Page 1 of Their Human to Entice

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A12-18

Six Weeks Earlier

The medical exam room is the same as every other time I’ve come here. The room is cold, smells strongly of sanitizer, and the lights are just a little too bright. The only difference between this time and all the other times I’ve been asked to come here is that the doctor isn’t already waiting for me. I didn’t think he would be, though. He has other things to worry about, like how my best friend screamed at him this morning before she was sent off-planet.

When Earth started to collapse and half the population died, an alien group who called themselves The Hands of the Creator saved us. Well, they saved those of us who were willing to trust an alien species telling them to all hide out in a baseball stadium in the Bronx. Thankfully, I followed their instructions and met my best friends, Simone and Deja. We lived in the stadium in relative peace for two years. After those two years, we were told that a group of women would need to be sent to another planet to help repopulate an alien tribe. At first, it seemed like a bad deal. But honestly, life on Earth is boring without my friends, so I’m not too disappointed to have to leave in about a year when it’s my turn.

Simone left Earth this morning, two weeks before she was scheduled to go. All of us in Unit A12 were supposed to be asleep since it was so early, but Simone’s never been one to be quiet. No, she was cursing and yelling, not caring who heard her.

When I popped my head out to see if she needed backup, I saw her throwing all her expletives at the Hand who works as our doctor. He just stood there and took it, waited until she calmed down, and then wrapped his arms around her as she started to cry. His skin began to glow a faint white, and when his eyes opened again, they were almost blinding in how bright they were. Simone didn’t seem to mind it at all, just placed a hand on his cheek and told him to go fuck himself.

That was when I decided to return to my room and leave them to their goodbyes. I thought Simone would come and get me before she left. That was hours ago, and I haven’t seen her or the doctor since. Not that I won’t see her again, because I will when I’m sent to the new planet. I just thought she’d at least say goodbye to me before disappearing.

The main reason I’m in the doctor’s exam room is to ask if Simone has actually left, but I also have a mole on my left boob that’s been looking a little odd recently. I’m sure it’s nothing, but I’d rather have it checked out than risk it. Plus, if I’m not in my best health, I might not be able to go to the new planet. The Hands have made it abundantly clear that the women of Unit A12 need to be healthy to go to the new planet. We’re being sent to help repopulate the planet, after all.

Simone and Deja are both already gone, and I’m not about to be stuck here on shitty Earth while they’re off partying with their new alien boyfriends. So, I’m going to have the doctor check out the mysteriously bigger and more blobby mole, figure out if Simone is gone, and then not worry about anything until it’s my turn to be sent away.

The door to the medical room opens, and the doctor comes in, his head hung low, a bright light seeming to emanate from his skin. He startles when he sees me and then presses on his face, trying to adjust the weird human disguise he wears.

I don’t know how the Hands make themselves look somewhat human, and I’m not about to ask him. It looks weird enough when it slips slightly, and I get to see the glowing white light hidden underneath. I don’t need to know how it all works.

“A12-18, what can I do for you?” The doctor clears his throat, emotion still evident in his words.

“Hey.” I chew on my lip, trying to decide which of my many, many questions is most important.

I have about a million questions about his relationship with Simone. Deja and I were always trying to figure out which Hand she was always off sneaking around with, and neither of us ever thought it was the doctor. It doesn’t help that Simone kept her dating life, or whatever it was she was doing with the doctor, locked down. If we even mentioned we thought she was sneaking around, she would deny it and then tell us to mind our own business.

Of course, all of the most important questions I want to ask are about his relationship with Simone, but he looks dead inside. I’m not trying to make his breakup, or whatever it was, any worse. Maybe once he’s not looking like someone just kicked a puppy in front of him, I’ll ask.

That means this conversation is going to be crappy for me because I’ve been putting off thinking about what this stupid mole could mean for me and my future. I lick my lips and then tell him why I’m here. “I have a mole that’s changed, I think.”

The doctor’s eyes go wide, some of the tension leaving his body. “When did this happen?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been checking every month for lumps and stuff like you said, but this isn’t a lump, and I thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me or it was just a weird angle. I definitely think it’s changed, though. It used to be more flat and circle-shaped. Now, it’s raised and more blobby.”

The doctor narrows his eyes at me and then goes over to his computer, where he types something out and pulls up all my charts. “I haven’t seen you in five weeks.”

“No, we had to reschedule my last appointment because you said there was a lot of research happening with the humans already on the new planet.” My fingers fiddle in my lap, and I keep chewing on my lip. With how hard I’m biting down on it, I’ll make it bleed at some point, but the tension here is thick.

The doctor types something else into his computer and then moves to one of the storage cabinets. He pulls out a hospital gown that he hands to me. It’s the same kind I’ve been asked to put on every single month I come to get checked out by him.

He doesn’t say anything to me as he steps out of the room, but I know he’ll be back in a few minutes. I’m supposed to strip, put on the gown, and then wait for him to return. The only difference today is that I don’t take my pants off. I doubt he needs my pants off to see a mole.

The hospital gown is thin, and the room is cold, which means I’m pulling my jacket back on. I’m not about to freeze to death while I wait for the doctor to come back. Thankfully, he doesn’t make me wait long. When he sees me, he tilts his head to the side, walks over to the thermostat on the wall, and taps on it.

“I didn’t realize you were coming today. I would have already warmed the room,” he says, as though the room isn’t always freezing. It makes me wonder if he’s always warm or if he doesn’t feel the temperature at all. As weird as the Hands are, I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t feel anything.

“It’s okay.” I shrug the jacket back off so I look more like a patient. I can’t and won’t think about him as my best friend’s weird alien boyfriend while we’re doing the whole doctor-patient thing because it’s gross. No, right now, in weird situations like this, it’s best to have clear boundaries and roles to play. “I just want to get this done because I have more questions for you.”

The doctor rolls his little wheeled chair close to the medical bed I’m sitting on. He looks at me in surprise before shaking his head. “Let’s not talk about A12-05 until we’ve finished your exam.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.” I throw my hands up a little dramatically to really get my point across that we’re on the same page. “I don’t want to talk about how you’re banging my best friend while you’re touching my boobs.”

Any humor that might have been on the doctor’s face is gone in an instant. The white in his eyes burns so bright I end up lowering my gaze. Clearly, joking about him and Simone is off the table, at least for now. Maybe when the heartbreak isn’t so fresh and when I’m not half dressed.

The room stays bright for what feels like at least a few minutes, and the whole time, I keep my eyes firmly planted on my lap while I wait for the doctor to decide whether to be mad at me or continue his examination. I finally have a chance to peek up when his chair rolls away from me, and instead of anger or embarrassment, there’s only sorrow on his features.

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