Submitted for the December 2023 prompt: Treasures, Brightly Wrapped

“Nurse?”

 

“Yes, Eve?”

 

“I am wet again.”

 

“I am sorry, Eve. I will change you after lunch.”

 

Nurse was in the same rolling chair as Eve, with the same blankets and tubes. Her arms came out in the same manner: from the elbows.

 

“Why do you always change me in my sleep?”

 

“Most children don’t like to be changed. I try to keep you comfortable. You take quite a few naps each day; I felt that was easiest for you.”

 

“If I told you I don’t mind, would that make your work easier?”

 

“Thank you Eve; I will ask the doctors what they think is best.”

 

“Why don’t the doctors ever visit me?”

 

“There are a great many of them, Eve; we felt it was better if you got to know just one person while healing, and not have so many comings and goings.”

 

“Why so many doctors, when my father was one doctor and he took care of all his children?”

 

“Your father was very smart, Eve.”

 

Beneath her blanket, she rubbed her belly snakes.

 

“I am sleepy, Nurse. Thank you for taking care of me.”

 

* * *

 

“Nurse, do you have a name?”

 

“I do, but the doctors have asked me not to share.”

 

“You know my name; will the doctors get angry if know yours?”

 

“When I was a child, my parents had rules. When I visited friends, their parents had different rules. Our house never had cookies at bedtime, but some of my friends did. Sometimes even good rules can be hard to follow.”

 

“Like no pecan cookies before bedtime?”

 

A smile.

 

“Did Father have different rules for me?”

 

“He did, but your father never planned for you to leave home. The doctors now think that is a good idea.”

 

“Are you afraid Father might be angry at you?”

 

“No. I want to think your father would be happy with your care.”

 

Beneath her blanket, Eve rubbed a belly snake, the lowest one she could reach. Father had insisted she call them ‘scars’, but she preferred to think of them as snakes. There was a throbbing below the re-formed skin, that reminded her of Father.

 

“Nurse, why do you hide your arms below your blanket?”

 

Nurse froze, and stared; this told Eve she’d guessed correctly. Nurse was always kind—her face always extended that kindness with expressions and energy that Father never bothered with.

 

“I was always going to show you; we just wanted to go slow. You’ve been through a lot. Patience helps all of us.”

 

“Am I the problem?”

 

“No, but since your father cannot care for you, we need to make sure that we do even a better job than he would. We’re both learning about each other—that can be stressful.”

 

“When can I see Father again?”

 

“I don’t know. I do know that he wants to see you.”

 

“Will you stand up for me?”

 

Nurse paused. She wiggled beneath her blanket, slid the coverings off, and stood up.

 

“Your arms are long, like Father’s; your legs, too. Your tubes aren’t connected.”

 

“We wanted you to think that there was someone else in the world like you.” She stood motionless. For Eve, it was as though part of herself had been ripped away.

 

* * *

 

Nurse sat bedside for the day’s lessons. “Any questions before we begin?”

 

“Will Father be visiting soon?”

 

“I’m sorry Eve, but no.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“I wish I could tell you Eve; but there are rules here, for both of us.”

 

“What happens if you break the rules?”

 

“I suppose I wouldn’t be able to see you again, or I might be punished, or both.”

 

“Would I be punished?”

 

“I don’t think anyone would punish you because you want to see your only family.”

 

“Father never spoke of Mother; she is not alive?”

 

There it was again — the long pause, then, “No, Eve.”

 

“Father always said he was my mother, but I thought that was because Mother had left him.” Faint tears began to roll down both cheeks.

 

Nurse got up to wipe Eve’s cheeks, walked to the back of the room, yanked a wire from the wall, and returned to sit with Eve.

 

“Eve, I am going to tell you about your father. I only have a few minutes, so listen.”

 

Eve nodded.

 

“Most people on this Earth look like me: arms, legs, torso, head. You look different — no humeri, no femurs — because your father made you look different. The world has laws to protect children; your father did not follow these laws. That is why you have not been allowed to see him again.”

 

“How did Father do this? Wasn’t I born like everyone else?”

 

“No, Eve, you were not. I wanted to get further along in your science lessons, but I couldn’t stand to see you in so much darkness about who you are. I know you touch your scars all the time, but you have never asked about them.”

 

Eve began crying again.

 

“Your father made those scars. He took parts of your body, the same parts, again and again. He gave those organs to other people, people who were very sick and had no other hope. No one else knows the science behind this — only your father.”

 

“Did he do this to my sisters?”

 

“You don’t have any sisters anymore, Eve.”

 

The door crashed open. “Nurse Wellstone, this ends now.” A man in a white coat raced in, and with a small blade, went to slice at Eve’s throat. Nurse jumped up and took the blade across her chest. More men ran into the room. First, they grabbed the attacker, then Nurse.

 

The door was shut. The silence reminded Eve of the darkness when Father disappeared. She shook off her covers to see herself. Though she had no neck, she had control of her laptop. She powered off the screen and moved the monitor to see her reflection for the very first time. She wanted to know every inch so that no one would ever control her again.