When I open my eyes again, I see Dr. Groth a little too close for comfort. He was getting a good look at me.

I jump.

"How's my favorite patient doing?"

"What did you do?" I say, finding it a little easier to talk than before. "Why am I here?"

"Don't worry. Disorientation has proven to be a regular part of the trial. Have you been experiencing any hallucinations? Having any vivid dreams?"

"I'm not your patient. You need to let me out of here. Now."

"I wouldn't recommend that. You need some time to gain your strength. This vaccine does a lot to disorient you for the first couple days. You should be coming out of it soon."

"How long have I been here?"

"This is your fourth day. A little longer than we usually keep our trial volunteers, but you had an accident."

"What, I tripped and fell on a bullet?"

Dr. Groth laughs and I want to wring his throat. I feel my arms tense up and realize that I have my strength back. I don't want to let on, so I stay still and let him calm back down.

"I'll take that as a yes to hallucinations."

"I didn't hallucinate anything. I watched Joe burst into flames on the street, then your assistant came to bring me to you so you could trap me here."

"Assistant? Interesting. Did this assistant you speak of have a name?"

"Gabby."

"Interesting."

I feel the frustration boil over as Dr. Groth wants to smile again.

"Tell me what the fuck is going on here."

Dr. Groth calls to the nursing station for Gabby, except it's not who I expect to see. Gabby is a nurse and looks nothing like the one I know. He asks her if she had introduced herself or spoke to any of her colleagues around me when I was out. She says she may have.

"Well," He says, turning back to me. "It looks like your unconscious has built up quite the narrative."

"No," I fight back. "That is bullshit. I never would have volunteered for something like this."

"No?" Dr. Groth questions, holding his hand out. Gabby responds by placing a tablet in his hand. He starts to poke at it. "Let's see what we have here."

He turns to show it to me and I don't believe what I'm seeing. It's me. Walking right into the building. I sit in an orientation session of some kind, watching carefully.

I sign the forms. I give them my fingerprint. I walk into a treatment room, no gun to my head or anyone dragging me there, and get a syringe to the arm. They walk me over to the bed I'm in now and I fall asleep.

I feel tears welling up in my eyes. That's not me. It looks like me, but it's not what I would do. I would never trust these people to do anything to me.

"No. That's a trick. It's not real. You've done something to make it look like that's me, but it's not me. It's someone else."

"Interesting. Very interesting."

"Stop saying that! It's not interesting. It's not real. You guys are setting me up. Trying to make me think I'm crazy."

Dr. Groth looks concerned. The first time he's dropped any smile or smug look on his face. It makes me question everything.

"Don't worry about any of that. We'll want to keep you for another night just to observe what's happening with these symptoms. We wouldn't want you getting any worse."

Before I can say anything else, he's already walking away.

Did I imagine it all? He seemed pretty concerned when I was telling him my story. It looks a lot like me in all those videos.

None of that makes sense. I would never do this. I don't trust Delcor enough to make me a coffee, let alone inject me with some experimental drug. I was definitely shot. I don't know what kind of accident leaves a bullet wound, but I have one.

I feel around my stomach for a scab. There is one. But is that from an accident, like they said? I don't know what kind of accident that would feel like a gunshot wound.

All I know is I can't stay here.

I sit quietly and watch what's happening around me. The nurses seem to be able to get in and out with a keycard. No retina scans or fingerprints required. Just a card attached to a lanyard.

I'll need backup once I'm out. I look around me to see if they've left my things nearby. Of course, they haven't. They wouldn't want me to see my clothes ripped up by a bullet and drenched in my blood. They wouldn't want me to have my phone nearby to contact the outside world.

I see that someone has their phone charging at the nursing station. I look to see who. Eventually, Nurse Gabby grabs it to check it. It unlocks when she looks at it.

I have my plan. I don't have the strength to take anyone out, so I have to be clever in how I go about it.

I hit the nurse call button and Gabby looks over, away from her phone.

"Be there in a second."

She does something else then walks over. She stands over me, expectantly.

"My IV. It's hurting my hand. Any way we can move it somewhere else?"

"Sure."

She starts to remove the tape. The moment the IV is out of my vein, I grab the lanyard and pull. It snaps loose. I use the shock she's experiencing to kick her away. I feel pain shoot through my abdomen, but I tell myself to push through it. Hoping to spur the adrenaline on enough to get out of here.

I jump out of the bed and fall to the floor. I suddenly realize how little strength I have in my legs. I force myself back up and dart towards the nursing station. I grab the phone, but before I can get any further, Gabby tackles me to the ground.

She pins me down from the shoulders, straddling me to keep me down. I flip the phone in my hand and point it towards her. I hear it unlock. She turns to look at it and I use the moment to bend her elbow the wrong way. It's enough to get my shoulder loose. I use the momentum to flip her off of me.

I run straight for the door, using the keycard to open it up. I look back and Gabby isn't giving chase. Instead, she picked up the phone. It's just a matter of time before people are after me.

In the hallway, I look for the emergency stairwell. I might tumble down the stairs, but it's the safest option. I run towards them, my legs wobbly and unsure. I grab the railing when I get to the stairs. I look back, expecting someone to be giving chase, but no one is there.

Did I throw them off? Something doesn't seem right, but I don't stay around to figure it out. I get down to the ground level and go through the door.

I'm free. I'll make damn sure these pricks aren't much longer.