Page 84 of The Pregnancy Pact

My mind was in a fog. I wanted to ask, “So?” I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t run. I couldn’t do anything. What was the doctor expecting of me?

“I’m going to give you this tonic,” the doctor explained. Even as she spoke, she pressed the tip of the syringe between my lips. Fruit-flavored liquid, a mask for the underlying bitter tang, flowed over my tastebuds. “It’s a rare and secret concoction, used by military personnel in dire emergencies. It won’t heal you. Do you understand? Nothing in your body is physically better by taking this. You need medical attention if you’re going to live. Even if you get it, and even if you live, I can’t promise the internal damage can be reversed.”

“What does it do?” I croaked, surprising myself that I could even speak. Was the tonic working already?

“It alters your mind,” Dr. Natusha explained. She tugged me up higher and, as her tentacles slid away, I realized I could actually sit. On my own. With no support.

“It also supplies a wild amount of adrenaline. It’s meant to help a wounded soldier escape a disastrous situation. The tonic itself might kill you, if your injuries don’t, but I fear we have no choice. It will wear off soon. You don’t have long. I know your mind will tell you otherwise. It will tell you, for a brief time, that you’re invincible. You are not. You don’t have long.”

She grasped both of my shoulders with the hands on the ends of her tentacles, forcing me to gaze directly at her. “This is your one chance to escape,” she hissed. “Take it.”

I’d never have dreamed it was possible, but, even as she spoke, my brain was noticing something. I was in much less pain. My mind was clearer. I could think. I could move. Move without horrendous pain and struggle.

“How do I get out?” I whispered.

“Come.” She stood. A tentacle with a human hand on the end slithered towards me. I didn’t hesitate, but grasped it, allowing her to pull me to my feet.

“This way,” she said. “There’s a back entrance. It’s unguarded. Sirena never expected any—”

Behind us, a door creaked. Doctor Natusha gasped. “They’re returning! You have to run.”

“What about you?” I gasped, my feet already carrying me away. “Come with me.”

“I can’t. This is my chance to redeem myself. I may have lost my honor, my reputation, my medical practice, but I can regain my honor here. I’ll distract them while you run. Take this.”

From a pocket on her coat, she withdrew a small stagger, which she shoved into my outstretched hand.

“I don’t know how to—”

“Point and squeeze the trigger,” she insisted. “Run!”

I whirled and dashed off in the direction she’d indicated. As I got closer, my vision, by now accustomed to the gloom of the warehouse, deciphered the lines of a door. I hoped it wasn’t padlocked. If it was, I was probably doomed, and the doctor with me.

I ran up to it, sliding to a stop, unable to believe how fast I could move, how clearly I could think. My hands slid over the door, searching for a handle. It was locked with a sliding bolt. I yanked it back, hearing the clank even as, behind me, echoed the louder clank of the front door opening.

“Natusha—”

Sirena’s voice. I spun for a backwards glance.

“Where is she?” Sirena snapped.

In the patch of light admitted through the open front door, I saw Dr. Natusha standing tall and straight, facing Sirena and her henchmen, who’d followed her inside.

“In the corner,” the doctor replied. “She needed to relieve herself. I assisted her over to the corner where there is a bucket. She was unable to make it to the washroom. She’ll be done in a moment.”

I couldn’t delay any longer. The tiniest sliver of daylight awaited. I slipped around the open door and outside, hearing Sirena say with contempt, “Vile. Fetch her soon. I dislike her out of my sight.”

Oh Doctor…

Physically, my body felt amazing. I felt better than I ever had. I’d never had so much energy, been so full of life, been so fit and free.

I was running down the alleyway, free as a bird wheeling through the sky.

Wait, do Asterions have birds? Are there birds on this planet? Do they fly through the sky?

The funniest ideas kept intruding.

I should run and run and run. See this planet. See this world. Explore it. I could climb those mountains. No, I could run up them to the top. No, I could…

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