Of Monsters and Humanity: The Genesis

Chapter 2 - Terra

Seventy-two days before....

"You're doing that completely wrong."

I turned and met cool blue eyes.

"You're sticking the vein too hard," Damian continued, grabbing a lab chair and sitting next to me. "Here, like this."

I watched intently as he focused, weaving in and out of the severed vein of the severed arm. My eyes wandered from his work to his face. Unintentionally, he bit his lip and pulled his brows together. I found myself smiling because his general focus and concentration was enviable; I wanted to be able to do what he did. Maybe it was just because my mind wandered so and I was never able to focus on something while someone was watching me, which was exactly what I was doing to him. The thought caused me to refocus.

"See, the cephalic vein is the largest in the arm, so it's the easiest to mend. It takes time but you can learn how to do it," he spoke optimistically. It made me slightly annoyed that he told me what vein I was attempting to mend because I already knew what it was, but I did not possess the skill he had.

"I'll never do this right," I sighed as he stood up from his chair.

He laughed. "You'll get it, I promise. If I can learn how to mend a severed vein, you can, too."

"That thought is less than reassuring. You come from a long line of physicians."

"Who breathed down my neck until I got it," he finished, loading some tools up on a tray and walking to a sink. "So I'll be there for you until you can get it."

I smiled and attempted at the arm again, this time with a lighter hand and more focus. "You can be my personal neck warmer."

Water started running from the sink as he laughed a golden, genuine laugh. "Yes, I can be that."

We were both quiet for a little while, the silence from the tension between us stretching to a silent focus. The water and soft clanking of tools as he washed them calmed me as I worked.

I almost copied exactly what Damian had done and was about to finish the last suture when the tray of metal instruments slammed hard onto the table. I gasped aloud and looked up to see him smiling.

"Time to go," he announced.

"Okay," I answered in disappointment, setting my tool down onto the arm's unsanitary tray. "But look at how I did first."

He looked down and a white, gleaming smile grew across his face. "Wow! That's really good, Terra!"

His happiness was infectious. "Really?"

"Yeah!" he laughed. "See? You're getting the hang of it already."

I looked down and pressed my lips into a smile. "You're just saying that."

"No," he said so sternly that I had to look up. "I'm not. You did well."

I smiled even wider.

"Now." He broke the eye contact by speaking, and I'm glad he did. "Let's go. I've been here too long."

I started wrapping up the dead, sutured arm. "I second that."

When everything was put away and our table was clean, we packed up our books and headed out of the cadaver lab. It had been such a long day, and even though I stayed after for the much needed practice, I just wanted to go home. School was long enough without the added lab time.

"So...what are you doing tonight?" he asked, shutting the door to the lab behind him.

That question could be taken one of two ways: "Do you want to hang out tonight?" or "What are you going to do when you get home?". I didn't want to give off the impression that I had something important to do, but I wasn't sure if I had enough energy to spend more time with him.