Chapter 19 The Tank

After submersion in the mana tank, Evernya’s mana system started to patch itself together, to the astonishment of the hospital staff. Nine days passed as Evernya’s mana core and mana veins repaired themselves stronger than ever before. Even after all damage repaired itself, the mana continued to flood into the comatose girl.

Under the facemask providing her unneeded oxygen, Evernya’s mouth opened, giving her fangs more room to lengthen. With her fangs fully extended, her body sucked in more mana than ever before, straining the mana injection systems of the tank.

Tempered by the inrush of mana, Evernya’s mana veins widened and toughened. While strengthening her mana system, the mana leaked into her muscles and organs, rejuvenating and enhancing them to better handle the stress of her potent mana. The strengthening period lasted another five days before stopping, returning her mana absorption to her normal life-sustaining rates.

Following the completion of her strengthening period, Evernya’s deathly still body shifted in her sleep while floating in a mana tank. After twelve hours of regular sleep, her eyes twitched as consciousness returned to her healed and strengthened body.

The nurse on duty noticed the signs of her patient awakening, prompting her to inform Dr. Elizabeth Chapman as instructed. As a precaution, she prepared the inhalation sedatives for administration at the first signs of panic.

Sure enough, as soon as her patient’s eyes fluttered open and took in her surroundings, they widened in terror as forgotten memories of her previous stint in the glass capsule surfaced. The nurse immediately pressed the button, releasing sedatives into her patient’s breathing mask, leaving Evernya no choice but to breathe them in.

Even after inhaling the sedatives, her patient continued to struggle against the tank. It shook under the assault of its terrified occupant, but the reinforced transparent composite of the tank held against the assault.

Explosions muffled by thick walls filled the room as the nurse watched with wide eyes, hoping the sedatives took effect before the tank gave out. The explosions lasted for a few more minutes until they slowly died down as the sedatives took effect, to the relief of the nurse.

As Evernya lost her battle against the sedatives, a blonde-haired woman who appeared to be in her late thirties entered the room. The new arrival was of average height, wearing a white blouse with a dark blue skirt reaching past her knees with her feet sheathed in dark blue flats. A stern, motherly vibe radiated off her as she approached the nurse.

“What is the situation?” The new arrival inquired.

The on-duty jumped to attention, reporting, “The patient woke up panicked, forcing me to sedate her.”

The blonde woman’s expression turned thoughtful as she ordered, “Please update her medical file to warn of adverse reactions to confinement in a mana tank after we have her situated in a private room in the shifter ward.”

“Right away, Dr. Chapman.” The nurse responded, picking up the phone to page more hands.

Soon two more nurses arrived to help remove the patient from the mana tank and prep her for a regular hospital room. After draining and releasing the seals on the mana tank, they carefully transplanted the patient onto the awaiting stretcher. The nurses removed the skinsuit and breathing mask before dressing her in a hospital gown and attaching an ID band to the patient’s right wrist.

After they completed preparing the patient, they transport her toward the elevator. One nurse pressed a button labeled S2, prompting the elevator to close and begin ascending.

A few minutes later, the elevator opened to reveal a sterile, white hallway. The nurses rolled their patient down the hall to the right, stopping at a room a dozen doors down. Once they had her inside a room, they transplanted her to the bed before the nurses began applying the shifter policy by restraining her.

Dr. Chapman intervened just as they pulled the second strap across Evernya’s waist. “Do not use physical restraints on this patient unless you want this room destroyed. Besides, they won’t stop her since she is a mage. Chemical restraints are the only option for her.”

The nurses removed the restraints, then installed before inserting an IV into the patient’s left arm. They connect the sterile tube to an infusion pump set to administer the sedatives via remote control. Next, they connected various monitoring equipment to their patient with wireless electrodes.

While her nurses settled in her patient, Dr. Chapman read through Evernya’s compiled medical information. Upon reading the reported dosage of sedatives administered at Druth Magical, Dr. Chapman ordered, “Use triple the dosage for a shifter of her size. She is resistant to sedatives. Also, open the window to let in fresh air. According to her guardian, windows and fresh air help calm her.”

Dr. Chapman noticed her patient stir, prompting her to order everyone out. After completing settling their patient into her room, the nurses exited the room to return to their other duties. Dr. Chapman also exited the room so she could call Meira. She pulled a seat up to the one-way observation window into Evernya’s room to observe her patient.

Approximately five minutes later, Evernya roused. Her unfocused, beautiful blue eyes fluttered open. A moment later, her eyes cleared as she shot up to a sitting position upon hearing the ever-familiar beeping sound of the EKG machine.

Am I back in the lab? Was escaping a dream? I have to be back in the lab. Did they capture me after the mage’s test? How did I heal from what that bastard did to me? I felt the destruction of my mana system. I doubt I would recover without the help of the people who created the lab. Why can’t people just leave me be? Evernya inner monologued as she curled into a ball, clutching her tail. Her cocoon materialized, protecting her from the outside world.

Observing her patient’s mental state, Dr. Chapman struggled against an intense need to help the girl. She wanted to run in and hug the poor girl, but she realized doing so would be a bad idea. It could set off a panic attack if an unknown person confronted her. So despite her motherly side screaming to help, she waited for Meira to arrive.

An hour later, Meira arrived at Evernya’s room. She stared through the observation window, heart breaking from the sight. “How long has she been like that?” Asked Meira, watching her kitten curled up as small as possible in the middle of the bed.

Elizabeth gazed up at Meira with dried tear stains running down her cheeks as she reported, “When she woke in the mana tank, she panicked, forcing us to sedate her. Afterward, we moved her to this room. She awakened over an hour ago and has been laying unresponsive ever since.”

Elizabeth glanced back at her curled up the patient before inquiring, “What kind of trauma has this poor girl been through? She looks broken.”

“Truthfully, I don’t know, but waking up in the mana tank may have triggered some trauma we were not aware of,” Meira replied as she approached the door.

Meira entered the room and slowly approached Evernya with her hands raised. As she neared her kitten, Meira could hear muffled muttering coming from the traumatized girl. She made out the words trapped and lab repeated several times.

“Evernya, can you hear me?” Asked Meira in a calming voice.

Evernya robotically raised her head to look at Meira. Her dull eyes and blank face abruptly shifted to rage. “You are with them! Was taking care of me and teaching me just a ploy to earn my trust!” Screamed Evernya in delusional anger. Before Meira could respond, Evernya released an explosion of energy at Meira, which Meira barely blocked in time.

Meira gestured to Elizabeth, who was still watching through the one-way observation window to stay put. While keeping her hands up in surrender, Meira tried to reason with her irate kitten. “Evernya, what are you talking about? Who’s them?”

“How don’t you know who they are? You are one of them! How else could you be in the lab!?” Screamed Evernya, sending an even bigger blast of energy at Meira.

Ready this time, Meira easily blocked the blast with air magic before continuing to reason with her kitten “What lab? We are in a hospital in Druth, not a lab.”

“We have to be in one of their labs! Who else would have a glass coffin and know how to heal me!” Screamed Evernya causing realization to dawn on Meira.

“You woke up in a glass tank, didn’t you?” Guessed Meira, for which she received a small nod from her kitten.

“And that tank looked and felt just like the one you woke up in here?” Guessed Meira again, receiving another nod.

“So, you thought they captured you, and we are in the lab right now?” Asked Meira, causing Evernya to nod again, this time with tears in her eyes.

Meira’s eyes teared up as she stopped herself from wrapping her kitten in a hug as she explained, “Oh, poor kitten! You aren’t in a lab! You woke up in a mana tank. A lot of hospitals have them. It is a capsule filled with mana enriched liquid. We put you in the mana tank because you were dying. It was the only thing we could think of that might save you. No one did special treatments on you. Your body healed on its own over the last two weeks while you were in a coma.”

“It’s a miracle you healed. The sabotaged test ruptured almost all of your mana veins, even your mana core sustained damage. Your body was minutes away from shutting down by the time we placed you in the mana tank.” Meira revealed to her kitten, who had broken down into sobs.

Meira took a risk and moved closer to hug her crying kitten. To her surprise, the mana cocoon allowed her in, enabling her to embrace Evernya in her arms. Meira continued to embrace her kitten until she fell asleep over ten minutes later, exhausted from the ordeal. Meira carefully laid the sleeping cat girl down on the bed before exiting the room to give Evernya some time to rest.

Right after she exited the hospital room, a teary-eyed Dr. Chapman confronted her. “What a poor girl! She thought someone trapped her in a lab? Is that why she panicked in the mana tank? But why would she think this is a lab?” Barraged Dr. Chapman.

“Calm down Lizzie, I don’t know how much you heard, but according to her, she woke up in a similar mana tank during her enslavement in a lab. She mentioned escaping a lab before turning up near Druth, but not much more. I don’t know what happened while she was in the lab, but I suspect the slave bands kept her trapped.”

Meira sucked a breath before continuing, “I don’t think her masters physically abused her or put her through slave training. At least she doesn’t exhibit the signs. I think they used the bands to limit and trap her in the lab. I don’t know why the lab would abandon her with only slave bands to keep her trapped, though.”

Elizabeth nodded her head as she gained a clearer understanding of her patient, adding, “Then you add in what she went through since escaping. No wonder she has some mental instability. She needs a safe and stable environment for a while to recover.”

“Before the mage’s test, she already gained some confidence. She even stood up to Alpha Wittke when his clan tried to block our entry into Druth. My original plan was to get her legalized as an adult with her own ID, then train her in the wilds around my house with occasional visits to Druth.” Meira revealed.

With a helpless expression, Meira continued rambling. “The racist bastard of an examiner wrecked my plan. Dr. Fisher signed off on her shifter test, but since she is a mage, she needs to pass the mage’s test too. You humans have so many rules and want to control everything. She can’t even enter Sespina protected areas on her own without an ID, and she can’t get one without going through another mage’s test. Worse, how am I going to get her out of Druth without Alpha Wittke claiming custody of her?”

Elizabeth hugged her Elven friend for several minutes in silence before disengaging and offering. “My offer still stands to have her take the mage’s test privately on the condition she enrolls at our college. It will take some string-pulling to get it done, but I’m sure Thomas would do it to have someone as talented as her attending our university. As a bonus, it would give her another layer of protection if she had our college backing her.”

Meira stayed silent for several minutes while watching her sleeping kitten through the observation window before responding, “I will talk to her, but even if she agrees, there will be some conditions. It wouldn’t be fair to force her to graduate DIOM, so maybe a year’s commitment with an option to extend if she enjoys it here. I don’t want to make her feel trapped, causing more harm than good, especially since the campus may be hostile to her.”

Eager to help a talented girl, Elizabeth proposed, “I agree. I will talk to Thomas immediately. If Evernya agrees, hopefully, we can perform the test before she leaves campus. Either way, I think it would be best to have her stay here for a few more days for observation before we discharged her. While her physical and magical injuries appear healed, I am worried about her mental state. Besides, she is safe from Alpha Wittke on campus since he has no power here.”

Meira scanned the spartan hospital room before suggesting. “I expected an extended stay, so I got ahead on my enchanting work, allowing me to stay with her here for a few more days. However, can we move her to a more comfortable room? I know you put her in this basic hospital room in case of a panic attack, but she should be fine with me nearby. You can keep the IV in with sedatives, and I will be nearby to subdue her if she gets violent. A room that looks less like a hospital room would be good for her. Besides, I don’t want to stay in a room like this either.”

Elizabeth paused, glancing down at her tablet for a minute before stating, “I can arrange a VIP suite in the Mage’s ward for her. I agree it would help with her mental health. Fortunately, unlike the mana tank, we have rooms available. Should we move her while she’s unconscious or wait until she wakes up?” Elizabeth inquired.

After a moment of thought, Meira replied, “I think she should be aware of the move. A lot of her stress comes from waking up in unfamiliar places. She appeared much more at ease after sleeping in the same bed consistently at my house. It will also help reaffirm to her that this is, in fact, a hospital, not a lab. However, I am worried about how the other patients and staff in the mages ward will treat her.”

Elizabeth nodded her head in understanding, assuring, “I will make sure only staff I know will treat her fairly are in her rotation. She won’t need much attention anyway as she is physically and magically stable, though I am worried about her unusual readings. Besides, based on her small size for a shifter, I doubt she has overwhelming physical strength, making a Mage’s ward room better suited in case she has a panic attack.”

Elizabeth typed something in on her tablet as she talked. “It is probably for the best that I update her medical file to have her sent to the Mage’s ward from now on.”

“The Mage’s ward would be a better choice for her as long discrimination remains minimal. Unlike the Shifter’s ward, most hospitals don’t screen their staff for racist tendencies.” Cautioned Meira as she gazed lovingly through the observation window at her sleeping kitten.

“I agree it’s a risk, but I think she would receive better care in the Mage’s ward. Anyway, I better get back to work. If Thomas agrees, I will contact you immediately.” Said Elizabeth, giving Meira a quick hug before rushing off.

Meira returned to her sleeping kitten’s side, sitting on a guest chair to the left of her bed.