“Are you well?” Lebna asked in concern.
She nodded, waving aside his inquiry, as her breakfast was placed before her, a porcelain bowl of fresh fruit added. “Very,” she said. “Thank you,” she said once again.
She wanted to read his thoughts as she had done Snow when the men had been in the vaulted room, but whatever had allowed her to do so earlier failed her miserably now. The more she attempted, the worse her headache grew, until it pounded within her temples as she became more and more nauseated, her skin clammy. Yet, instantly when she gave up trying to read Lebna’s thoughts her headache instantly receded, the nausea fled quickly.
Failing the ability to do such, she instead assumed that she had imagined reading Snow’s minds, of peeking in on the conversation.
“We will leave immediately after breakfast, John said,” as he turned the conversation to the battery of tests that she would undergo. “You have my promise that we will not perform more than what you will allow us.” He said.
“When you take my blood and urine samples, what will you do with them once your tests have been completed.” She asked.
John paused. “They will be stored away for further testing.”
Rain shook her head. “No. They belong to me. I will go through each step of the testing process and I do not want them removed from my sight.” She commanded.
“Ms. Rule, they will be safe, I assure you,” John said, smiling, but his smile was hard, calculating, as if speaking to a small wayward child.
“If I do not have your word on this, I will not perform any test and this I assure you,” she returned just as mildly, just as cold and calculating.
“What will you do it with?” He asked.
“Douse it with bleach…and gasoline,” she returned mildly.
John could not keep the small shock that flitted across his face. She was stronger than he thought, she was beautiful, but petite, soft spoken, a little mouse, someone he knew he could easily control.
“Skin sample, hair sample, blood, urine. They are mine, you will not run further test on them without my expressed knowledge and approval.”
“And what will you do if I don’t agree?” He asked coldly, the other men silent, watching this interaction.
Rain stood up, placed her napkin upon her plate. “Good day to you gentlemen,” she said and began walking out the room.
“Ms. Rule, wait!” John said, he’d half stood. She paused, turning back towards him before she had reached the threshold of the door. “Well, played, young lady. You have my word, your samples will be returned to you…to be chlorinated and gassed per your will.” He said tightly.
“I am ready,” she said.
The men stood, within three minutes they were in secured and armored jeeps, a large escalade. Song drove, Enlai riding shotgun, while her, John and Lebna sat in the back. The ride was mostly quiet and less than one hour later they were being waved through a secured, federal building with armed guards with machine guns.
From the guarded gate, they drove upon a paved road for one mile, another security check, another wave through with armed guards. After the second check in, they parked in an underground garage of a one story, flat rectangular building, and nondescript gray with no address, no company name and no identifying marks upon the outside.
They made their way out of the car and were met with a young, light skinned pretty African-American woman in a doctor’s coat, two armed guards.
“Gentleman, welcome,” she began. “Ms. Rule. I am Dr. Silver Downs,” she said, shaking Rain’s hand, warmly. “I will be performing your tests,” she said. “Please, follow me,” she turned, the grouping following her.
They waited with her at a large elevator, she swiped her card and the doors opened. Once inside, she swiped another card, placed her hand upon a sensor and an automated voice spoke, “Confirmed identity, welcome Dr. Downs. Which floor?”
“Subbasement,” Dr. Downs commanded and the lights upon the panel lit up, the elevator began a swift descent downwards.
Once the doors opened, they stepped out into a brightly lit lobby, this time four armed guards in attendance. They nodded Dr. Downs and the group through before they stopped at a large door and Dr. Downs swiped a card, placed her hand upon a sensor while a red light read her iris.
“Welcome, Dr. Downs,” a voice said, the door slid open and they walked into a large lab filled with every medical and scientific equipment known to man, while five other white jacket clad people worked quietly. The glanced up, stilling upon the entrance of the newcomers.
“Doctors, may I please introduce you to Rain Rule,” Dr. Downs said, smiling slightly. “Finally,” she said.
The doctors nodded, there were a couple of brief smiles.
One of the doctors, a tall, Hispanic male walked towards the group. “Welcome, welcome, we have waited for you for quite some time,” he said. “I am Dr. D’Ares. Between Dr. Downs and me we will run the bulk of your testing,” he said, shaking Rain’s hand.
“Yes, of course,” Rain said.
“There has been a change of plan, Dr. Downs, Dr. D’Ares. Ms. Rule will oversee the testing of all of her samples and those samples will be returned, untouched,” Enlai said, his voice held no warmth, but just a cold determination, his rule would not be broken by others. “Is that understood.”
“But, we will need her samples for further testing,” Dr. D’Ares said in confusion. “The testing that is needed, the more in depth testing will take days to fully run and evaluate.”
“Then I suggest you run the most important and most time efficient test, Dr. D’Ares,” Rain interrupted. “If there is a problem I will leave.”
“Yes, of course,” Dr. Downs said, smoothing the awkward silence. “Come, please, there is a changing room,” she said.
“Alright,” Rain followed Dr. Downs’s slim form, not trusting her or the other doctors in the room. She tried once again to search thoughts but instantly grew nauseated with a headache. Once she stopped the headache quickly receded.
Dr. Downs admitted her into a small, sterile room; upon a hospital bed was a hospital gown, slippers and a plastic bag. “You may place your clothes in the plastic bag and lock them in one of the lockers, there are keys, and you can hold the key or give it to someone in your party. When you are finished changing, just open the door and we can begin.”
“Thank you,” Rain returned and shut the door behind the door, quickly placing her clothes in the plastic bag and changing into the hospital gown and slippers. She made sure that there were no loose hairs of hers in the room and washed her hands thoroughly twice when there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” she said turning towards the door.
“Great,” Dr. Downs said, Dr. D’Ares behind her. In their hands were clipboards. “Please, lay upon the bed, Ms. Rule,” she said, while both her and Dr. D’Ares sat upon two rolling stools. “If you don’t mind we will record this session.”
“That’s fine,” Rain said, settling unto the bed.
“Please state your full name,” Dr. D’Ares began.
“Rain Rule.”
He paused. “No middle name?” He asked as he and Dr. Downs’s pens flew across paper.
“No.”
“And where were you born?” He asked.
“I was told Ethiopia. But I always thought I was born in Boston, Massachusetts.”
“Thirty.”
“Date of birth?”
“Unknown. Child protective service gave me the birthdate of January 1, 1982.”
“Are you up to date on all your immunizations?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever been hospitalized?”
“Once at five, almost six.”
“What was the hospitalization for?”
“I was found with blood covering my body.”
“What occurred?”
“I was shot.”
A pause.
“Where?”
“In my abdomen.”
“How long before you were shot to when you were hospitalized?”
“48 hours.”
“Where did this occur?”
“Our Lady of Mercy, downtown Boston, 1987.”
“Do you remember the diagnosis?”
“No diagnosis. There was only a small scar.”
“Did you have x-rays?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember any diagnosis?”
“Not that I remember.”
“And you have no hospitalizations since then?”
“No.”
“Any medical conditions? High blood pressure? Diabetes? Mental condition?”
“No. None.”
“Do you have a family doctor?”
“No.”
“When was the last time you were ill with a cold, fever, flu?”
“I don’t ever remember being sick.”
“How often do you have menstruations?”
“Every thirty days.”
“How long?”
“Three days.”
“Any PMS? Cramps?”
“No.”
“When was the last time you have seen a doctor?”
“Health clinic at 16 for my last vaccinations for school.”
“Any side effects?”
“No.”
“Are you taking any medicine, prescribed or over the counter, this includes vitamins?”
“No.”
“Do you exercise?”
“Yes.”
“How often and what?”
“Jog from three to five miles almost daily.”
“Any dental problems?”
“No.”
He paused. “The last time you have seen a doctor was at the age of sixteen and you have not been sick since…”
“I don’t ever remember being sick with a cold or flu.”
Nodding, he looked over the notes he had taken while asking her questions.
“Have you ever felt faint? Light headed?” He asked.
“No.”
“Any sense of something unusual?”
She paused; he and Dr. Downs looked at her. “Yes, every five or six years I get a feeling that something is going to happen. I can’t explain it well.”
“When was the last time you got this feeling?”
“When Enlai found me.”
“And before then?”
“When I moved from Chicago to Seattle.”
“And before then?”
“When I was raped.”
“How old were you when you were raped?”
“Eighteen.”
“Was that your only rape?”
“No. Another at six.”
They both paused, Rain steeled her eyes upon the wall behind the two doctors.
“Any sexually transmitted diseases?”
“No.”
“How many sexual partners have you had?”
“Does that include those that raped me?”
“Yes.”
“Three.”
“Any psychiatric counseling regarding the rapes?”
“No.”
“Do you ever have coldness to your extremities? Numbness?”
“No.”
“Headaches? Nausea?”
“Yes.”
“Migraines?”
“I don’t know. Not really, I don’t know. I had one at eighteen, after my rape. I had one yesterday and today.”
“In what context did they occur?”
“I was reading Song’s mind.”
Their pens both stopped. “Excuse me?” Dr. D’Ares said, one eyebrow cocked.
“I wanted to know what they were talking about, I had, and something had occurred earlier where I was in Enlai’s mind, very briefly. I think he shut me out. When I was in my bedroom, I wanted to see if I could do it again. I thought of Song in my mind, and just drifted to where he was.”
“And where was he?”
“In a vaulted room in Lebna’s house with Lebna and Enlai.”
“And what was occurring?”
“Lebna wanted to free me, while Song and Enlai did not. Song was angry, upset with me, of the power that I may or may not have. I left him and my head hurt very horribly, I was nauseated, threw up and passed out.”
“Was this the only time it occurred?”
“That I threw up and passed out yes.”
“And not since then?”
“No. I tried to do it again, but I couldn’t read anyone. Every time I tried I got a horrible headache and stopped.”
“Okay, Rain,” Dr. D’Ares said. “I want to take your vitals now.”
“Okay.”
Dr. D’Ares stood, opening a couple of drawers in the room, taking out a stethoscope, a tongue depresser, a vision light and a blood pressure cuff.
“Blood pressure, 99 over 79,” he said to Dr. Downs when he finished taking her blood pressure. “Eyes clear, extracolular clear, reactive to light, full, wide. Ear canals clear, no abnormalities…lungs clear to auscultation. Digestive sounds in all four abdominal quadrants, normal. Pulses bilateral feet equal and symmetric. Heart rate 70. Oxygen on room air 100%. Heart regular rate, no rubs, clicks or murmurs.” He stopped, placing his instruments on the bed. “Please stand. I want you to touch your index finger of each hand to your nose rapidly and alternate as fast as you can.”
Rain did as he commanded.
“Good, now, follow my finger with just your eyes, upper right, bottom right, upper left, bottom left,” he commanded. “Perfect. Now shrug both shoulders and then shrug your left shoulder and then your right shoulder.”
She followed his commands.
“Good, I want you to walk toe to heel from the left wall to the right wall,” he said. “Now, bend over, touch your toes as far as possible with straight arms. Good, perfect. Neuro intact. Very good.”
Dr. Downs stood up collecting hers and Dr. D’Ares clipboards. “Very good, Ms. Rule, we shall take you for your MRI for a full body scan. Have you ever had one before?”
“No, but I know what it entails.”
“Alright,” she said they went through another door in the room that led down a long, well lit hallway with various other doors lining each side. From there they entered a small lobby area and to a door that stated radiology. Inside they were met with a small, Indian man, who smiled.
“Hello, Ms. Rule, I am Howard, I will be in charge of the MRI. First do you have any metal in your body? In your hair? Mouth? Rings? Piercings?”
“No,” she said. “Just the key on my wrist.”
“You can place the key, here,” he said, giving her a small tray. “It’ll stay in the room with you, you will be the only one in the room, we will watch and run diagnostics through that room, and there is a window to watch you. You will be able to talk to me through the MRI but we ask that unless it is an emergency that you not. Please be quite still. You can keep your eyes open or close. The most important thing is to be still.”
“How long will it take?”
“Maybe three hours. Are you claustrophobic?” He asked as he began escorting her to the small platform of the MRI. “These are for you to wear,” he said, handing her earplugs. “It can get quite noisy. Once again, please stay as still as possible.”
“Okay,” she said, lying down upon the platform while placing the ear plugs in her ears.
He smiled. “It’ll be over sooner than you know it, just think of a sunny spot in the tropics somewhere, okay?”
She smiled back, “Certainly.”
“The doctors will be in the room for me. Sometimes you may hear my voice, sometimes you may hear their voice over the speaker inside the MRI, okay? You ready?”
“I’m ready.”
He nodded and pressed a button on the large machine and the table began to move into the cave of the MRI, a slight nervousness began in the pit of her stomach. “It’ll be over soon,” he reassured, smiling, and she heard his feet walk away when she was firmly encased in the MRI machine.
The door closed
, all was silent, quiet until moments later she began to hear a loud humming, various clicks and then an even louder hum and they clicks grew in frequency. Howards’ voice came over the speakers inside the machine. “Alright, we are beginning here, Ms. Rule. Please try to relax but the most important thing is to be very still.”
The Beginning Of Rain In December Page 6
