Chapter 18 In the Infirmary

"W-what?—"
The light almost dazzled me when it struck my eyes. I tried to see clearly the place where I was but my vision was too blurry to recognize it and my head was killing me.
Where am I? Where are the others?
My hand was trembling when I made an attempt to get up from the bed I was lying on. I felt a prickling pain on my arm when I moved and when I narrowed my eyes to see it clearly, I saw I was injected with an IV drip. I lifted my eyes to see the dextrose bag dangling on a metal pole. Why am I in the medical sector of this bunker? The doctor who saw me in the facility before we entered made sure I was ok. Why did they have to bring me here and ...
I remembered Jayson and scrambled to get up and pulled the needle of the IV drip off my arm. I grunted in pain and with a heavy feeling of my body. What happened? Why did they give me that drug to make me fall asleep?! Where are my friends?
Upset and scared, I looked at the right and left of the wide room. My eyes slowly adjusted from the white light of the room, my ears ringing.
The infirmary I was in was wide and lined with curtained cubicles. It looked like a typical hospital facility but it was empty and there were no doctors and nurses inside.
The wound on the IV needle was painful. I made a grunt when I tried to get down from the hospital bed and I almost screamed when the curtain in front of me opened with a surprise and Li's annoyed face startled me.
"Can you please not make too much noise? I'm trying to sleep as much as I can." Li complained, his familiar annoyed tone made me relieved at the idea that he"s also here with me.
"Where are the others?" I asked him and his frowned face turned more confused.
"I have no idea. I just woke up because of your nose." He struggled to get up and noticed the IV drip on his arm too. "What's this place?"
"I don't know. It's like an infirmary." I looked at the whole place again. It smelled like disinfectants. "Did you also pass out after you exit the identity check?"
"Yeah. I can't remember anything after I left that room." Li answered as he scratched his head, trying to remember something.
I watched him looking troubled and then in a second, his chinky eyes went wide with fear.
"Mona! Where is Mona?! MONA?!!!"
Li's yell echoed in the infirmary. He quickly jerked the small hose of the IV drip and yanked it away as he stood and looked around for Mona. I anxiously walked out of my cubicle too and looked for the others. I worry about what happened to Jayson. The last time I saw him, it seemed he had already accepted that those people will find out he has a criminal record and was not an original resident of Arcania. I was so scared of what they'll do to him.
"Shut up, Li! I'm sleeping here!"
I turned my head from the owner of the voice. Could it possibly be...
Running with haste, I pulled the curtain open on the cubicle where I heard Jayson's voice. He"s also here!
I didn't know why there was an urge to hug him when I found out he was here and safe with us. He was lying on the hospital bed feeling groggy and annoyed with Li's hysterical voice booming inside the facility.
"You're here!" I said in surprise between my breaths. His cubicle was pretty far from mine and I had to run to make sure I wasn't just hallucinating.
"Of course, I am." He said smiling. He grimaced as he touched his head, the same reaction I did when I woke up. "Aw, my head feels like it's splitting into halves."
"I know," I told him, trying to sound sympathetic. "What happened?"
He looked at me still grimacing, his one eye closed in pain. "When they found out I'm not actually a legal resident here and my criminal history record was appalling, that soldier arrested me and was about to detain me on one of the prisons here but—"
"But?"
"But Timothy helped me and asked Commander Leo to process my papers and make an arrangement to clean my records. He thinks he owes us for his life."
I sighed and looked at the floor. I knew Timothy would save him. We went through so many struggles and although he thinks he"s different from us for being the son of a multi-billionaire, there was a feeling inside me that he still cares about us.
Li went to us with Mona beside him. She looked as anxious as him and then she made a hand sign. Li's face turned confused, and then he shrugged his shoulders.
Both me and Jayson raised our brows to Li, asking silently to him what bothers Mona.
"She's asking where Timothy is." He said.
"He"s not here?" I asked and Jayson sat on his bed, still holding his head while he tried to remember things.
"After he defended me and requested for the Commander to make a secret about my true identity, I heard the soldier tell him that he was called by the ambassador so he could tell Timothy's father the miraculous news that his only son was still alive," Jayson explained. "He must be out there already talking with the officials of this bunker.
"But why did they make us sleep after checking?" I confusingly asked them and they all went silent, having no idea for any reason.
"Maybe they want us to get well-rested since it's been over a week that we've been staying outside the bunker with Creepers everywhere? Let's just admit we haven't had peaceful sleep since then and the sleeping pill helped our mind and body relax from all that stress." Li explained, trying to think positively about our situation.
He has a point.
As we four discussed things, a female attendant wearing an all-white tracksuit entered the infirmary and was surprised to see that all of us were already up from the bed. She checked her tablet for the information and smiled at us.
"Hi, there. I'm glad all of you are finally awake." She smiled sweetly at us but her eyes betrayed her awkward, uncertain approach.
I wonder why she seemed scared and then I realize we're people who survived a horse of Creepers multiple times and she must be distressed by the idea of what kind of people we are for being that so lucky.
We didn't answer and just looked at her with our faces looking serious. Her smile went away and she pointed to the door. "P-Please follow me to the dining area. Y-you must all be famished."
Jayson pulled me playfully and went straight to the attendant who was looking anxious as she walked towards the door. I pushed him when I reached his pace while Mona and Li silently followed us, Mona's arms were wrapped on Li's arm and you would think they're lovers more than childhood friends.
We passed through some corridors, all were spotless white and smelled either bleach or disinfectant alcohol. Everything was white and clean. It was understandable since all of the people here were scared of any filth because they think any dirt would mean they might catch the contamination and the virus outside.
I wondered why they made us all stay here at this level. This floor appears for the high-class people in Zone 4 (Basil) only. The corridors were decorated with awesome paintings, there were sophisticated arrangements of flowers to make the place look homely.
"I feel like I don't want to leave here forever," Li uttered in amazement as he scanned the cozy place with sparkling eyes.
Is this Timothy's doing too? He"s giving us a lot of favor and it's starting to make me uncomfortable. Although I'm from a middle-class family, dad and mom never spoiled me for luxurious things. They always made me work for the things that I most desire. I wish he"s with us though. It made me feel like they're already a family since our miraculous escape from the airport and now that we're all safe, I wonder if he'll still hang around with us.
The idea of my dad and Carl stabbed my mind like lightning. I must look for them here! I can't wait to see them both! Dad would be very proud if I told him I survived those creatures and I can't wait to tell him our story of adventure.
It's not as if it's that fascinating, knowing we almost died but I'm happy we didn't.
When we reached the dining area. It wasn't just an area. It was a hall. We were all surprised by how exquisite the place was. There were round tables with elegant arrangements of cutlery, flowers everywhere, a fountain in the middle of the wide hall, and rich people having dinner inside were having appetizing meals in a wide variety.
"Please help yourself." The attendant smiled at us.