Dr. Ilene came the next day with guards and brought Johan away from the nursery. On the way she asked,
"So, how was your first day?"
"It's just as you said, everyone was nice to me, and I made a new friend."
"That's good to hear. With time, everyone will be your friend."
Johan nodded. After they passed by some hallways, Johan couldn't help but ask,
"Where are we going?"
"We have to start your treatment as soon as possible. You're the only one who hasn't gone through the first stage of the treatment, and this stage is very important."
Johan nodded and followed silently until they arrived at their destination. Contrary to other places Johan had seen, this place wasn't locked behind a steel door but a glass door, and a security terminal beside it. This place required only a keycard to gain access, and after that was done, they entered.
This place turned out to be a laboratory. It was relatively big with various ultramodern equipment on modern workstations. The lab was divided into two sections. The first section was the called the testing area. It was demarcated by a huge reinforced glass from the other section, the monitoring room. The monitoring room was elevated to get a better view of the testing area.
Johan saw other people dressed the way Dr. Ilene was dressed, but they all focused on something else as Dr. Ilene brought him to the testing area. Over at the center was a sturdy reclined chair bolted to the ground with leather straps attached to the armrest.
Dr. Ilene helped Johan onto the chair,
"I'm not going to lie to you, the treatment will be painful so much that you'll scream, but I need you to be brave and strong. When all of this is over, you'll be one step further to getting cured, alright?"
Dr. Ilene beamed a captivating warm smile. Johan didn't know when he nodded in agreement. The guards nearby helped strap Johan's hand and legs onto the chair while Dr. Ilene walked over to the monitoring room.
The monitoring room was soundproof, but Johan could tell from their gestures that they were discussing about him. A few moments passed and a doctor came into the testing area with a guard carrying a big canister on a trolley.
"I'll be connecting this to your arm. It'll only be painful for a second so try to endure it."
The doctor smiled at Johan as he politely stated.
An IV cannula was connected from the canister to a vein in Johan's left arm. Other preparations were carried out before the testing area was evacuated, leaving Johan there alone. Dr. Ilene turned to Johan and spoke into a microphone,
"Johan, how are you feeling?"
Her voice sounded out through the speakers in the testing area.
Johan only gave a thumbs up in response.
"We'll start your treatment now and remember what I said… be brave."
The treatment started soon after and Johan saw a greenish fluid flowing from the canister through the IV cannula and into his body. It felt like a light sting at first, but the usual numbness followed. Johan didn't react much to the process so far but the doctors in the monitoring room had expressions of anticipation as they pensively looked at him. If this was the pain they talked about, then it was something he could handle flawlessly, or so he thought.
Johan suddenly felt a sensation in his chest that soon made him uncomfortable. It started as a dull ache before blooming into something similar to a heavy weight pressed against his chest. The sensation couldn't be described as painful, but Johan became visibly uncomfortable, moving around on the chair a lot more than before. Nonetheless, the sensation soon eased off making Johan a lot more relaxed on the chair, thinking the process was over, but his thoughts once again betrayed him.
A searing pain abruptly assaulted Johan's chest as though his heart was being forcefully squeezed. Johan involuntarily jolted as his eyes widened. However, he wasn't given a moment to process what was going on when his left hand felt like he had just dipped it in hot boiling water, and this pain slowly coursed through his veins throughout his body. At this time, only one thing could be done,
"Argh!!"
Johan let out a miserable scream as the pain intensified by the second.
The doctors watched the process as some of them scurried around. Dr. Ilene calmly watched as Johan screamed his lungs out while other doctors shared information with her.
Johan found it extremely difficult to breath. The feeling in his body was similar to having a thousand razor-sharp knives slicing through every entity within his body with merciless precision, leaving a throbbing torment in their wake. Every beat of his heart was like a hammer blow that followed the rhythm of the pain, as though every pump of blood propelled the pain to a higher level. This level of pain was unthinkable even for an adult, much more an eight-year-old kid.
Soon after, Johan started to lose consciousness. The doctors in the monitoring room finally became pensive. They turned to Dr. Ilene,
"His blood pressure is dropping significantly by the second…" said a doctor, and before he could complete his sentence, another doctor announced,
"His heart rate is spiking causing a cardiovascular instability… he's going into shock!"
Dr. Ilene remained as calm as she was, and with a stern expression, she stated,
"Induce more, we haven't achieved the benchmark yet."
Everyone stared at her incredulously, not believing what they just heard.
"But he's losing consciousness. His body is strongly reacting to the treatment. Forget reaching our target, any more could…"
The doctor paused his sentence mid-way, but everyone understood what he meant.
Dr. Ilene wasn't her radiant self any longer as she sternly stated,
"Don't forget that we're giving these children a new life. If we can't reach our target, then what are we doing here? We've carried out this procedure many times and we all know what happens at times like this. I agree that it's painful to watch, but you all know the cost if we pull back now, so I suggest you induce more and not let our efforts go the waste.
Over at the testing area, Johan quaked nonstop, and it intensified when more fluid from the canister was induced into his system. With the straps holding him in place, Johan could only scream till his voice turned hoarse before he lost the strength to scream. Soon enough, his body stopped moving entirely.