The Start of Things

A soft breeze runs through the white curtains around us. Luca gestures for my arm. I stretch it out towards him. We’re seated in a circular and windowless white room, filled with whirring machines overhead. He’s seated across from me in his lab coat priming a needle. I don’t grimace when it pierces my skin. I watch idle as he extracts my blood for testing.

“How was the trip?” I ask clearing the elephant in the room.

He chuckles and gives me a plaster.