Gargoyle: Kinswoman

Part 20

She came around on peeping sounds surrounding her in otherwise silent hospital room. She stiffened, tried to swallow and realized there was something in her throat that felt uncomfortable.

"Who knew I'd end up spending some of that care money on you!"

She recognized Robert's voice and she realized he'd been talking for quite a while now, but she hadn't been around to hear it. It was hard to keep her mind from wondering in and out and concentrate on what he was saying, how tired and gruff his voice sounded. Was he talking to her or was there somebody else in the room? She tried to understand, but there was too many weird sounds mushing up into one. Something smelled tangy, acidic.

The chair grated on the floor as it moved back and she heard him raising from it, walking somewhere. She stiffened and the monitor next to her began beeping louder.

"Hey," she felt his hand settle on hers in soft touch and it stung. She flinched away, but it wouldn't move. "Calm down, my dove."

A sudden horror flushed through her when she realized the voice did belong to Robert and she was helpless against saying or doing anything that would let the hospital know she didn't want him there! She wasn't fooled by his charmer ways, but the nurses, she bet on nurses swooning for his attention. That's the sort of guy he was, but it didn't change the reality she'd gone through, nor that she didn't want him there, wherever that "where" was. She would be under his control once more.

She tried again, harder this time, to pull her hand away and it moved slightly, the monitor was still sending out alarms and she recognized that the machine was signaling everybody around her she she wasn't comfortable here.

At some point a nurse materialized by her side and she felt the tube being pulled out. She didn't know where to concentrate, but she didn't follow the process aside Robert's hand still patting hers in soothing way and she couldn't tolerate that sensation one bit. Why wouldn't her left hand move?

The woman smiled down at her, but her eyes hopped on the man on her side for fracture of a second before asking her how she was feeling, assured her she would be alright now and that she should try to relax and not move much before the doctor came.

Robert wouldn't move. She couldn't care shit about the woman cooing over her medicals, now that her brain was finally beginning to unwind from the drugs she'd been probably administered at some point. She began noticing the small details, the color of the ward, what machines were making the sounds. Thankfully she couldn't recognize any from her previous visits, which meant there were no spleen nor kidney failure. Only regarding general stuff – blood pressure, pulse, breathing... was that EEG monitor? Why would they-

She tried to move her eyes on her right to see the monitor more clearly and felt the throbbing in her right side of her head. She cringed at it. So that was, why.

Robert's hand came back, patting her left hand and she heard his clothes rustle as he leaned over her, gently pulling her jaw back to the center.

"Are you thirsty?"

A straw pushed into her lower lip and she fought to deny it's entry before she realized it was foolish to deny her body the much needed liquid. She opened her lips slightly and the straw slipped in. It tasted good. It was gone too soon, but she still relished the taste.

Robert sat back down and they waited for a while in silence. She was still edgy about him being there, mostly because it confused the hell out of her. On one side she knew she should be angry, demand him to leave or ask the staff to remove him. On the other side, it felt good to have at least someone by your side, who knew who you were. It reminded her of the good times, when they enjoyed each other's company and she was too tired to let her brain roam back to the self-loathing hate she'd succumbed only months later, when the abuse started. But for now, she took the comfort she was offered and tried not to do anything to ruin it.