I was awake around 5 am and it had been a little more than a week since I entered rehab, and all of the patients that were in the recovery before I got there were gone now. I was the veteran that was in there the longest and scheduled to be released later that day. I was a little bit too excited about my soon to be had freedom to sleep.
I looked out of the window into the bailey at a group of initiates standing at attention in formation for role call. Some other soldiers were shooting at paper targets on the other side of the courtyard. Around the circumference of the baily there was a track where a few officers were doing their morning jog.
At around fifteen minutes passed the hour I saw Arthur emerge from one of the doors. He was wearing an athletic outfit, and he began doing stretches.
A few seconds later Danse came out the same door as Arthur and joined him. I wondered what changed Arthur's mind to keep Danse, a known synth, alive. I was sure Danse was interrogated for any Institute secrets, and after Arthur and other elders were satisfied with knowing that Danse, was truly Danse, his consciousness just transferred into the machine shell he is now in, he was let back into the Brotherhood.
Arthur stopped stretching and began laughing at something that Danse said to him. He smacked Danse on the back and they started jogging around the track. I watched as they talked and jogged around the track for a half hour.
They walked over to a spot where martial arts were usually taught and began a sparring. They began the usual spar game the Brotherhood called Best of Three. The other officers that were jogging circled around the sparring field.
Arthur and Danse bowed at each other then took their fighting stances. They hopped around for a bit then Danse took the first shot which Arthur easily avoided. They both shot jabs at each other and tried to throw the other to the ground. Arthur finally got Danse into a compromising position and was able to throw him to the ground. The other officers cheered as Arthur help Danse up and they once again bowed at each other for round 2.
They both were more aggressive in round 2. Danse landed more jabs this time and was able to trip Arthur up, so he fell backwards. The officers cheered again as Arthur was being pulled up by Danse's right arm.
The crowd around them had grown substantially as they began their 3rd and final round. They bowed to each other again, and Danse yelled some smack at Arthur which made the crowd react laughter and ohs. A lot of jabs were hitting one another, and attacks were made, but nothing sly enough to trip the other up. Finally, Arthur tricked an attack with a right jab but quickly hit Danse in the side with his left that threw Danse off balance, which Arthur took advantage of and was able to trip him up with his legs to flip Danse to the ground. The crowed cheered again as Arthur pulled Danse to his feet.
"Good try old friend," I read Athur's lips as he gave Danse a pat on his back. He said something else to him, but I couldn't make it out.
The crowd dispersed and Arthur and Danse walked toward the door and went through it.
I walked out the dormitory door toward the nurse's station for my morning vitals of blood pressure and temperature.
"You're up early," one of the nurses said. "I hear you're leaving us today."
"Yeah," I said. "I can't wait."
"You're one of those patients that I am sure won't be in here again," she said wrapping the cuff to the blood pressure machine around my arm.
"Not if I can help it," I said assuredly. "There is no way that I want that crap in my body again."
"See," the nurse said to another nurse behind the counter. "I told you she wasn't like the others."
"Like the others," I questioned her.
"You don't have that addict personality," she wrote down my readings onto a chart. "You didn't take up smoking or anything else to fill the spot of the chems."
"I did take up knitting," I said with a worried tone. Jody taught me how to knit before she left. It took a few hours, but I finally got the hang of it, and I rather enjoy it.
"That was just to pass the time away," she reassured me. "Knitting isn't a habit."
I smiled at her.
"I'll have your paperwork done by after breakfast," she smiled back. "Cade will just have to sign off on it, then you are free."
"Great," I said.
After breakfast I sat in my usual spot in the common area. I was knitting to help me keep my mind off of the slow passing of time.
Cade walked in and grabbed my chart from behind the desk and looked up at me.
"Do you have a moment," he asked me with a smile.
"Let me check my schedule," I said jokingly and walked toward him.
He led me into a small office that was usually used for one-on-one talks between Greg and the other patients.
"How are you doing," he asked me seriously. "And before you answer me with the typical 'fine' answer, I am concerned with everything that you have been through. Not just with the addiction and the slavery incidents, but everything over the past few years. You have been through a lot, Alice, more than any normal person can handle."
"So are you finally confirming that I might be a little batshit crazy," I asked sarcastically.
"I am being serious, Alice," he said. "I am merely concerned how you are coping with everything. I am sure you learned the tools for coping with stress and anger while in here, but you have had a lot put on your plate."
"I guess just to hear someone confirm that I have been through a lot," I said seriously, "makes all of these feelings I have justifiable."
"What kind of feelings are you having," he asked.
"I do have a lot of anger and bitterness pent up inside of me," I said. "But I don't have one specific person to blame for everything. All of the things that happened to me were circumstantial and they couldn't be avoided. And I guess…"
I thought for a few moments, and he waited for me to continue.
"I guess they are what make me who I am," I finally said. "But these feelings don't control me or make me want to seek retribution. And they sure as hell don't make me want to take something that suppresses them."
We sat and looked at each other for a few minutes. I guess he was processing what I just told him. Maybe he was trying to convince himself that I wasn't his typical idea of an addict.
"When you leave here," he finally said. "It is going to be difficult… well maybe not difficult… You will need to make some serious adjustments to your freedom. It can be overwhelming at first."
"I understand," I said.
"Just try to get yourself back into a daily routine," he said. "Make and keep a schedule for the first week or so. I'll let Arthur know what is expected of you."
"What is expected of me," I asked.
"Office detail only," he said writing in my medical file. "I cannot fully reinstate you."
"Understood," I said.
"I am going to recommend you for some officer physical training," he said. "You have been out of service for a few months now and probably… most definitely need it."
"Agreed," I said.
"Well," he looked up at me one last time. "If you get your things, I can escort you out."
"I don't have any things," I said. "I came in here with nothing."
"Congratulations, Alice," He said shaking my hand. "on being clean."
