BLISSFUL IGNORANCE
EyghonAuthor's notes: I added a paragraph right before posting so I didn't ask Lenafan to correct it in order to not delay the posting. So if you find any mistake, it's my fault entirely.
Chapter 4: Ready?
Sydney had been in Irina's care for one week. The approximate delay the woman had given her people to find a cure had expired and yet Sydney hadn't been back to the lab for days. She decided to drop by the facility to check on things. The building was situated right beside the house and sheltered two dozen scientists, doctors and nurses.
Inside, instead of the bubbling activity she expected, she only found a young lab assistant doing dishes.
"Excuse me, where is everyone?" She asked him.
"They're gone lady. They left three days ago."
"Why did they leave? Weren't they working on something?"
"Yeah but they're done. Those guys are good!"
Sydney left there in shock. The cure was ready and her mother had lied to her. She had to get out of here.
"Let go damn it!" Yelled Sydney to the man who was dragging her toward the house.
He didn't reply anything and they arrived at Irina's study. He knocked and came in, dragging Sydney with her.
"What is going on?" Asked Irina, getting up from behind her desk.
"I found her snooping around the cars, she wanted to escape." He still hadn't let go of her arm. That would bruise.
"Escape? Sydney if you want to go, just ask. You're not a prisoner here, you're a guest."
"Yeah right, tell that to your watchdog," she spat venomously.
"Let go Martial, that's unnecessary. Leave us now."
Reluctantly, the big man left the study and closed the door behind him. No doubt he was standing on the other side, ready to pounce on Sydney once again.
"I want to leave and I want to leave now!" Declared Sydney, daggers flying from her eyes.
"Why? What happened?"
"It's been one week. You had the cure for days and didn't tell me!"
"Sydney…"
"You lied to me, you never had any intention of helping me!"
"It's not what you think Sydney!"
"Oh yeah? Then what is it? Come on, tell me, tell me another one of your lies!"
"I wanted to spend a few more days with you, that's all…I'm sorry I lied to you, that was wrong and selfish of me, but I just wanted a few more days with my daughter." Everyday they shared breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Irina couldn't really ask Sydney anything about herself as she didn't remember, and Sydney had sensed that Irina was reluctant to bond with her, for reasons she did not disclose. So they would only make small talk, about the food, the weather, the house, the beach…but those were moments Irina treasured.
Sydney looked at her, stunned. Could it be the truth? Yes. The woman was so twisted, that was quite possible.
Irina went on, "before you got amnesia, you and I weren't on the best of terms. As soon as you get your memory back I'll lose you." She sighed. "You will go back to hating me with all your heart and I couldn't stand that. I knew I would have to, eventually, but I…couldn't let go just yet. I'm sorry I was unfair to you."
She turned toward her safe and reached inside for a bottle full of brownish liquid. "Here it is. If you would follow me we can proceed right away." She made her way to the door, Sydney in tow.
Neither Sydney nor Irina spoke a word until they reached the laboratory.
A man in a white coat joined them. Sydney recognised him as the leader of the team of doctors that had performed tests on her. Dr Kruger, her mother had called him.
"Miss Derevko, Miss Bristow," he greeted, dipping his head.
"Doctor," greeted Irina back, handing him the bottle taken from her safe. Sydney merely nodded in his direction and carefully observed him.
"Follow me please." He led them to the same area Sydney had occupied during her testing sessions. It hadn't been as bad as she had first expected. They had drawn some blood, took some saliva and urine. Annoying but not painful. Until they had asked for a sample of bone marrow. That had hurt like hell, even though she was anaesthetized at the time. She had been told parts of the cure were actually in herself and that the scientists were trying to figure out what it was exactly, hence the repetitive tests. "Make yourself comfortable and we can start," the doctor told Sydney, smiling one of those typical doctor's fake smiles that were supposed to be reassuring.
She settled on the dentist-type chair and yelped in protest when he reached for her wrist to put her in restraints. "Hey! What the hell are you doing?" She asked outraged.
"Uh…" He looked from Sydney to Irina and back, uncertainty written all over his face. "I thought you had been told of the eventual effects of what we're about to inject you with…Miss Derevko?"
"My apologies Doctor, I'm afraid we've been rushing this. I thought she may have questions for you and that you would be best suited to explain to her what we already discussed."
"What is going on?" interrupted Sydney, standing on the other side of the chair.
"Hum…we couldn't test the serum, obviously, so we are not sure how your body will react to it. What we do know is that some of its components may cause a seizure. Nothing serious I assure you, but we don't want you accidentally hurting yourself if that happens."
Sydney took a deep breath, processing the information.
"You can still forget about the cure and go back to Los Angeles to your current way of life, Sydney. There's no obligation of doing anything you don't feel comfortable doing." Irina too was not so sure using the cure was a good idea. Too many unknown factors for her liking.
"No. I want to do it; I need to do it. You were right, I can't live my life like this. The people who are supposed to be my friends, my colleagues, my family, they don't recognize me. It's as if I have no one, not even myself. I can't stand it anymore, this…emptiness. Whatever it takes to get back the way I was, no matter how screwed it was I don't care. Let's do this."
The doctor dipped his head in appreciation and secured her hands and feet with the leather restraints hooked on the chair device. Sydney concentrated on breathing rhythmically through her nose, trying to ignore the fact that she was tied down and very vulnerable.
Irina, sensing her daughter's distress, took hold of her hand and squeezed. "Try to relax. You are going to be just fine and as soon as we are sure you are all right I'll release you and you can go home. You have my word Sydney." She was sincere and tried to convey it but doubted Sydney believed her fully.
Sydney heard her mother's comforting words but couldn't find peace in them. Her eyes darted back and forth, going from the doctor to nurse, trying to read what they were thinking. In a matter of minutes, they had hooked her to a cardiac monitor, brought in a respirator and an array of other machines. "Just in case," said the doctor. She had watched, helpless, as electrodes were placed on her forehead and her chest. Her mother hadn't moved, still holding her hand tightly, massaging it as she had done on the plane.
Sydney squeezed back in thanks. Irina stopped her rubbing for a second, surprised and touched by the gesture. Her daughter didn't look at her, but Irina felt closer to Sydney than ever before. She went back to running circles in Sydney's palm, a soothing motion her own mother had showed her, decades ago.
"All set," announced the nurse controlling all the blipping machines.
The doctor turned around to face Sydney and Irina, a syringe and the bottle of liquid in hand. "Ready?" He asked Sydney kindly.
"I guess," she replied, a knot in her throat making her voice hoarse.
He nodded and proceeded to fill the syringe with the appropriate amount of brownish solution. He went to stand beside Irina and tear off the patch on her left arm. It was designed to make the patient's veins pop out, making them easier to be injected. The needle entered her skin and Sydney closed her eyes, clenching her teeth.
In her head, there was nothing. Nothing but excruciating pain.
The first thing Sydney noticed when she awoke was that she was still strapped down to the dentist-type chair. Only a vague memory of pain existed in her head. She couldn't tell how much time had passed since she had been injected with the green stuff but her throat felt oddly different. Raw, as if she had been screaming her head off for the past six hours. She had no idea how close to the truth she was.
Where was she? She felt different. Everything around her felt different. The next thing she felt was a hand gripping hers. It was her mother's hand. It came back to her then, the amnesia, Irina in her house, the tests, and the brownish remedy…
Her eyes popped open, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds until she felt her mother withdraw her hand and move away. She glanced at her then, and was greeted by the expressionless face of Irina Derevko, number six on the CIA most wanted list.
Irina had felt it the second Sydney had regained consciousness. Her posture, the stiffening of her muscles, the sharp look in her eyes, the hyper-awareness of her surroundings…everything screamed 'CIA agent'. Sydney was back. Irina had no further business staying here. Taking a few steps back, she watched, somewhat saddened, as Sydney visibly regained full control of her thoughts.
The doctor moved forward, penlight in hand. He checked Sydney's pupils and nodded approvingly to himself. The nurse seemed satisfied with the readings on her screens and nodded to the doctor. "Miss Bristow?"
"I'm fine," mumbled Sydney, anxiously glancing at her restraints. It was time to see if Irina would keep her promise. The doctor left her side and the nurse started taking off the electrodes and the blood-pressure clamp from her finger. She made no motion to free Sydney and left the room as soon as she was done with her work.
Sydney could still feel Irina's strong presence in the room, but didn't want to look her way to check. Two burly men dressed in black suits came forward. They wordlessly took off the leather bounds strapping her body to the chair and helped her stand.
They put her hands behind her back and cuffed her. "What…?" She started asking, worried and surprised.
TBC