The Academie Read Free

see him now then, huh?”
    “ No. Well—I don’t know. I
miss him, but I don’t want to see him like that again.” I was
surprised at my own words—not just the revelation they brought me
but because I was opening up so much with someone I’d just met. But
I felt comfortable with Ruby. Somehow, I felt safe telling her
things.
    I thought about telling her about
Bryan, but it was too complicated to explain, and something I
certainly didn’t want to share with all of these people around. If
anyone found out, he and his parents could be serious
trouble.
    Major Dimpled interrupted over the
loud speaker again. “The line seems to have died down, so you are
welcome to proceed to the medical bay at this time.”

 
     
     
     
    3. streptencoholitis
     
     
    As expected, the line for the medical
bay was still long. “So what were you studying in college?” I asked
Ruby as we joined the herd.
    “ Biology.”
    “ Really? Oh man, I could
have used your help a few months ago.”
    She smiled. “What about
you?
    “ Oh, I have no idea. I
keep trying things out, but nothing seems right. Maybe I’m too
picky. I’d just like to find something I enjoy.”
    “ No, I agree. If we’re
going to be doing it for the rest of our lives, we better like it,
right?”
    “ Exactly!” It was like she
was reading my mind. If making friends were always this easy, I’d
have a million of them by now.
    The line stepped forward, and we moved
along with it. I suddenly felt this eerie reminder of my last
conversation with my grandma and a show I’d seen once on the
History Channel. There were old black and white films showing lines
of prisoners moving forward to their death in the gas chambers of
concentration camps…
    The thought entered my mind, and I
quickly brushed it aside. Certainly what I was experiencing was
nothing like that. I silently apologized to the deceased and their
families.
    “ So do you have any idea
where we are supposed to be going next?” I asked, shifting my mind
back to present things.
    “ Lunch, I
think.”
    “ Great, I’m starving.” I
couldn’t believe it given the amount of food I’d eaten at my “last
meal” breakfast with my parents and little brother, Andy, but my
stomach was now feeling raw and empty.
    “ You’re not the only one.
I thought my appetite would die down after Charlotte was born, but
if that’s true, it hasn’t yet. I guess when you are breastfeeding
the appetite continues, but I was only able to breastfeed for the
first three days. They wanted to get her used to the formula right
away, but since I’ve heard that the baby gets most of their
immunities through breast milk, I wanted to help Charlotte out as
much as I could...” She trailed off, but her eyes didn’t tear up as
much this time. I was impressed.
    “ So, will your parents
bring her here to visit you soon?”
    “ Yeah, my mom said that
she’ll get over here with her as soon as she can get them to
schedule a visit. Visits aren’t easy to get, as I’m sure you found
out with your brother.”
    “ Oh yeah, they made it as
hard on me as possible.”
    “ Step forward please!” a
nurse ordered. I hadn’t been paying attention and suddenly, we were
next in line.
    There were several stations open with
different doctors and nurses. The nurse ushered Ruby and I in
different directions.
    “ Good luck,” I said,
stepping forward to meet the nurse frantically waving me
in.
    “ You too. How ‘bout we
meet at lunch?”
    “ Sounds good.” I took a
deep breath and followed the nurse into an examining
room.
    “ Here’s your next victim,”
the nurse said to a bearded man and a woman with bleach blond
hair—both dressed in white coats—as she dropped me off. The
drop-off nurse smiled in a not-so-friendly kind of way as she
left. Victim. Very funny.
    The bearded man and bleach blond both
stood, tapping on tablet PCs they held on their arms like doctor’s
charts. The room was small, supplied with the usual