Chapter 35

She laid in many small tubes that afternoon, frozen still and afraid to move as lights swirled and magnets hummed in circles around her body. They took pictures of every conceivable part of her, inside and out and while Carina did not care that they saw her body, there was in intimate violation in them seeing the inside of her head. Her wings were spread and attached to a cobbled together frame while a buzzing box was aimed at the joints and buttons were pressed behind a screen

The last thing they did was the one that made her feel most exposed. First they introduced a needle into her veins and stole tubes of her blood, shaking them and setting them aside. Then they had her sit in an odd chair and leaned her back, placing her feet into strange loops. “We’re going to do a pelvic exam, it won’t hurt but it might feel a little strange or pinchy.”

“We didn’t agree to this, Diane.” Ishaan sounded upset. “What do you think you’re doing?”