2 White and Black

I hear the muffled sounds of people talking to each other, chatter I can't understand, then it goes dark, I hear the sounds of machines, beeps are alarms. I feel the warmth of touch, then it fades away to black.

It feels like my eye lids are tied down with boulders, my body doesn't hurt. I don't know if I'm alive, my thoughts are with me, my body is not cooperating though. After laying for a while to soak in all of noise around me I try to open my eyes.

Steadily opening my eyes was a chore. The room was so bright and white they wanted to instinctively shut. Finally, after many failed openings, I'm able to keep them open. After giving my heavy eyes time to adjust, I could clearly see that I am alive. Scanning the area around me I notice first my body is covered in bandages, the only color to bounce off of them were the black straps holding me down.

Tears start racing down my cheeks, all of my emotions just started flooding out all at once. I'm laying on an actual bed. I turn my gaze to a window that wasn't obstructed. Such a beautiful view, I thought.

There were short trees with white flowers blooming and the wind was whisking away the pedals. People outside walking around without a care. Mechanical vehicles were zooming down a road in the distance. I had no idea this world was so advanced.

After taking a deep breath I come to the realization that I am alive. This place must be some sort of medical facility.

Just as I sigh in relief, I look over to see a woman standing in the doorway, she was small bodied, and blended in with the white of the room. She turned around after staring at me for what seemed forever and started yelling as she ran out of the room, "Doctor Bryce, Doctor Bryce!" As her voice reaches out of hearing range I hear her say with her raised voice say "He's awake!" It sounded like she was happy that I woke up. A part of me felt something when she spoke her words. It is hard to describe, it's like, I could feel her sincerity in her voice. Like she was genuinely happy I was awake.

Shortly after she returned dragging an elderly man by the arm she pointed at me, "See, I told you sir." she said as she was trying to regain her breath.

"Indeed you did Nurse Flores, now let's get a full re work up on him and I want all this done yesterday." he said in deep, gruff tone.

"Right away doctor" she said with urgency as she had one foot already out of the door.

The doctor approached me and flashed another light in each of my eyes while staring at them. His eyes were a gentle blue, like a still ocean. He kept talking to him self in low mumbles. He looked like he was quite old, his skin was wrinkled and his hair was dull gray. He was short, his coat almost swallowed him whole.

After checking some of the machines behind me he finally spoke to me.

He talked really slow trying to mask his gruff tone, "Do you understand me?" emphasizing each word as if he was talking to a child. I nodded back anyways.

"Amazin'," he said while writing something down on his clipboard, "My name is Doctor Bryce, what is your name?" he said with the same slow pattern.

I tried to speak back to him but my words were nothing but air. He interjected immediately "You probably can't speak yet, we did what we could to keep your mouth clean and moisturized but it only goes so far when you are sleeping for longer periods of time." he said talking normally while reaching for a glass on a table beside me.

"I'm going to tilt your head back and help you drink this alright? It's just ice water." he said as he was already moving my head back. He brought the glass to my lips, it was cold and wet, my body is screaming at me to drink. I took a few sips to wet my palate, erasing anything dry.

I tried again to make out a word, this time sound came out. "Se-Se-Se-" the doctor was sounding the word out with me, "Se-ee-v-" he asked me, "Seven, are you trying to say seven?" he said in a happier tone, I nodded in return.

I sounded out another word, "N-a-m-e," the doctor immediately responded with cheer in his voice. "Your name is Seven, like the number?" I nodded in response again.

"Amazin', so your name is Seven. I'm going to tell you a few things alright?" He said ecstatically, he didn't even give me time to nod my head in response.

"First, you have been sleeping for twenty-six days. Now don't let that startle you, you have been well taken care of. When you were brought in by the brigade you were very badly injured, we sewed up all of your open wounds and put your arms and legs back into their sockets. We also put castings on you and strapped you down so you couldn't move, all to speed up the healing process. I'm sure your brain made you sleep for so long to give your body the proper time and energy to heal. Do you understand everything I have said, Seven?" he said staring into my eyes awaiting my response. I slowly nodded as I was taking in all the information.

The Doctor brought out his clipboard again and said, "Is it alright If I ask you some questions?" I nodded.

"Do you remember what happened to you?" I nodded.

"Do you remember anything before the incident?" I nodded again.

"That's Great, now more specifically, do you remember what happened before you passed out?" he said as his exited tone turned serious.

I knew what happened that day, but I shook my head anyways. I think keeping that to myself would be best for now.

"No problem, I'm sure your memory will come back in time." he said as his voice turned dead. He quickly wrote something down and headed to another machine behind me.

I could here footsteps approaching. The nurse came back with a hoard of people. Most of them huddled outside of the doorway while others started to pile in.

Doctor Bryce spoke to me one more time before leaving, "My team is going to run some tests, you can never be to sure when it comes to comatose patients" I'm sure he also forced a smile as well.

Once the doctor left the group bombarded me with equipment, stickers and wires everywhere. The sounds of machines making their robot like noises filled the room for a few minutes. They didn't care about me at all. None of them spoke a word. After taking everything off of me the group was gone just as quick as they came.

Now it was just me and the nurse, I looked at her and she was giving me a smile as if she was apologizing for what just happened.

She stepped over and drew the window open and spoke softly. "This little one comes here everyday and lays by your window. I figured there must be a connection there. It kept coming back even after I shooed it away multiple times." She said with a kind voice.

She didn't have to say anything else, in my heart I already knew what 'it' was. My little fur ball made it out to. A little nose poked through the window and started moving sporadically. Magenta took hold of my scent and scurried to the side of my bed and jumped. She nestled herself into my side and closed her eyes. I couldn't help but think she was just happy to see me as I was to see her.

I took a deep breath and spoke to the nurse the best I could, "Thank you," she responded with a genuine smile, "We usually don't allow this kind of thing, but I'll make an exception just this once, for a little while."

"I'll leave you alone now Seven, My name is Nurse Flores, if you need assistance just say my name and the room will notify me, it doesn't have to be loud or anything even a whisper will work. I'll be back in a little while to check on you." Holding her clipboard to her chest she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

Now that everything has settled, I tried to get some rest. With Magenta here that shouldn't be a problem. This isn't so bad, I thought as I closed my eyes for some sleep. A loud knock rang out through my room, followed by another. The door opened and two figures stepped through.

One tall man wearing a gray uniform with colorful patches on the shoulders. He was holding his hat to his chest, he looked older, but maintained some of his youthful features. He had pitch black hair that was combed back. He has a nice chiseled face with glasses covering his eyes.

The woman was a little shorter than him but you could tell right away she was the dominant one here. Her uniform had more patches on it and she has a sword attached to her hip. Her hair instantly caught my attention, the way it glistened against the white of the room, she had it wound into a tight shape leaving just enough to part to the side of her face. Her eyes were two intense suns, that locked onto me. She tried to hide her slender curves under her uniform but I could tell she took care of herself. Her skin was tanned as if she let the light from her eyes darken her skin.

She spoke in a very dignified manner with a very smooth voice, "I am Major Kuma West and this is Lieutenant Cross Dormen. We are from the Second Magic Brigade daughter to the Great Army of Threas. We understand you are talking and coherent. We would like you to answer our questions to the fullest extent of your knowledge."

I let out a deep sigh as I notice Magenta is on high alert. Calming myself is also calming her. I've been a slave for a year, almost killed, and woke up in a hospital. Now I'm discovering this new world one piece at a time. It's a lot to take in.