Nixxia felt a sharp pain as she tried to open her eyes; the light above her head was so bright she felt like she would go blind.
She was used to bioluminescence, not the jarring intensity from the light above, it almost felt like the sun was lowered onto her face. She didn't like it.
She succeeded in opening her eyes and was once again blinded by the monochrome color of the room.
"Ugh..." She groaned; her body felt so much pain, her knees and hands still felt bruised, and her lower back and abdomen felt like she'd been bitten by a million piranhas.
Her tailbone felt heavy, and she knew it was due to that huge monster that had hit her while she was trying to crawl that thin path.
She looked down at her body and realized that she'd been clothed in a blue material; it was quite comfortable; her new legs were perfectly fixed inside the tube-like material, and her hands were sticking out from the material that covered her upper body.
"Human clothing," She muttered.
The moment she tried to raise herself from what she believed to be a bed because it was designed similarly to the bed she was familiar with back home, she saw the white door pushed open, and a man in white clothing with a black object around his neck entered the room.
He looked as boring as those healers down in her kingdom.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Zee. Please do not try to move around; your injuries are not severe. That doesn't mean you can get on your own at the moment," Dr. Zee advised as he adjusted the bed so it raised Nixxia upper body to a sitting position.
Nixxia was shocked by the movement of the bed, but she was more surprised to hear the man speaking the language her mother had secretly taught her since she could speak.
'So, this was human language,' she thought quietly, observing Dr. Zee's eyeglasses and wondering why the man had to fix a mirror in his eyes.
"What are those?" Nixxia tried to raise her hand and touch Dr. Zee's glasses, but she gasped in pain as she felt a sharp piercing pain in her wrist.
"Oh my, keep your hands down, Mr., please, I don't want your boss to have my neck." Dr. Zee's eyes widened as he saw the cannula slip out of Nixxia's wrist.
He quickly grabbed cotton wool and pressed on the puncture. "Hold this, please," Dr. Zee instructed and carefully removed the plastic needle, discarding it in a waste bin in a corner.
He turned and sighed, looking at the young woman who was staring at him as if he were some sort of special specimen.
Nixxia suddenly realized that it was not every word in the human language that she understood.
"What is Boss? What was that..." She paused and raised the cotton wool to see her red blood, "My blood is red?" She smiled, happy that her Father's blood no longer ran in her veins; she was human!
"We've got a problem," Dr. Zee muttered as he heard Nixxia's questions and words.
***
Vernon walked in straight strides into the hospital building, Dane following behind like a shadow.
Nurses and doctors bowed to him as he walked past them but he ignored them all and headed right into the lift that would take him to the private ward where his captive had been laying unconscious for a whole fucking week.
Dane was the one who informed him about Dr. Zee's message, telling him that the young woman had finally regained consciousness.
He got out of the lift, marched straight to Nixxia's room, and pushed the door open.
Dr. Zee was startled by the unexpected intruder, while Nixxia simply stared at the fine man standing at the door.
'What a fine Merman...human,' she corrected herself.
She stared at Vernon, wondering why the man was dressed in only dark colors. Did humans only dress in monochrome colors?
"Mr. Vernon, you're here, I have something -"
"Move, Doctor," Vernon ordered and walked into the room.
Nixxia couldn't help but notice that this human wasn't happy. His face was smooth, almost like the skin of a Mermen baby, but his scowl was like that of an unmated and stressed Mermen.
She saw Vernon walking toward her bed and felt just a little frightened. She knew her mother had told her that humans were the best creatures, nice and friendly, yet sh couldn't help feeling a little chill behind her spine; her frills would have risen in alert if she were still Mermaid.
Vernon reached the side of Nixxia's bed, and to everyone's surprise, he pulled out a gun and pointed it at Nixxia's face.
"Mr. Vernon!" Dr. Zee exclaimed.
"Shit," Dane murmured beside the door.
Vernon wasn't fazed by their exclamations, he pressed the gun on Nixxia's forehead, the cold metal digging into her skin.
"What is the name of your gang? Who sent you? And how did you get on my private property?" His voice dropped with a cold promise of death.
Nixxia knew she was being threatened, her fear instinct kicked in, but her curiosity won.
"What's this?" She asked, touching the gun and looking into Vernon's alluring grey eyes, "Are you trying to hurt me?" Nixxia questioned.
Vernon gritted his teeth, and in annoyance; he grabbed Nixxia's neck and pressed her down on the bed, "Answer my question, you dimwit!" He growled.
He didn't care it was a female, they were the most dangerous because they were always underestimated.
Nixxia choked; now she knew how fishes felt out of the water... out of breath.
"Mr. Vernon, Mr. Vernon, please, let her go. This was what I was trying to tell you; she'd lost her memories." Dr. Zee cautiously came and stood beside Vernon but dared not touch him.
He normally would never interfere with Vernon's business, but after asking Nixxia some questions, he came to realize that whatever happened to Nixxia made him lose a huge part of her memory.
Vernon didn't immediately let go of Nixxia's neck, he glared at her for a while before he released her and stepped back from her.
Nixxa inhaled a lungful of air, placing her hand around her neck and slightly coughing.
This just felt like when her Father tried to strangle her, so humans weren't that nice and friendly after all; they were just like the Mermen; some were good, while some were bad.
"What did you say?" Vernon questioned, his calculating eyes grazed over Nixxia.
He'd never felt that frustrated before; she'd spent a week trying to find out how the young woman had appeared, but he'd been left with only the trails of limbs on the sand as someone tried to crawl out from the water beside his house.
"I mean, she'd lost all her memories. She only now understands basic communication and knows nothing about this planet, Earth; it's almost as if she'd appeared from another planet. All I know is that her name is Nixxia," Dr. Zee carefully explained.
Vernon made everyone feel a slow, cold crawl under their skin with the way he chuckled so darkly. "Nixxia." He tested the name on his lips, it was weird; his eyes returned to Nixxia, who now had a frown on her clean face.
Hee face had been cleaned, and her aqua-blue eyes were so bright and troubled.
"You know you're replaceable, Zee?" Vernon asked, waving his hand to Dane, who was standing beside the door.
Dane quietly sighed and moved forward, taking the gun from Vernon's hand and pointing to Dr. Zee's face.
Dr. Zee forgot how to breathe. He gulped loudly and slowly nodded, "I know, Mr. Vernon, I don't dare betray you," He said in a shaky voice.
"Good. Bring her with us, Dane. We'll keep her until she regains her memories," Vernon commanded, pointing at Nixxoa, who was still watching with silent eyes.
Vernon walked past Dr. Zee and went to grab Nixxia's arms, dragging her down on the bed.
"Mr. Vernon! She can't -"
Thud!
Nixxia fell to the floor on her wobbly legs, hitting her buttock on the floor. "Hurts!" She groaned.
Vernon was losing his patience; he was about to actually lose it and kick the young woman on the floor.
"She can't walk," Dr. Zee announced, stopping Vernon's actions.
"I can't walk." Nixxia raised her hand and looked up at Vernon to help her up.
"Bastard," Vernon muttered and looked at Dane.
Dane immediately went and pushed over the wheelchair to Nixxia. "Get in here," He said as he placed his hands under Nixxia's armpits and helped her sit in the wheelchair.
Dane didn't know what to think of this young woman; all he knew was that Vernon didn't like her, and he felt sorry for her already, that is if she was really innocent.
Vernon was never going to let her go unless she confessed.
Nixxia didn't know what to call the moving chair, but she sat still, allowing the man to push her out of the room.
She might be new to the human world, but he was no novice to emotions.
She could tell that the one they called Mr. Vernon didn't like her, and she knew that the cold metal he had placed on her forehead was dangerous, but playing dumb was her best way out.
The human world might be dangerous, but she'd never return to the water; she would find a way to navigate her life up here.
Survival was a general instinct, she would use it.