewing the white ceiling above her head.
Suddenly, her vision was obscured by the face of another person. Her view was somewhat blurry, but she could make out pale skin and the fabric of a mask pulled up over their mouth.
"Easy now…" The cloth mask moved in motion with the person's mouth. Ashley could just make out the dark blue colour of their eyes. "I know that you're tired… would you like some water?"
Ashley moved her tongue and lips into position…
"Yes…"
The stranger disappeared from view but re-appeared moments later. Ashley felt rough fingers gently lift the back of her head as the rim of a cup was placed against her dry lips.
"Drink…"
Ashley did as the stranger requested. The water tasted absolutely glorious and helped greatly to reduce the terrible taste on Ashley's tongue. She drank greedily, emptying the cup to the very last drop.
"More?" The masked stranger's accented voice called out softly.
"Yes…"
Ashley drained three more cups of water before she was finally satisfied.
"How do you feel?" The stranger asked Ashley. "Do you need to rest for a while? Or do you have a moment to talk?"
Ashley still felt dead tired, but the fresh water had done much to clear away her fatigue and had lessened her headache.
"I-" Ashley's voice cracked for a moment, but the words were coming to her more easily. "I… can speak…"
"Good," the stranger nodded, his blue eyes twinkling. "How about I sit you up for a moment?"
The blurry face disappeared from view. All of a sudden, Ashley heard a cranking noise and felt her world shifting as her torso was manually propped up.
Now in a seated position, Ashley had a better view of the room around her. The walls, floor, and ceiling were painted an unremarkable white. Other than the medical equipment and a wall mounted sink there was no real furniture to speak of.
On Ashley's far left was a large window. The curtains had been opened to allow some natural light into the room and Ashley could spot the blue skies outside.
Turning her attention back to the room's other occupant, Ashley finally got a clear look at him.
Seated in a chair next to Ashley's bed was a man in white doctor's scrubs. He had glasses perched atop the bridge of his large nose and a disposable mask covered up his mouth. Two sharp blue eyes peered through the glass of his spectacles, and the skin around the sockets was tight with age. His hair was iron grey and was noticeably thinner around the top of his head.
"There we go, face-to-face," the doctor held up his hands and leaned into his seat. "How do you feel?"
"Like shit…" Ashley coughed out. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and tried her best to rein in her breathing. "Where am I?"
"A hospital," the doctor answered. Ashley once again took note of his very thick accent.
"Yeah…" Ashley grumbled. "I'm pretty sure that I knew that already…"
A small chuckle escaped the doctor's lips, ruffling the fabric of his mask.
"And here I was thinking that my bedside manner was good…" The doctor's eyes twinkled with amusement.
Ashley felt a spike of guilt and drew her lips into a tight line. "Sorry…"
"It's quite alright," the doctor re-assured. He reached up and gently tugged down the mask he wore over his mouth. His dark pink lips were chapped from age and his mouth was surrounded by a whiskery grey beard. "I know that you are confused. You are in a clinic on the planet Antheia…"
"I-" Ashley took a moment to swallow. "Right… I never caught your name..."
"Ah, yes," the doctor took a moment to smooth down the creases of his white coat. "I am Doctor Fedorov, the head doctor at this clinic. Can you tell me your name, perhaps?"
Ashley paused for a moment, unsure of what to do.
There was now way they knew who she was. But this was still a Militia controlled planet and she had been part of the IMC. Still, to Ashley's knowledge she wasn't all that well known to the Militia.
"Ashley," Ashley bit her lower lip for a moment. "Ishikara…"
"Ah!" Doctor Fedorov leaned back into his chair. "Finally, the long-awaited mystery has been answered. Tell me, Miss Ashley… you are not from Antheia, are you?"
"No…" Ashley head spun for a moment. Had she made a mistake by giving her real name? She was in no condition to fight her way out of her situation. "How do you know?"
"A hunch," Fedorov tightened his lips into a grimace. "Tell me… did you happen to drink from any streams? Any rivers, perhaps?"
Ashley racked her brain for a moment, the answer quickly coming to her. "Yes… once or twice, but the memories are fuzzy."
"I see, it appears my hunch about you being from off-planet was correct," Doctor Fedorov took a moment to adjust his glasses. He lifted the spectacles gently off of his nose and rubbed the lenses on his coat. "There is a rule on Antheia, you see. That rule… is that you never drink directly from the rivers and streams."
"Why?" Ashley rasped out.
"Antheia is known for its many flowers," Doctor Fedorov gestured towards the room's window. "They are quite beautiful to look at… but are dangerous for consumption. Chemicals from the roots often leak into the rivers. These chemicals can cause… powerful hallucinations…"
A dark chuckle escaped from Ashley's lips. "Is that so?"
"Indeed," Fedorov nodded. "What is the last thing you remember before drinking from the rivers?"
Ashley paused for a long moment. She had vivid memories of the attack on the city and the defensive tower - but by telling the exact truth she would be outing herself as an enemy.
She hoped that her weak physical state would help convince the Doctor of her lie…
"I was a worker… but I don't remember much…" Ashley ground out. "I'm new to Antheia and the city was attacked… I ran off and got lost…"
"And then you drank from a stream at some point, yes," Fedorov finished, leaning back into his chair again. "Are you perhaps referring to the attack on New-Vladivostok?"
"Maybe…?" Ashley blinked and worked her head into the soft fabric of her pillow. In truth, she had never actually caught the name of the base the IMC was attacking - Blisk hadn't seen the information as relevant.
"Brace yourself," the doctor mumbled. "That was well over two weeks ago…"
Ashley felt her stomach flop around in her gut.
"Two weeks?" Ashley choked out incredulously. "I've been stumbling around for two weeks?"
"Not exactly, we found you one week ago, so you were only stumbling around for seven days out of the fourteen," Doctor Fedorov explained. "Still… New Vladivostok is over fifty kilometers from here, so you must have walked the distance while in a daze."
"Jesus…" Ashley whispered under her breath. The realization of what the doctor said was now crashing down on her. Had she really spent a week stumbling around with no memory? Had she really walked fifty kilometers in that time… just walking blindly?
Had… anything she had seen actually been real…?
"Uh…" Ashley blinked for a moment. "Where is 'here', exactly?"
"You are in a small village called Okraina…" Doctor Fedorov answered. "Last week some of the workers found you outside of town. You were curled up in a hollowed out tree stump and acting quite deranged…"
The doctor stopped for a moment and held up his hand. He pinched his pointed and finger together to indicate size - about the diameter of a small coin.
"Your pupils were dilated, and this big… so the workers already knew what was going on…"
Doctor Fedorov lowered his hand.
"You were quite violent so we had to restrain you, but then the seizures started. We had no choice but to induce a coma," the Doctor wiped his glasses. "Your wounds and lacerations were rather serious as well. We have you on antibiotics to stave off infection… all things considered you are very lucky."
"Right…" Ashley felt herself nodding off.
"You must be tired… the drugs can make you feel that way…" Doctor Fedorov mumbled.
He was right… Ashley did suddenly feel exhausted…
The dark haired woman heard a cranking noise as her torso was lowered back down.
"Why don't you get some more rest, yes? We can speak more when you wake up… I am sure that you have more questions, as do I."
"Sure doctor…" Ashley mumbled, her eyes beginning to close. "Thanks…"
"You're welcome…"
Ashley once again fell unconscious.