20 Questions

Chapter 137

Hunter

Where in the hell am I and what is with all the thumping?

I'm flat on my back, in some type of tunnel and every couple seconds, my whole body vibrates. It smells like antiseptic in here and I am not wearing the same clothes I had on earlier. As a matter of fact, I'm laying here in a fucking backless dress. Charming. As I turn my foggy head to look around, a voice comes over a microphone inside the tunnel, telling me to keep my ass still. Well, they didn't say ass, but from the annoyance in their tone, I bet they wanted to.

"Can I get out of here now?" I ask to the magic voice in the machine. "Do you know where my wife is? Can you call her? Her name is Jenna."

"You can get out in five minutes if you quit moving. She is upstairs waiting for you."

"What's upstairs? Where am I?"

"Sir, we can discuss specifics after the test. As for right now, I need you to stop moving so we can get good pictures."

Well, this is bullshit. I haven't seen Jenna since the warehouse. At least I think I saw her. I don't know. The only thing I do know is that my whole body hurts and whoever is on the other side of that speaker is kind of a dick. I'd like to not be around him any longer than I have to be so I'll keep my ass still and let him finish whatever it is he deems so important.

Longest five minutes of my life. All I want to do is see my wife, hold her hand and have her fill in the missing segments of time. Laying here like a statue has given me some time to think, but nothing is coming together. I remember Ivan putting the gun to my head and then there was Jenna, but everything after that is a blur. The table I lay on moves on its own, pulling me out of the tunnel and making a shrieking noise that hurts my head worse than the punches I took.

"You're all done," someone behind me says.

It sounds like the voice from inside the tunnel, only douchier. I look around to see a short man with patchy facial hair and scrubs that may have fit him in elementary school.

News flash: they don't now.

"Done with what? Where am I?"

"You're at the hospital and you just had an MRI. The nurse will be here any second to take you up to your room. Your wife is waiting upstairs for you."

The hospital. How did I get to a hospital?

As if summoned, a slender brunette strides through the door wearing black scrubs and a don't fuck with me attitude. The MRI tech tries to speak to her, but she wants no part of it. She makes her way to me and grabs my hand. I look up at her as she smiles down at me.

"Hey there. I'm Jade. I will be your nurse upstairs. I brought some pain meds down in case you were hurting. Do you want me to give you something to make you more comfortable? From the report I received, you sustained some pretty gnarly injuries. Your wife is climbing the walls and so anxious to see you."

"She's a feisty one," I say, but when I try to return her smile, the pain in my jaw stops me. "I don't want to be completely knocked out when I see her so can you just give me half of the medication now and the other half after I see her?"

"I sure can," she replies as she cleans the IV in my forearm with an alcohol pad.

The minute the medicine goes in, my whole body flushes. It helps with the discomfort, but the nausea that comes with it is overpowering. My head is fuzzy and I'm gonna throw up. When I start dry-heaving, Jade tries to roll me on my side, but stops abruptly when I scream out in pain. My ribs. Oh my God, my ribs feel like they are trying to puncture through my skin. I cough and that intensifies the pain to an astronomical level.