“All right,” Reyna relented. “How’s Jodie?”
“Incredibly resilient. She won’t let me check her out, but at least she’s not still sleeping.”
“And Beckham?” she whispered.
Meghan shook her head once solemnly.
“Okay.” She shucked the covers off her. “Where to?”
“Medical center,” Meghan said.
“A hospital?” Reyna shuddered at the thought.
“It’s a safe place. I’ll be there with you the entire time.”
Reyna didn’t reply. It was bad enough that she had to get dosed one more time or that Meghan thought she was jonesing for her next hit. Back to hospital rooms. More hospital rooms. She hated that her body was reacting this way. She just wanted it to be over.
Meghan brought Reyna to the mess hall to eat breakfast. She wasn’t hungry, but she ate anyway. Jodie showed up as they were finishing and agreed to join them, with the caveat that she was in no way agreeing to any invasive medical procedures.
Reyna would have liked to tell Meghan the same thing. She understood why Jodie wouldn’t want another person near her. Reyna didn’t particularly want it, either, but she really felt like shit. And while she didn’t want the venom, if it helped, then she’d do it.
“No time for the official tour, but this is the workout room.” Meghan pointed out rooms as they passed. “Here we have a weight room.” She gestured to a large lifting area. “And this is everyone’s favorite: the rec room.”
Reyna peeked her head inside to find a large room containing everything from Ping-Pong to air hockey to cards to Monopoly. A projector took up one wall, displaying six different shows at once. Someone was arguing which one should have sound for the room, though it looked like a couple people were wearing headphones for the show they wanted to watch. Everyone looked so happy and carefree.
“Wow,” Jodie breathed behind Reyna.
“Yeah. It’s…something.”
“Overwhelming?” she suggested.
“Loud?”
“It’s a lot,” Jodie said.
Someone must have finally won the remote to change the sound to a different program in the center left of the screen.
“The news,” Reyna said.
“Ugh, don’t watch it. They’re in Visage’s pocket,” Meghan grumbled. “All they do is lie.”
“Well, at least nothing has really changed,” Jodie said.
“I’d like to know what I’ve missed, though.”
“You won’t get it from there. Harrington bought out most of the news stations. If you want to hear the truth, you have to tune in to the underground networks and listen on the radio frequencies. This bullshit runs twenty-four seven, and it’s all nonsense. They focus on celebrity gossip in the midst of the world falling apart. Anything to deflect from reality.”
“I bet,” Reyna said.
Reyna was about to turn away from the rec room when her eyes narrowed in on the figures in the news frame. She gasped.
“What?” Meghan asked, then went pale when she looked up at the screen.
“What am I missing?” Jodie asked.
Reyna took a few steps into the room, ignoring the now blatant stares from the other people inside. The screen was filled with Beckham and Penelope’s smiling faces. Underneath it read, “The Engagement We’ve All Been Waiting For.”
Reyna’s hand flew to her mouth. Engagement.
