The room was cold, a sterile chill that seeped into Isla's bones as she lay there, her limbs bound, her fate sealed. The harsh overhead lights flickered on, casting a harsh glow that pierced through her closed eyelids, tears welling up in response to the brightness. She hadn't struggled, hadn't fought. What was the point? In her family's eyes, her kidney was the only thing that mattered.
As she felt herself being placed on the operating table, a sense of surreal detachment washed over her. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be. But the cold bite of the steel beneath her, the sharp scent of disinfectant in the air, they were all too real.
The surgical light flickered on, and with it, a wave of fear unlike any Isla had ever known. She was about to undergo surgery, but not in the way she'd always imagined. No anesthesia, no comfort, just a sharp blade and the cold indifference of those who were supposed to love her.
She felt the cold blade move across her back, a precursor to the pain that was to come. The knife sliced into her, and with it, a scream tore from her throat, a raw sound of agony that echoed off the sterile walls. Her body spasmed, a desperate attempt to escape the pain that seared through her.
"Ahhh!" The sound was guttural, animalistic, a testament to the agony that coursed through her veins. She tried to curl up, to protect herself from the onslaught of pain, but her bonds held her fast.
Just as she was about to succumb to the darkness that beckoned at the edges of her consciousness, she heard the doctor's voice, a note of panic in his tone. "Where's the anesthetic? Hurry, give the patient the anesthetic!"
"We can't, Dr. Hughes. Mr. Harris specifically ordered no anesthetic for this young lady..." The nurse's voice was a whisper, a secret shared in the midst of a nightmare.
So, this was it. Even the basic human right to anesthesia had been stripped from her. Isla gritted her teeth, refusing to make another sound. She wouldn't give Luke the satisfaction of hearing her scream. But the pain was unbearable, a living thing that consumed her.
Just before she lost consciousness, she heard the doctor's voice again, this time filled with a panic that cut through the fog of pain. "What? She only has one kidney!"
Grace's heart monitor started beeping frantically, a staccato rhythm that matched the frantic beating of Isla's heart. "Dr. Hughes, her condition's worsening. We need to transplant the kidney now!"
Luke's voice came through, a cold command that brooked no argument. "Dr. Hughes, at any cost, I need you to make sure Grace's transplant is successful!"
Dr. Grayson gritted his teeth, glancing at Isla as he tried to explain the situation. "But Miss Griffin, she..."
"I said save Grace!" Luke's voice was a sharp blade, cutting through any objections. Then, the line went dead, the beeps of the disconnected call echoing in the silence, a death knell that urged Isla towards the end.
Another wave of pain hit, and Isla slipped into the darkness, her consciousness fading as the world around her spun into a void.