Speaking with Lily would be much more difficult than expected in her current state: the woman slept curled up on the couch provided in a room attached to what was supposed to eventually become her room while she recuperated. He looked around the room and then rose, watching her carefully while he backed out of the room. He himself was absolutely starved.
She slept soundlessly, propped up on the arm of the couch by her own folded arms, her legs tucked tight beneath her body. When she'd finished dressing in a sweater and a pair of one size too big jeans, her demeanor changed immediately. It must be nice to wear clothes, or things that cover and protect the body.
Once outside he shrugged Wilder off long enough to locate the cafeteria. The dining hall, which was about the size of a few New York sized Starbucks connected to form one open cavity, held more people than should be capable and smelled of burnt coffee mixed with old macaroni and cheese. He grabbed a tray and ran it along the metal bars, looking over the food. For so long he'd been eating microwaved dishes brought to you by Hungryman or Banquet-not even the good kind of frozen dinners.
By the time he paid for his "meal" the tray weighted so much that he had to carry it with two hands, smelled sickeningly delicious. He'd grabbed some white rice, a cucumber salad with sesame ginger dressing, a spicy tuna sushi roll, an eel roll, a salmon and avocado roll, shrimp and vegetable tempura and a bowl of green tea ice cream. Whoever invented the Japanese section of the buffet should be given some sort of award, not only because it was his favorite type of food, but from the looks of it-it was well made. It cost him $23 but when the woman asked to see his ID, she immediately let him pass without paying as if he were some sort of infamous superstar. He didn't mind the star treatment to be honest and though she looked at him oddly, he didn't care at all.
He sat down in the rear of the dining room at a two person table that was free of people, crumbs or otherwise. Halfway through his meal James, of all people, sat at the table. The geologist looked nervous, afraid, something must be wrong.
"Billy, you need to get Lily back to the island," he said softly, eyes slightly frantic.
"And why is that? They're just getting her to talk."
"People don't want her here at all, Billy. The other day in the Suburban I heard the guys up front talking about her. One of them said that they were going to kill her and do tests on her body and another said they've got a deal already with Discovery channel or something to do a huge special on her including all of these horrible tests. They only want to exploit her for money. But that's not the worst of it, Billy," he said nearly panting, struggling to keep his voice down with how fast he was talking.
"Oh?" Billy mumbled between bites of his shrimp tempura.
"No, that's not it!" the enthusiastic and 20 years his junior geologist really made Billy feel excited at times-even if it was for a mediocre, non-exciting thing. This, however, seemed genuine. "InGen bought out another corporation and are using the name of the other corporation to open a new dinosaur park on Santa Catalina Island. They're already bought the land from the government and are getting the rights to build."
Billy's chopsticks fell to the tabletop, his jaw hanging open.
Lily paced back and forth in the living room attached to her soon-to-be bedroom. She pounded on the walls, groaning and constantly whining lowly under her breath. Her eyes were wide, red and frantic, roiling with tears that threatened to fall. The living room was a total wreck: the couch was flipped over, cushions strewn across the room, a glass coffee table was shattered, the lampshade from the only lamp in the room had a hole punched in it, the blinds were twisted-a few ripped from the hangers.
Billy, still shaken by what James had told him in the cafeteria, ran as fast as he could through the halls. The intercom buzzed frantically as a woman, possibly the psychologist based on the lazy drawl signifying her Texan hailing, who called him to her room.
As he got close, two men and the psychologist ran to him, guiding him the rest of the way.
"She's gone absolutely mad!" said the psychologist, "I think she's having a psychotic break. Too much stimuli."
"Someone has to pay for everything in that Goddamn room!" the man in the business suit said.
The security guard stepped in, holding his hands up, "They wouldn't let me taze her."
"I fucking wonder why…" Billy said, pushing past him and opening the door.
Immediately he was hit with a long strip of white blinds, causing a welt that crossed his jaw and stung his ear. He cupped it and stepped back, slamming the door shut before she could run out. Instead, she ran flush into him, smacking him back against the wall.
Pushing against him she smacked and clawed, her nails popping a button as she fought him, screaming loud. "Let me out! I need to get out!" she stared at him, "Out! Move!" She grabbed the handle of the door and rattled it until he grabbed her shoulders hard, pulling her from the door. He was surprised at how strong she was, how easily she fought against him. He certainly wasn't the Rock, but he had quite a bit of strength and she seemed to have quite a bit more.
She pushed him off of her, "Let me out, Billy."
Her growl shook him. He regained his balance, shaking his head, "You can't leave, Lily. I can't help you. I have no authority in what happens to you. Do you get that?"
"Of course, I do. I'm not stupid!"
He looked down at his feet, sighing softly, "I know you're not. You know that's not what I meant-what I'm saying is that you have to stay here and cooperate until they let you go."
"Will they?" she threw her hands down, walking over the glass as if it didn't faze her at all, her bare feet leaving bloody footprints over the carpet as she crossed to the window. She pulled the blinds and pointed out, "Where am I?"
"You're going to need a band aid."
"I'm fine. Answer me."
"San Diego, California."
Her head slowly turned back to the window where she looked out at the ocean from the naval complex where the compound was located. She shook slightly, her shoulders trembling. A few blinks and she started to slump over. Billy was there before she hit the ground. The door opened and in came the security guard followed by a nurse with a small carrying case filled with medical supplies.
Billy carried her through a door into Lily's bedroom where he laid her down on the bed. He looked over at the nurse, "What happened to her?"
"Sensory overload, her mind probably just shut down," she said and went to working on Lily's feet. She went about taking a tweezer to the glass chunks in her foot, collecting them in a small plastic dish much like a short pill bottle.
He looked down, realizing that he'd been stroking her temple with her head in his lap. Clearing his throat, he gently laid her down, moving to lean against a dresser and cross his arms over his chest-his signature stance. "How do we get her to adapt better to all the stimuli?"
The woman shook her head, gently padding a swab with alcohol on the bottoms of Lily's feet. Her toes twitched as the woman added healing antibiotic ointment to the wounded soles. In a matter of moments, her calloused feet were wrapped in gauze. The nurse moved up to check her vitals, "Her blood pressure is a little high… I would say that maybe a valium could help her out, but we don't know how her body would react to it. I'm guessing that she'll get just as sick if not more than she was when you first came here. I don't want to test her. You'll have to calm her yourself."
"Why me? I'm not her care taker. It is not my job…" Billy shook his head. Under any other circumstances he would be gone, out of the situation and not have anything to deal with it if he could help himself. This was different though. He talked a lot about it, but didn't necessarily mean it. Deep down he wanted to leave-sure he did-but not alone. If he could, he'd take her back to the island to live out her life as she'd been doing for the last 14 years. Unfortunately, no one, not even Billy, thought to ask Lily what she wanted. "I have no authority over her or anyone here," he said, still stroking her temple affectionately, "She's not my damned responsibility."
"You signed a contract, she is your 'damned responsibility.' Whether you like it or not, you're her legal guardian until she's evaluated by the shrink for adult mental capacity," the security guard said quietly.
Billy rolled his eyes. The nurse laughed and stood, Lily must have been relatively healthy enough for her to take a step back. She turned to Billy, "You're stuck with her."