Jamie had not eaten anything yet since Monday night. However, he did not feel hungry. From time to time, his tank of dextrose was replaced with a new one so that he was still nourished. Still, he felt weak and tired from lying the entire time. He also missed the light for he was blindfolded all along. If he needed to pee or something else, he simply called out and people would assist him. Having seen nothing but darkness only, Jamie had no sense of time. He had no idea what day it was. He did not even know exactly where he was. He had somes ideas, thanks to his dreams, but he wished he was wrong.
As time went on, the things he had been fearing was gradually becoming true. In his dreams, he saw himself in a hospital bed while people were experimenting on him. He felt it was happening. Blindfolded and strapped to a bed, people just come and go to take samples of his hair, blood, and even saliva. He felt violated but he could not do anything but scream in silence. He wanted to cry but he had to stop himself. Those people might take samples of his tears. He could not let them do as they pleased.
One time, a man spoke to him. He wanted to know what his ailment was and how he was healed. He told the truth - that he had chickenpox and that he was healed when Loduvico touched him.
"Did you take any medicines?" the man had asked him.
"Yes, the school clinic gave me prescriptions which my dad bought."
"So could it be that the medicines heal you and not Loduvico?"
It was at that moment that Jamie became hesitant. But what if he was really cured by the medicines and not by Loduvico? And yet, he felt powers coming from Loduvico's touch. Loduvico even had dreams like his and his friends which he wanted to preach but could not. He wanted to believe Loduvico one hundred percent but he was beginning to doubt.
Jamie was torn in separate directions. The man was torturing his mind and trying to destroy his faith. Though that interview with the man was brutal, it enabled him to confirm what he had been suspecting. The man was Dr. Alvarado. He had heard his voice before and the sound of the old man talking to him and Dr. Alvarado's were similar, if not the same. They had the same accent, intonation, and even pauses. He was certain it was Dr. Alvarado. Their encounter last Sunday was not coincidence. It was planned all along. The doctor's smiles were nothing but warning to him. Thinking of Dr. Alvarado filled him with anger. How could he be so evil?
Whenever he dozed to sleep, Jamie prayed that he would dream again. Maybe in his dreams he would find the way to get out of this prison. Yet, he had no dreams so far. In fact, his sleep was always sound and relaxing. He suspected they had placed something in his water or medicines so that he would easily fall to sleep. And thinking about his sufferings also made him sleep more. It was as if sleep was his only relief....
From the tinted glass window, Dr. Alvarado and Morgan watched as the child slept. They pitied him but he needed to endure everything. They had to break him so he must be strong enough.
"Did you find out anything more?" Dr. Alvarado asked.
"Sadly, there is none," Morgan answered in his usual emotionless monotone. "I think he is honest."
"We drugged him so whatever comes out of his mouth would always be truth."
"Yes Sir, that's true."
"Well, I had fun talking to him last night. It was just a simple chickenpox that got him. And yet, he firmly believes it was Loduvico who healed him."
"He is second guessing, Sir. I think he is slowly breaking apart."
"Is that right, Morgan?" Dr. Alvarado asked and then chuckled. "I like that. Good news would always cheer me up. How about his disappearance? Are things happening according to plan?"
"Yes, Sir. The tabloid published the article already. You still have the editors by the neck so that they easily obliged when I made the request. They even made it sound more urgent."
"I like that. People will look after patient zero, believing he has the cure. With many people on his tail, nobody would suspect it was me all along."
"Exactly, Sir. To make it more intriguing, I spread some malicious posters all over town so that those who missed the newspaper article would still be informed."
"Good job, Morgan. That was not part of the plan but I loved it."
Silence. The two men watched as Jamie was crying while asleep. Quickly, the men inside the room took a vial and catched his tears.
"Well, we have to be sure," Dr. Alvarado said. "We need to do some tests on him to be certain that he is really just an ordinary kid."
"Yes, Sir. The results of the latest tests are in but there was nothing remarkable."
"So there is nothing special about this child?"
"I think so. But we still need to break him until he is convinced that Loduvico did not heal him."
"Make sure you do that, Morgan."
"Aye aye, Sir."
They turned around and walked to the next room. Before they entered, Dr. Alvarado stopped and grinned.
"Morgan, we need some drama for this outbreak."
"Uh-huh. You want something more dramatic?"
"Yes, Morgan. I want to see more people cry. Maybe, it will also be more interesting if they cry while celebrating."
"Cry and celebrate?"
"Yes, Morgan. What could happen that will make people cry and celebrate at the same time?"
"Death?" Morgan answered after thinking hard.
"Oh, really? We have plenty of deaths already."
"But a hero's death will be different."
"I see."
"Someone has to die then."
"Or at least one must die."
"We have plenty to choose from, Sir."
Dr. Alvarado laughed loudly, his voice echoing in the soundproof facility. Morgan remained expressionless, but deep inside, he enjoyed watching his boss enjoying himself....