Page 8 of The Love Interest
He moves his gloved hand up and grabs my chin. He yanks my head to the side, and his cold fingers run along my jawbone. His grip tightens and he slowly turns my head in the other direction, so that I’m looking at the wall with the door. It’s white and has no door handle, like every door in the LIC. His fingers jab in harder, like he’s trying to separate my jawbone from my skin.
The grip fades, and my head lulls back into position.
“It needs to be stronger.” He jabs the pen into the tip of my chin. “We’ll need to cleft this a little bit.”
“And his body?”
“I can hear you, you know,” I say. “And can I suggest something? I always wanted my ears to be level. They’re a bit lopsided, as you can probably tell. So maybe you could, you know, fix that?”
“Be quiet,” snaps the doctor. “Speak again and I’ll do everything without painkillers.”
I close my mouth, instantly regretting my decision to speak. What was I thinking? Nices don’t challenge authority. Ever. I’m nervous, so I hope he’ll let it slide, but I have to be better. Mistakes like that in the real world will get me killed.
He huffs, then places his hand on my chest and pinches some of the hair that’s growing there.
“This,” he says as he makes a fist, gripping a few small strands. His hand lifts up, and my chest rises up with him until my bonds stop me. He keeps pulling until the hair rips out. I drop back down, squirming in agony. “Needs to go.” He jabs me in the gut. My body bends forward, but the bonds catch me and snap me back into place. “Other than that, he’s in fine physical condition. His muscles are of adequate definition to create arousal.”
“What about his…” The nurse looks down at my crotch.
No no no.
“Are you a child? Are you talking about his penis?”
She nods.
“Well,” he says. “It’s not very impressive as it is, is it?”
My flight instinct kicks in, and suddenly all I can think about is getting out of this fucking room. Ignoring the pain in my wrists, I pull as hard as I can, trying to free my hands. All I end up doing is flailing. What can I do? I can’t just lie here and let them do this to me. I start to buck and kick, hoping desperately that a miracle will happen and something will break and I’ll be free.
The doctor places his gloved hand on my chest and presses down hard, stilling me. My rabbitlike heartbeat thuds against his palm.
He leans in close. “That’s what you get for snark. Now, team, are you ready to begin?”
“Yes sir,” they answer in unison.
“Good. Then let’s start with his eyes.”
The doctor grabs the big white machine with both hands and pushes it into position above my right eye. Then, with his smile obvious in the pinch of his mask and the twinkle in his eyes, he places a mask over my nose and mouth.
Blackness swirls.
I splay my palms.
Kick my feet.
Finally, the black takes over.
***
I sit up, screaming. But there’s no pain. I raise my hands to my face and marvel at the freedom of my wrists. The room I’m in is like my old room, but the walls are plaster, not mirrors, and the bed is soft. A bunch of clothes are in a messy pile on the floor. I must’ve kicked them off mid-nightmare.
I lift up the fluffy blanket. I’m totally naked, and everything downtherelooks exactly the same as it used to. My manhood is stillmymanhood. I smile, then bite my lip. My chest looks funny. Every single hair is gone, leaving me feeling cold and slightly tingly. I run my hand along my chest. It feels slippery. My skin is also a few fractions darker than before, now a nice, even farm-boy tan, and the mole that used to sit on my hip is gone.
I slide out of bed and pull on a pair of blue boxers, then a pair of chinos. As I’m deciding between navy and green shirts, the door opens.
It’s Kaylee. She’s dressed in a red-and-black flannel shirt and tight white pants.
“Hi,” she says, pulling a white earbud from her ear. She covers her eyes until I pull a shirt, the green one, over my head. As I tug it down she drops her hand and takes a step forward. “Wow. Dude, you should look at yourself. They haven’t changed much, but seriously, what they did makes you look so much cooler. You’re stunning!” She looks behind her, checking to see if the coast is clear, then reaches into her pocket.
