Chapter 12: The Third Door

Something just felt wrong as I parked Lauren’s van in her spot. The GPS on my phone at least hadn’t let me down but I was terrified by what she’d said and I didn’t know what to do. She’d always kept her phone number a secret from the club members so I couldn’t call her or anything.

I stepped out of the car and looked around, not sure what to do. I couldn’t go up to the apartment… okay it was more I didn’t want to, I had Laurens keys and I guessed one of these would open the door.. but… ya know… stairs.

“Nichole…!” I was just trying to figure out what else I could do when Laurens voice called out from behind me. I spun around and she was holding her arm…. An arm that was bleeding very badly.

“Holy shit. We… Hospital… “ My mind started racing as I saw the blood gushing between her fingers. ”We need to take you to the hospital.” I started to look for my phone with trembling hands.

“Nichole!” She ordered in her most authoritative tone. “Help me upstairs please!”

“But…” I shook with my phone in my hands quivering like a leaf.

“Nichole… please!” Lauren urged me.

Going up those apartment stairs was terrifying at the best of times. Doing it while Lauren’s life hung in the balance was the most terrifying thing I had ever had the misfortune to experience. I don’t know how we made it to the top or how I didn’t have a heart attack but somehow I managed to get her in. Blood was still dripping from her arm as she glared at a blank part of the wall and then slammed against the shoulder of her uninjured arm loud enough to frighten the shit out of me.

“Nichole!” Lauren was nearly shouting. “Get the door!”

“Door? Which door?” I was confused and freaking the hell out and not holding it together at all.

“Nichole! Do not freak out! The door in front of me. I need you to open it.” Lauren squeezed me and pointed toward the blank wall in front of us. I felt something in the air change but it was so sudden and I was too panic-y to make sense of it at first.

“Which Door??” I asked but felt rather stupid as I could see it. The door on the wall. The wall she’d just rammed had a door there now..

“Open the door Nichole!” She ordered me.

I flung the door open and stumbled inside as fast as I could..

The room inside was a well lit sparsely decorated bedroom with a queen sized bed and…. It was the clubroom…. In Lauren's home. It was just… here in the apartment behind a door that appeared from nowhere. I double and triple taked. What the fuck? The Clubroom at the school was here now? HOW??

Lauren stepped past me and urged me forward toward the third door we weren’t ever supposed to open.

“Nichole. Use the purple key and unlock this door.”

I did as she asked and opened up the door to… a shockingly long and wide hallway. A few feet down the empty hall were a set of large swinging double doors Lauren pushed right through. I followed on her heels and entered… what appeared to be some kind of lab. Electronic components on one side, chemicals on the other, lots of odds and ends scattered about.

Stolen story; please report.

Lauren gestured to what looked like a first aid kid on the wall and told me to grab it which I did and presented her the contents. She pointed to what looked like a large puffy bandaid and told me how to apply it to her arm. I carefully followed her instructions, trying very hard not to pay attention to the blood dripping down her arm and forming a puddle on the floor.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the bandage appeared to seal itself around the wound and change its shade from a cool blue to a minty green. I just watched silently as Lauren took a deep calming breath as she held pressure on her arm. I just stood there watching her and worrying in silence as she sat breathing slowly. At least she wasn’t bleeding all over the floor anymore. I tried not to pay attention to the blood splatter on the floor.

“Is there anything else you need me to do? Can I get you anything?”I asked after a few minutes trying my best to calm myself down.

“Could you get me the bottle of orange juice from the fridge? also good girl and unload the car for me? I won’t be lifting much of anything for the next few hours.”

I nodded and walked out through the strange corridor into the club room. I looked around for a moment looking at the bed and the box of toys lauren kept for us. This wasn’t a similar room, it couldn’t be - it was too exact. I’d spent too much time in here not to recognize our club room.

I put it out of my mind and exited out into the apartment. There was something deeply uncanny stepping from the club room directly into Lauren’s apartment. I wanted to examine the door frame as it seemed like the obvious line between the two but I hurried to bring Lauren orange juice first.

She smiled at me and kissed the top of my head as I handed her the bottle and an empty glass I’d found. She poured a tall glass and drank it down quickly.

“Are you gonna be okay?” I asked nervously.

“I’ll be fine.” Lauren reassured me rubbing my head. “This is a nanomachine patch it’ll have me all stitched up in a few hours. Won’t do anything for the lost blood though…“ Lauren complained.

“Nanomachines?” My eyes went up.

“Nanomachine girl!” Lauren declared. “It’s still in the prototype phase but it also contains artificial platelets to slow bleeding, white blood cells to prevent infection, and stem cells to replace damaged or destroyed tissues.

I look at the patch with wide eyes. “You serious?” My hand hovered over the technological marvel not wanting to touch it.

“Oh yeah.” Lauren smiled proudly. “It’s a minor surgery in a can more or less.”

“That’s amazing…” I gawked. “Also impossible! Nanomachines…”

“Not science fiction anymore.” Lauren grinned a little, trying to hide a worry I lacked context for. “A colleague of mine is a genius engineer, She’s going to revolutionize the world.”

“If this is real I believe you…” I look at the miracle patch again. Suddenly I blinked, remembering a more pertinent question. “But, What happened to you in the first place??”

Lauren scratched her cheek, avoiding my eyes. “Why don’t you finish unloading the car?”

“...Yes Ma’am.” I replied when it was obvious she wasn’t going to tell me right there.

I thought going up and down those stairs a couple times might make the trip easier… or at least less terrifying. It absolutely did not and after all that climbing I fell back on Lauren’s couch totally spent.

Lauren had returned to the apartment and was seated at the kitchen table. Sorting through paperwork like… like nothing happened. After a minute she got up and took a seat on the floor next to the couch. She grabbed my hand and kissed it gently.

“Thanks for everything. I’m sorry I can't give you your reward today.” She said, nodding toward her arm.

“I understand.” I was still breathing heavily from all the stairs. “But seriously… what… the fuck…”

“I’m not really allowed to talk about all of it.” Lauren took my hand and squeezed it. “I will make it up to you tomorrow okay?”

“You best.” I let her lean down and kiss me.