Sally slid the needle containing the muscle relaxant into Amanda's arm and injected her. Jake and Ash had watched carefully, but Sally had carefully measured out what appeared to be a normal dose within the lines of the old-style hypodermic syringe, so they breathed a sigh of relief. So far, so good.
Around Amanda's head was a contraption with little saucers on the ends pressed against the exposed skin of her head, which would feed activity in her brain to the electroencephalogram. Carter had pulled the watch from his vest pocket as Sally had given Amanda the injection and kept glancing at the time. Lifting her arms to test if her muscles were relaxed would be useless, as she was limp already in her state.
On the right side of Amanda's temple were the two leads from the ECY machine. Carter had tightened the pressure cuff around Amanda's left ankle. "Are you ready, Nurse Smithson?" Carter looked at her. Sally nodded.
Carter reached for a dial on the old machine. "Administration of 800 milliamps of current, proceeding now." He turned the dial. Ash carefully watched the needle but Carter put it right on the number that said 800.
He briefly counted in his head, then said, "Ceasing current." Amanda just laid there for a few seconds and Jake's heart fell. But then Amanda's left foot started twitching, as though she were counting beats of a song. Sally held Amanda's wrist in her hand, counting the beats as the EGG machine rumbled to life and started printing squiggly lines on the thin paper.
But still, there was nothing. He wasn't sure how long it took for the effects to become shown, but Amanda did not open her eyes. Carter was looking at his watch and there was silence for several moments, only broken by Sally, continuing to count out the beats of Amanda's heart.
Carter glanced at the dial of the pocket watch and said, "The relaxant will have dissipated by now. Nurse Smithson? The printout?" Sally tore off the thin strip of paper and handed it to Carter, who studied it intently. "This is good news. The current produced a good amount of brain activity."
"But why isn't she awake?" Jake was looking at Amanda's still face and staring eyes, unable to suppress the panic in his voice.
"Even if the first treatment turns out to be successful, it's results aren't immediately shown. If she'd still unresponsive in..." He glanced at the face of his watch, "One hour, then we'll know by then that she's going to need at least one further treatment."
He rolled the seat he was sitting on in front of Jake, and to Ash's surprise, he actually reached out and touched Jake's shoulder in a gesture of reassurance. "The important thing is that she is not brain DEAD. The printout shows that clearly. It may take a few more tries to...In layman's terms, jump start the motor...But it CAN be. We can stimulate her mind and cease the mental blockage that has put her in this state."
Jake nodded again, staring at her face. Amanda blinked. Carter removed the electrodes and cuff from her ankle as Sally pressed a gauze pad over the injection site and placed a strip of medical adhesive over it to hold it in place.
"I of course assume you wish to remain here until she's awake. If it takes more than today, as you can see, the Entity has restored a number of beds to habitable use. Even if we felt the urge to harm you, not only would it be boring to do so in defenseless sleep, but the Entity has made it quite clear you're to come to no harm while you're here, and the punishment that we know is waiting for us if we do is more than enough deterrent to any leftover homicidal urges we may be feeling," Carter spoke matter-of-factly.
"I'm not going anywhere," Jake's voice was determined as he took Amanda's limp hand in his. Ash said, "Why not? I know Sally is itching to take my temperature later." Sally turned and gave Ash an eyeroll."
Carter stood up, glancing once more at his watch and said, "We'll check her status in...47 minutes." And with that, Carter and Sally departed the room.
"Shit," Jake muttered. "I thought she was going to get the shock, open her eyes, and all this would be over."
Ash shook his head. "The mind is a strange thing, my friend. Even though I don't have any idea in Hell what they were doing, it at least looked above board. He only gave her the current for like, five seconds."
"I'm so pissed at Kruger. What kind of nightmare did he give her that would just make her...Shut down like that? The Entity said something about her phobias, and I know she hates snakes. We haven't seen a snake here in 25 years, and yet I still see her watching the ground where she walks looking for one. But what's funny is she insists on being barefoot almost constantly. I asked her once how she could be terrified of a snake bite, yet give them a huge target. She said, 'Just 'cause I fear them doesn't mean I'll let them run my life.' I just laughed."
Ash chuckled at the story. "I'm feeling a lot better now. It's bizarre to see the two of them and realize that even though they're terrifying in the trial, they were just like us at one time."
Jake shrugged. "Amanda showed us that though. She was a killer, but quickly showed you and me that she'd been human once."
Ash let out a snort. "Amanda carried a knife and wore a pig mask. I mean the roar she did was creepy, but even then, she just looked like a probably-attractive chick wearing a rubber mask. And she wasn't all creepy zombie or anything. She just had that big birthmark that represented the bullet wound that killed her. Carter and Sally are way different, with that contraption on Carter's head and the way Sally levitates. It was easy to get over Amanda being a killer. It started pretty much the night she talked to me for the first time and pulled the mask off of her face. I remember thinking, why does a chick this hot hide her face?"
Ash looked at him with a shit-eating grin. "And when she took it off for you, you agreed with that thought so much you screwed her." Ash winked.
"She was really...Touched, when I showed up at Gideon with that toolbox of stuff for her, even though it was to help build the traps that killed us."
"Boy, I'll say she was touched. You and she did a lot of touching, and more. you never told me, but Amanda said when you paid her a visit, things got real hot, real fast." Ash elbowed him.
In a reflective tone, Jake said, "But thank God I did. I mean, can you imagine if she hadn't had her awakening? If she'd kept killing us until the Entity sent us both back? I mean, I can't imagine life without her. I was so scared of the thought of it that I brought her back here so she would go on living. She still struggles sometimes. I can see her suddenly stop and stare off into space like she's asking herself if she deserves me...Deserves this," Jake said, looking at her. "Every day I can see her working to improve herself and keep her insecurities at bay. Sometimes she fails hard, and I have to remind her that she's a beautiful, caring person and she does deserve this...Second, third, whatever chance she's been given."
He sighed. "We've essentially been together for 25 years, and yet she's still felt like, and allowed herself to be treated like garbage for a lot longer than that, because she felt it was what she deserved. Deep down, I know she's terrified of doing even one small thing that may upset our balance. But how can I blame her? I'm not being egotistical when I say this, because she's said it herself. I'm the first good thing that's ever happened to her. I mean...What a horrible way to live for as long as she has. How can someone fully heal who has spent 36 years having nothing good come her way?"
He shook his head. "I know she's tough, but she's also fragile in a way. I'll always reassure her when she needs it, but it breaks my heart that there's still a part of her, deep down, that feels like she doesn't deserve me, or deserve to be happy, because of what she was. Over time, I know she'll finally bury that self-doubt, but I wish she could see, now, that she's the girl of my dreams. She truly is. I've always liked a girl or women who was a touch older, a brunette, and wild."
He smiled slightly. "Maybe that's why we almost immediately had sex. I mean, she was a punk girl when she was younger. Drawn to guys from the band. My usual attire and long hair made me look the part, even though I'd probably try to use a guitar to shovel if you put it in my hands."
Ash chuckled.
"But I also know, that first time, that we were lonely. So desperately lonely. Her even more than me. She spent three years in that place, no friends, no one to talk to. The only contact she got with anyone was in a trial. She spent three years dwelling on how awful she was, how she was a garbage person, how she deserved it...And I showed up. And she talked to me. She told me all about herself. She was sexy, and a bit evil, and yet still funny, and I was there with my long hair, and my gift, and I was...Nice to her. She'd killed me off and on for three years, and I brought her that gift and it was like I was saying, I don't care who you were, i don't care what you've done. Here."
He sighed again. "And it felt so good, and so right. I think even then we were already opening our hearts to each other. She needed me, and I needed her, and what she doesn't fully realize sometimes is that I'm just as grateful to have her as she is to have me. I know that even if she hadn't changed sides, I still wouldn't have stopped seeing her," Jake said." Even if she'd spent the rest of the 22 years in only a quasi-guilty state, I'd have wanted her. When she finally joined us, she was brutally honest. She actually told me that I'd have an easier time dating anyone else in the camp than I would with her. Her opinion of herself was that low. I could see in her eyes that she was in mortal terror that I would listen, but she felt strongly enough about me, and so poorly of herself, that she'd have just considered our encounter a fling, and considered it done just because she didn't want to saddle me with her baggage."
"Jesus," Ash muttered, shaking his head. "It's a good thing she found you. I mean...I see how much happier she is with you, and how good you make her feel. Jane had to do the same thing with me. I was a pretty big asshole myself, shaking up with whatever hot piece of ass I could sweet-talk into it. She's helped ground me, puts up with my occasional automatic flirting, but most importantly, ain't afraid to call me out on my bullshit when necessary."
They heard footfalls in the distance, and then Carter appeared in the doorway with Sally in tow. "No change I see. We'll try again tomorrow, as soon as we can."
Ash said, "You mind if I wander around later? Old hospitals fascinate my ass, and in a trial, there's not much time for sightseeing. But...I wasn't sure if the hospitality ended where the restored areas of this place did. I won't mess with anything."
Carter smiled, "Of course. I won't suddenly appear behind you with my stick. It's a recreation of my institute, but a very close one. There was...A lot of history there."
With nothing now to do but wait, Jake reached into the small bag he'd brought, producing a deck of cards. He'd brought them for solitaire, but with Ash as a second, the two played countless games of Gin Rummy. When their backs started hurting, Jake fund a chair and set it next to Amanda's bedside, stroking her hair, holding her hand, talking softly to her as she quietly blinked.
Ash stepped out of the room. Christ, he felt bad for her. Especially because he knew what it had been like. His dad hadn't been an affectionate man. He'd never been physically abusive, but words hurt. When the shit had gone down in the cabin and Ash had initially been blamed, it had strained what little relationship they'd had even further. They'd only had a brief moment where his dad had said good things about him, before almost immediately being run over by the possessed Delta.
Amanda had only dropped in passing that he had a rough childhood when she'd told him about herself. Based on what Jake had just told him, she'd had no childhood at all, and even the freedom of being able to be an adult and live on her own, Ash knew, hadn't been any better. Her later years she'd been openly blunt about.
He supposed he'd been lucky. He'd had similar breaks and had just turned into an occasionally heroic asshole. Amanda had been so desperate for affection she'd taken a serial killer as her father figure. It could have easily been the path Ash fell down if things hadn't happened, like that damn cabin.
Ash wandered, looking at the old equipment. He almost touched something and stopped himself, a vision of Sally, white-eyed and howling rushing at him as soon as he made contact filling his brain. So far, the truce was going well, no need to fire any shots across the bow, just in case.
He never realized how massive this place was, and he was surprised at how much, even after all the trials he'd spent in there, he hadn't seen. His legs were tired from walking when he started back, got lost, found the right path, got lost again, and then finally emerged back in the "restored" hospital entrance.
Sally was seated at the reception desk thumbing through an old copy of National Geographic, seemingly waiting for the men in the white coats to drop off another patient. She looked up and smiled at him briefly, and again, he couldn't get over that this woman was the nurse. THE nurse.
When he got back into the room, he saw Jake had wedged himself into Amanda's bed, and had lifted her to rest on his chest. Her eyes were closed, and her cute little head rose and fell with each of Jake's breaths.
Christ, Ash thought, grinning. They really are just adorable together. Amanda was definitely the girl of his dreams, just as Jane was the girl of his, though it was hard for the asshole in him to admit it. If she ever truly realized she was slumming by picking him, he was in deep shit.
Ash untucked his shirt and settled into the empty bed next to Amanda's. He thought being in an unfamiliar environment with two people who seemed nice, but still had murderous tendencies roaming the halls might make sleep difficult, but within minutes, he was sawing logs like a champion.