Flip the Coin [BL]-Chapter 211. Monitors

Instead of being taken to our new room, we entered what seemed to be a doctor’s office.

"Please wait here." The counter lady smiled and left us three alone.

Ethan sighed,

"Because you slept, I didn’t have time to fill you in, but everything had already been coordinated with Mrs. Howard."

I let go of Henry’s wrist, which I seemed to have gripped at some point when he had slung his arm over my neck. Walking to one of the chairs in front of the desk with two high-end computers, I sat down and turned toward Ethan.

"Then do that now."

Henry took a seat beside me, also turning his chair to face the lawyer.

"Five years; it was the best I could get. Full cooperation, so just ’cooperate as much as you can.’" The way he said that told me to just share however much I wanted to.

"You will get an ankle monitor in here. You are not allowed to miss the ’lessons’ on your schedule, and no violence, or the deal is off, and you will be brought to court," Ethan explained.

"Okay." I nodded; it sounded legit.

"Will I get a new one?" Henry asked, pulling up his pant leg to show he was already wearing an ankle monitor.

"Yes," Ethan pushed his glasses up.

"Although I am part of the survivors, once I am acquitted here, I can’t serve as your attorney, as I would change my role to that of a patient. Luckily, the participation in this program is voluntary for The Four Hundred, so I decided to stay outside. But I will visit you at every given opportunity. If they do something shady, let me know; until then, you will have to look after yourselves."

"Fine with me." There was no need for him to hover over us, but he could have told me all that if he had just taken the same car as us.

And... funny that he turned out to be now also Henry’s attorney.

"Me too." Henry smiled happily.

"The bracelets... if they tell you that you have to take them off, then it can’t be helped."

"What bracelet—" I looked at my wrist and saw a red one with a pendant. Huh? I hadn’t noticed that. Looking at Henry, he had the same one, just in blue.

"We’ll try to keep our BFF accessories." Henry nodded while looking at his wrist with a grin.

"Okay." There surely was a story behind that, but I didn’t care either way.

Ethan examined me a bit before speaking.

"Mr. Howard... are you alright?"

Henry turned to look at me as well. Was I too chill about everything? But it’s more relaxing than constantly being angry, so I don’t really mind it.

"Yeah. Thanks for your hard work; the deal is a good one."

"It’s his job." Henry mumbled grumpily while turning the pendant of his bracelet.

"It is my job," Ethan said, looking pointedly at Henry before turning back to me. "But I am glad you are satisfied with the deal. The authorities have taken an interest in you; for that reason, any less than five years wouldn’t have been in our favor, because what we hope for is that you regain your full freedom at some point." He looked apologetic at the end.

Given his expression, I knew that I probably wouldn’t ever be free of at least them watching me from the shadows.

"Haaaa..." I sighed in mild annoyance.

"It doesn’t matter; it’s okay."

The door opened, and a doctor came in—not as tall as Henry, but taller than I was, in his forties, yet he had a charming smile on his face.

"Good... the ankle monitors for our two new guests, am I right?"

"Yes." Ethan nodded, and we all watched as the doctor went to his computer, typing away.

"We have a new model here for you two..." He stood up, went to a shelf, and began rummaging through it.

"And it is in white!"

"What is your name, kind sir?" Ethan asked with an amicable smile.

"Oh, right. My name is Dyllan Thompson." The doctor paused and brought two packed devices back to his table.

"Mr. Thompson," Ethan nodded. "What exactly is new about this model?" 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The doctor typed on his computer and answered absentmindedly.

"Oh, these two are more accurate than the usual ones; they provide more data and are more difficult to remove." He turned to look at us.

"Who is Mr. Devin, and who is Mr. Howard?"

"Devin," I said, pointing at Henry with my thumb.

The named person chuckled and pointed at me, taking on the same pose as me.

"Howard."

"Good, good. You two are friends, aren’t you? Then this will just be like school or a military camp. You can relax; just take part in the program; that is really important." The doctor’s eyes lingered on me for a bit longer before he went back to typing.

He really doesn’t know the name of the only human with bright red eyes?

Sure.

"Now, Mr. Howard, if you would please." Dr. Thompson stood up and motioned to a treatment couch that sat in front of a shelf full of books.

I followed, along with the two other men who accompanied me like bodyguards, and wondered if these books were real or just decoration while sitting down.

I chose to pull up the pant leg of my right ankle because my other leg slightly hurt since waking up, though I was sure it was just phantom pain or something.

"Please lie down." The doctor said, so I followed his order and looked at the ceiling.

After opening the package, he took the device out and placed it on my right ankle, then he typed something into the small touchscreen of the monitor, and I felt something pierce my skin.

I mentally sighed, not interested in what this was about.

Would it change anything? If I got up and asked Ethan to sue them all because of a little prick from the ankle monitor, what exactly would I gain from it?

Let’s just stay quietly here for a few years, and then we’ll see how to continue.

"Good, everything is finished. Now, Mr. Devin?" I stood up and walked to stand beside Ethan, watching Henry go through the same process, only the doctor pulled out a key to open the old black ankle monitor for him first.

So they are more organized than they let on, having the key and everything ready.

Henry was all smiles when the old black monitor came down and the new white modern one came on, but his expression froze when he apparently felt his skin pierced as well. He looked at me questioningly, and I nodded slightly, telling him I had experienced the same.

Henry narrowed his eyes but did not react further.

When we were finished, two men in white came with something that looked like metal detectors in their hands.

They asked Henry and me to step forward as they moved these devices all over our bodies. There was no alarm or anything on my side, not even regarding the bracelet, while on Henry’s side, there was.

He pulled his smartphone out of his pant pocket.

"I thought smartphones were allowed?"

"Yes... they are allowed for normal patients, but you two are convicted prisoners." The doctor answered instead of the nurse.

"Using devices connected to the internet was explicitly allowed," Ethan interjected; he had stood on the side with crossed arms in his grey suit, which practically screamed ’attorney’.

"Indeed, but when, where, and how is up to us." The doctor countered.

"If they behave perfectly in their first week, we will allow one hour using these devices in the next. If they behave perfectly in the next week, they will get two hours in the week that follows. How can we treat them if they are constantly on their phones? So we will make it like this."

Ethan pushed his glasses up.

"However, they can receive calls at any time?"

"Naturally." The doctor nodded.

"There is a landline in their room; they can receive phone calls at any given moment."

"I will call my clients every two days. If they don’t answer, then I will come back. And I will not be alone."

"With the police?" the doctor asked, amused.

"Oh no; no, no, no. You misunderstood." Ethan looked at him apologetically.

"I will come back with the press, who is always wondering how the two saviors of the south district are doing." Ethan politely corrected before reminding,

"The deal Mr. Howard had signed is not confidential. His rights are clearly printed on it, and we can show them to whoever we want to."