Listen (Muted Trilogy Book 2) by Nikita Spoke Page B

Jack spoke to her, using a quiet, unspoken voice and scripted words. She could tell Dr. Harris was typing something, but she wasn’t sure what, and she thought that maybe Jack was typing something, too.
    “Jemma? Jemma, can you hear me?” Jack’s mental voice came through more clearly than the outside noises, and she thought she heard someone whimper.
    “We’re not allowed to Talk,” she sent back, trying to look at him. She felt another pinch, this time in her thigh.
    “He was worried. He’s not quite the ass he pretends to be. And you’re not quite yourself right now.” Did Jack have his arms around her? “They gave you something that should help with the pain. Said we could Talk off-script until it kicks in.”
    She leaned her head against his shoulder, not quite sure how he’d gotten in the chair with her. “Josh gives me headaches.”
    “He’d give me headaches, too. Did he hurt you? Is that why he isn’t able to talk without being supervised?”
    “Mentioned at lunch last week, tried to tell me something.” Jemma felt like she was slurring. “Didn’t make sense. Said I’m best and can save everyone.”
    “Okay. You rest, Jemma.”
    Soft lips against her forehead.
    Warm arms.
    Darkness.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    TWELVE
    Overheard
     
    Jemma woke, disoriented, feeling as if she’d had too much to drink. She couldn’t remember, at first, how she’d gotten in her room.
    Her upgraded cell.
    She looked at her phone, which rested next to the bed. It was late evening. Had she had lunch? Supper? Her stomach was oddly empty.
    She remembered being in the lab.
    Remembered being in the lab with Jack.
    Searing pain.
    She’d been putting all of her effort into attempting to Talk to Josh while making it look like she was trying to Talk to Jack. The testing had just kept going on and on and on. Her headache had started early, as it usually did when she was trying to Talk to someone she couldn’t actually Talk to. She’d pushed it aside, not wanting Dr. Harris to cut short the session with Jack, but near the end, before they’d shifted back to contact, it was as if she’d been pushed over some intangible edge.
    Everything had dulled but the pain. She must have been a mess for Dr. Harris to let go of all of his strict rules.
    And now it was evening. Had she slept the whole day? What had she missed?
    She ran a hand across her forehead. At least she didn’t still hurt, though she didn’t feel fully herself, either. She went through her memories of the morning once more, then again, until she was fairly certain she wasn’t missing anything before she’d lost consciousness.
    Nothing in her room seemed out of place. Not that it would have a reason to be, but she would sort of expect there to be a meal, or at least one of the granola bars Josh was so fond of, since she’d missed two meals. She wasn’t hungry yet, but she was pretty sure that once her body registered its lack of food, she was going to be ravenous.
    She stood, then immediately sat in order to deal with the wave of dizziness that rushed through her. She waited a minute, then tried it again, more slowly this time, and with better success. She tried waving at the camera, then knocking on the door, before sitting again, already tired.
    A few minutes passed. She heard the door open, and she looked up to see Dr. Harris enter. He watched her appraisingly before nodding to someone in the hallway, entering the room fully, and shutting the door behind himself. “Any lingering pain?” he typed on his ever-present clipboard. Jemma shook her head. “Severe dizziness or nausea? Difficulty seeing or hearing?”
    “I was dizzy when I first stood, but I’m fine now.” Jemma looked around the room again. “My eyes and ears seem all right. What happened?”
    Dr. Harris looked down at his clipboard, avoiding her gaze. “You are able to function at a higher level, telepathically, than our other subjects. We’ve been pushing you