Chapter 52
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The most favorite thing of the house for Andrew was the TV. When he turned it on, he could see his memories play like a movie. He spent the entire month rewatching his childhood. Fast forwarding the boring bits and drinking in the image of his parents.

Andrew hadn’t realized how much he missed them until he saw their images moving on the TV. Back then they had been poor, but happy. Good law-abiding citizens that only wanted to get by and give the world to their son.

While he had always appreciated them, back then, it had all gone over his head. Homemade cookies were the norm for Sunday afternoons, but they meant budget cut and second-hand clothes for everyone.

He had never complained. Had thought that it was normal. But, watching his parent’s expressions now, he could see that they had been tired. Not as happy as he had been.

And that made him guilty — now. Because, he could have taken lunch for school even back when his parents were alive and give his mother back his pocket money. He could have done many things. But, he had been a child and, so, hadn’t known any better.

When Andrew woke, he was strapped to machines and in a white, depressingly empty room. It was quite spartan. It had the monitors, the bed, and a single chair. Not even a window.

Andrew looked around for the button for the nurse and found it on the side of the bed. He removed the glass from around it and pressed it. He heard running feet and soon, his door was open.

“Agent Jackson, since when have you been awake?” A young nurse said sternly. Andrew shrugged.

“Just woke up. It couldn’t have been for more than a minute. A month passed since I went into a coma, right?” The nurse nodded, confirming that Francesco had been telling the truth about the passage of time.

“How did you know, agent Jackson?” Andrew grinned.

“That is for agent Hawk’s ears only,” the nurse scrunched up her nose and went next to Andrew. With quick, fluid, movements, she began unhooking Andrew off the machines.

“Agents Hudson and Socros are on a mission. They should be back in three days,” said the nurse. Andrew nodded. He could be alone for three days. Then, when Erin and Daphne came back, he was going to ask them all about the case.

“Can I see agent Hawk?” Asked Andrew. Surely, Hawk was still their overseer.

“Agent Hawk will be notified about you waking up. Food will be brought to you in a minute,” the nurse left him, and Andrew relaxed in the stiff hospital bed.

His back was like a board and his legs were half-asleep. But, he had woken up. What was more, the three ghosts that had plagued him were no more. So, he was happy, truly.

A different nurse, one who looked fifty if the white hair was any indication, came with a trailer with hospital food. Andrew ate everything obediently as the nurse watched him.

“You have been on liquid foods for the past month. So, your portions should be smaller for the time being,” notified him, the nurse, and he nodded. He had been wondering why the food was so little.

“Can I stretch my legs?” Andrew looked at the woman hopefully, and her lips went into a thin line.

“You are in our facility in New Orleans. There is only the swamp outside,” she informed him, and Andrew’s face fell.

“Why was I moved so far away?” Had they expected that he never woke? Were they…going to dissect him if he had not?

“We don’t get much human looking wixen in our hands,” those words didn’t sound good to Andrew. “Tests had been run on you, agent Jackson.”

“What kind of tests?” Andrew wanted to scream. He had caught Francesco, just as he had been ordered. And they had rewarded him by rummaging in his insides?

“I was not told. Perhaps agent Hawk had the clearance to know,” but, would he have the clearance to tell Andrew? Andrew’s eyes flashed with anger.

“Where is Hawk?” He snapped, and the nurse backed away from him.

“He is in New York, on a case. He will be back tomorrow, though,” the nurse left then, leaving the trailer in her haste. Andrew heard the click of the lock and knew that there was no point in checking the door.

He stood and paced in the spacious room, much like a caged animal. What tests had been run? Had he been dissected? Had they taken some of his blood? He checked his body with his hands. Things seemed to be in place, and he didn’t feel weird.

So, Hawk will be here in a day, if Andrew was lucky. And Daphne and Erin would be in three. He went and sat on the chair, inspecting the bed. There were no bloodstains on the sheets. Everything was sterile.

But Andrew still felt violated. He couldn’t get the thought that he had been helpless, and the people who should have been invested in his well-being had taken advantage of his condition.

He found that he couldn’t sit still. Getting up, he resumed his pacing. They were in the middle of a swampy area. There was nowhere to run. And, running meant that he would be leaving his old life behind.

He didn’t want that. So, he paced. When, hours later, a scientist came with a clipboard, Andrew leveled the short man with a glare.

“What was done to me?” Yelled Andrew, the hours of waiting doing nothing but sharpen his anger.

“The limits of your immortality have been tested,” said the man in a monotone. Andrew bent over and heaved. “Would you like details?”

“How could you?” Asked Andrew, looking the man straight in the eyes from his prone position.

“We had to know. We had reasons to believe that you were a class S non-human. You are not,” something about the cold stare that the man was giving him made Andrew realize he wouldn’t like to be informed. Still, he pressed on.

“And what class am I?” he asked, voice cutting.

“We are yet to invent the name, but, not even summoning you like how agent Crus was summoned killed you. It didn’t even shred your body,” Andrew’s eyes rolled in their sockets, and he fainted. His mind shutting off at the implications about what had been done to him while he had been locked in his mind with all his memories.

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