Inmate 24562: Haile, Jordanna

[JORDANNA HAILE GARCIA]

Miserable wasn't even the word to describe how Jo felt. She had been through plenty of shitty things in her life, but this definitely took the cake. And that wasn't just because she was dealing with shit, either. She had never felt this helpless before, this insignificant and her own mother had given her away!

"Now Ms. Haile, this test shouldn't take too long. You'll remain here for one more night before we release you into another room. However you will not be allowed to go back into the barracks but will given a more comfortable room." She wanted to cry, but made no movement to show she even heard the doctor, turning her head way from the window and trying to keep her mouth and nose in the jump suit to lessen the smell.

As the day dwindled on the smell lessened some with her barricade, but it still stunk in there. Or maybe she had simply gotten somewhat used to the fumes. Either way she willed herself to eat a little and had nursed the water throughout the day. The rations were meager at best but it worked out because Jo could barely hold it down. The smell nauseated her, but she was so hungry that she had to eat!

The day dwindled by slowly as all the others had. Jo, for the most part sat in her corner occasionally reading, dozing off here and there, and getting up to draw a couple of times, but she didn't have the energy to really do that, plus the smell was too much. At one point she stuck crayons up her nose to dry and block the smell. It actually worked a little, smelling the crayons instead of the shit, but it soon became hard to really breath and she new it was gross so she took them out.

She thought a lot about Kit and Brandon and her store while she was in there. She tried to think of new scent combinations to try out if she ever got out of there. She thought about maybe apologizing to Kit and try to rectify that friendship. He was shitty friend, but they'd known each other for so long. The fact she thought of him meant she missed him, and she would try to make things right. She would even apologize to Kevin. And Brandon... She just wanted to curl up in his arms. She just wanted someone to hold her; anyone..

When night fell Jo shifted as always. She hid deep in her jumpsuit which helped alleviate the smell of the feces, but the jumpsuit did smell a bit of BO. She hadn't been able to shower in three days and it wasn't like she had gotten to use great products, either. Her hair had become greasy and she could feel the grime on herself, but in mouse form a lot of those symptoms disappeared. She slept poorly, waking up now and then from the pain in her stomach. She was too hot in the jumpsuit, and she crawled out, but the smell was overwhelming. So much that even in mouse form she was retching.

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Day 4

Jo woke up and felt dizzy. She was laying naked on top of her jumpsuit, sweating, but she managed to get dressed. Despite the sweat she was freezing and as soon as she stood up she keeled over, vomiting on the floor. There was hardly anything in her system, so it was mostly bitter bile. She slumped down on the mattress again and curled into a ball. Of course she would get sick! And then it occurred to her; the doctor wouldn't need a fucking hazmat suit for a bucket of poop! He made her SICK! Those sick bastards, had they no souls at ALL?! The thought made her angry and upset all over again and she spent the better part of the morning crying, curled into a ball at the very injustice. Why her? Why were they doing this to her? What had she done to anyone?

[CAMP MEDIC]

By the fourth day it was time to check Jo's vitals once again, but not before she was properly cleaned and disinfected to be sure any lingering germs wouldn't be spread. Doctor Harlowe had been watching Ms. Haile for a good hour by this point. A nurse had been stationed, seated at the window the rest of the morning for precuations. If she'd ended up getting too sick then the nurse had been instructed to go inside and pull her out and bathe her. But since she was still there she hadn't been disturbed all morning long, and Doctor Harlowe watched her sit there and cry. If she was actually human he might have pitied her, but she wasn't. She was some strange alien species and no matter how human she looked Harlowe kept telling himself that.

After standing there for another good fifteen minutes he finally pressed the speaker button on the tiny handheld, turning on the mic for him and the speakers for Ms. Haile to hear him. "It is time for you to get up and strip out of your jumper, Ms. Haile. When you're through please wait by the door." He instructed and moved away from the glass and grabbing a pair of latex gloves from a box on the counter and slipping them on one by one.

It was another twenty minutes before the door was finally opened up and Jo was taken out of the room, the door shutting automatically once she was outside of it in order to contain the scent of the feces to just the room. Although Doctor Harlowe only got a whiff of it when the door was opened, the scent was putrid after being there over night and was enough to make him cough, covering his mouth with the crook of his arm. He was relieved that this part of the testing was done and over with.

"No questions, let's go." He explained, a guard standing near the door and ready in case the woman decided she wanted to try and flee. He had a weapon and he was instructed to use it if they ran into any difficulties with Ms. Haile. The doctor led the way out of the examination room and down the hall of the infirmary. There were other guards and a few doctors roaming the halls but no other patients. It was only four doors down that the doctor opened another door and instructed for her to go inside. Once inside he gestured for her to go through another door that was already open. "Through there, please stand in the center of the room."

The second room was much smaller and the walls were covered with little nozzles all pointing to the center of the room. There was also another mirror just like the one in her old room, except when the doctor turned on the lights in the first room it turned into just an ordinary window so that she could see out while he could look in. "This is just a simple sterilization process. Stand in the center and when we shut the door stay still."

[JORDANNA HAILE GARCIA]

Jo didn't bother moving from the mattress all morning. What was the point? She felt like crud and there was nothing to do anyway. She had a piece of bread still left from the previous day but she had no interest in it now. The room smelled and she was sure she did, too. Her head itched but she didn't have the energy to scratch at it. "It is time for you to get up and strip out of your jumper, Ms. Haile." The voice came from a faceless man through a speaker in the room, but Jo didn't need to see his face to know who it was. Hatred wasn't even the word to describe how she felt towards this monster. "When you're through please wait by the door."

The last thing Jo wanted to do was move, but she also wanted to get out of this room. Maybe he would let her clean herself? He did mention she would be getting a new room. Jo got up slowly, her muscles all aching and she didn't care anymore about modesty. The jumpsuit came off leaving her in the uniform undergarments. She looked down at herself and run a hand over her stomach. Had she lost weight? She must have. It had been three and a half days since she'd truly eaten anything. She moved to the door and slumped against the wall, bracing herself there as chills ran down her body. Her head was burning up but the rest of her was freezing and she knew immediately she had a fever.

Finally the door opened and Jo moved out with the doctor, only glaring at him momentarily. "No questions, let's go." Good, she had no questions now. What was the point? He would give her bullshit answers anyway. If she hadn't felt so ill she surely would have shifted and run, but the thought of moving more than she already was made her feel almost ill in itself. They moved down the hall into a new room and she was then instructed to go into a conjoined room. As instructed she moved to the center and looked around.

This room had nozzles pointing to the center and she was sure it would clean her off. She was relieved, but nervous as to what they would use. Cold water? The thought of cold water made her shiver harder. "This is just a simple sterilization process. Stand in the center and when we shut the door stay still." Sterilization. The word irked her and she wasn't sure what they would do. She looked through the window, feeling the modesty slip back; like a rat in a cage. She turned her back to it, wanting to simply pretend it wasn't there at all. She let her eyes slip and braced herself for this sterilization as she heard the door click shut.

[CAMP MEDIC]

When the patient was standing where she was instructed to he shut the door and moved over to where the window was. There was a simple little station with controls and buttons. An idiot could use it. He pressed one of the buttons and inside the room water began to spray through the nozzles. The temperature was a little higher than luke warm so she wouldn't freeze or get scalded. The water was pressurized and hit her from every angle but it didn't last longer than a moment before it shut off and the doctor was hitting another button. This time the nozzles gave out a steam that filled the room and fogged up the window. The steam lasted longer than the water had and was a little cooler in temperature.

The whole process took less than four minutes and then the door was unlocked and opened once again. The doctor moved to the threshold, standing under it and looking in at the patient with a bored look on his face. "Follow me." He instructed and turned to head out of both of the rooms and into the hall once again. "We have fresh clothing waiting for you in your new room." Now that she'd been properly rinsed of any bacteria he guided her into another room which looked just like a hospital bedroom. It had a real bathroom and working shower, only there wasn't a door to the bathroom keeping it open at all times. The room held two hospital beds but no occupants. On one of the beds standard issue undergarments along with a fresh jumpsuit and boots were there waiting for her.

"You're to stay here the night. A nurse will be in momentarily to check your vitals."

[JORDANNA HAILE GARCIA]

Jo felt awful while waiting for this sterilization to take place. Finally the nozzles sprayed some water at her, making her jump and shiver more. It wasn't freezing but it wasn't warm either. Just uncomfortable. Her arms crossed over her stomach and she lowered her head, wanting to feel clean, but the water didn't really help much. The steam was better. Colder, but less intense and she breathed deep, the moist air feeling nice on her skin.

Once finished the doctor opened the door and instructed her to follow him. She did as she was told, not having the energy to fight or the drive. He'd promised a new room and she could only hope it was better. If not? Well, what could she do about it? "We have fresh clothing waiting for you in your new room." Well at least they weren't going to make her wear her filthy shit smelling stuff anymore.

When the doctor led her into the new room she felt like she was walking into a four star hotel room. There were two clean beds, a bathroom, fresh clothing and no mirror to make her feel like a side show. She wanted to cry with happiness, staring longingly at the bathroom, not even caring that there was no door. Just having a toilet and a shower was such a relief and she finally felt like she might begin to regain some amount of dignity. The torture was over. Aside from this flu she had, it seemed.

"You're to stay here the night. A nurse will be in momentarily to check your vitals." Jo said nothing, not even looking at the doctor. She hated him and everything he did to her and stood for. She wished him nothing but harm so it was best she say nothing. Jo, still wet and in her underwear, moved to one of the beds and sat down. She wanted to change, but she wanted a shower first. A long, hot shower. Her eyelids drooped a little as she waited for the nurse who finally came. The woman checked her out, asking some questions and then offered medication to Jo. She promised food soon, but Jo didn't care as much for that. She wasn't hungry now. Once alone she went to the bathroom and ran the shower. She stripped the filthy garments she had on away and slid inside the stall, standing under the steamy cascading water. She sighed and started the tedious process of scrubbing every single inch of her body at least twice. She must have been in there an hour before coming out and dressing in the camp issued clothing, leaving the boots off. She noted the tray of food waiting for her and she moved to it, taking the water and drinking half of it before eating a small portion of the bread available. She didn't want to overdo it and make herself sicker.

Once she had eaten and drank a little she climbed into the clean bed, curling up into a ball and letting her eyes slide shut. All she wanted was to sleep until she felt better, until she could leave this hellhole, until she could be with Brandon again. It didn't take long for her to pass out.

[CAMP MEDIC]

A nurse went in and out of the room the Jo was given, waking her each time to check her vitals before leaving once more to allow her to go back to sleep. The nurse had to do it every hour before the sun went down and Jo was left alone as a mouse for the rest of the night. Then once the sun came up and the girl was again human another nurse came in, starting a fresh shift and checking her vitals once more. It was one of those inconveniences that you experienced when you stayed in a hospital; nurses always came in to check your vitals.

After every check of the vitals, the nurses jotted down Jo’s symptoms in her chart for doctor Harlowe to look over. Today he was haggard, entirely exhausted by this job that he’d been given. It was physically draining the way that he had to come in everyday and check up on this one particular patient so often. He had other patients but most of them he saw once and then he was done with them. But with this girl he had to keep going back.

He looked over her chart, noticing the notes that were left for him from the nurses. She’d been given a single dose of flu medication but the dosage was low so that she’d still feel the symptoms in the morning. It was clear that she wasn’t immune to the diseases that mice were. And today they would have to give her the vaccine before her symptoms became worse. They weren’t going to become fatal since she was under such close surveillance by the medical staff there at the camps.

Opening up the door to her new room he had his nose buried in her file at first but after shutting the door he looked up to find the girl. “How are you feeling today Ms. Haile?”

[JORDANNA HAILE GARCIA]

Jo had hoped when she woke she would be feeling better, but no dice. She'd woke up and went to the bathroom for water but immediately threw up bile into the sink. She could actually see herself growing frail in the mirror. Her jumpsuit was bigger now, too. She had wanted to lose a couple pounds, but not like this. This was far more than she had wanted to lose and she could see it in her face. Her cheek bones were starting to stick out a little more and her eyes looked more sunken in with heavy bags beneath. She looked ill. She felt ill, too. Jo rinsed her mouth out and returned to bed, still not having the energy to do.

Shivering, Jo pulled the blankets back up her body and curled her knees up, wrapping herself in a ball. She was starting to feel worse and just wanted to go home. Jo drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the morning, finding she had nothing better to do than to lay there, not that she cared to do anything else. When the door opened, her eyes did too, looking at the man she loathed walk in.

“How are you feeling today Ms. Haile?” How she wanted to shove that file up his ass. "Like death, thanks for asking." She muttered at him, pulling the blanket closer to her chin as she glowered at him. Her throat felt raw and her nose was stuffed, a layer of sweat on her brow. "You going to give me something for this, or you trying to see how long it takes for me to die?" She asked half serious, half being a smart ass.