Sarah
There was a boy that was burned… I could tell. His skin was rubbing against his pants and it felt like he was poking it. It caused me a lot of pain… but not as much as what another subject was feeling.
It's going to end soon…
Soon…
It's going to end soon…
I can tell that she is going to die soon. My skull is splitting. I think they're trying to get her brain to be like mine.
Poor girl.
Make the cut here…
Cut here…
Here…
Now pass the scalpel. I have a vein.
Vein….
Vein…
I felt the knife slice.
I screamed.
They didn't give her anesthesia.
Needs more anesthesia…
More anesthesia…
Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithur-
Done.
Some relief… my skull was still splitting.
I couldn't stop screaming. My screams echoed back at me four or five times.
Done…
Done…
That's better… now hand me the scissors…
Scissors…
Here.
I felt the scissors being slapped into a hand. They were cold. Icy.
I smelled blood, too. I felt like I was going to be sick. The smell was smelled by five people.
Almost done.
Done...
Done…
She's flatlined!
Flatlined…
Flatlined…
Panic rose in my chest. Not mine; theirs.
They were running around, zapping the girl's chest.
I jumped as the zapping things were dropped to the floor.
I jumped as her heart restarted and the electric current ran through me.
I felt happy. Again, it was their happiness. The sounds of clapping and laughter ran through my head over and over.
And then I lay there while they sewed her head closed. She needed more anesthesia. The needle tugged and pulled… it didn't hurt as much as the surgery had, though.
And then everything became louder.
The clapping increased.
The cheering increased.
Every noise and thought and taste and smell and feel increased.
What's going on? I thought.
Going on…
Going on…
Pain erupted in my head. I clutched it, not sure if it was because of me or because of the girl's head.
And then:
Surgery successful! See the levels of brain activity?
Levels of brain activity…
Levels of brain activity…
Brain activity…
Activity…
What's going on?
That thought wasn't mine. It almost sounded like…
Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? I think you can read minds, too! Hope fluttered in my chest.
And then my thoughts bounced back. A smile split my face as I received an answer.