The Fly of the Butterfly (English)

Chapter 11

Sitting on the edge of the hospital stretcher was Cadet Dylan Carter, waiting for his companion to wake up from the state of torpor in which the painkillers had put her after the tedious surgery. Medics had successfully removed a 18-inch-long steel bar that had pierced her right thigh just above the knee..

The girl was on the stretcher in her underwear, covered by a white sheet that covered her entire body, except for the bandaged leg that protruded, resting on an orthopedic pad that kept her semi-flexed so that she did not make sudden movements.

Dylan undoubtedly felt guilty about what had happened, not only had he left her alone with the most important discovery of the girl's life, but he had also left her alone investigating it after they were shot as a result, all these situations for the ones that shouldn't happen and a partner should never do that, now his conscience bothered him.

He settled into the chair of a body in which he had been lying for approximately six hours since his partner left the operating room. He settled back knowing that it wouldn't work, those seats, no matter how comfortable they were at first glance, after a couple of hours you began to feel each of the hidden joints of the cushions.

He looked at the machine which emitted a deafening beep at first, but just like with the sofa, after a while you ended up getting used to its discomfort. He couldn't make sense of everything he saw on that screen, but he did understand a few things, blood oxygen saturation 98%, blood pressure 11/9, and the constant heartbeat of 74 beats per minute. He closed her eyes hoping that when he opened them the view would be a little better.

This is nothing like it's portrayed in the movies, it's far worse, the aura of pristine white purity is not the first thing Aeryne sees when she opens her eyes. The oxygen mask obstructs most of his view, which is still out of focus, she was able to distinguish the beige walls of the hospital, she did not see windows to the outside that let in natural light, but a very weak LED spotlight illuminates the room, along with the door a chest of drawers with a bunch of carnations in a vase a little small for the amount they were.

As for the pain in her body, what she feels can be described as indescribable.

She moved the mask to one side with her left hand, the one she looked at for a few seconds analyzing it in detail, the broken nails very close to their origin, three fingers bandaged with splints that seemed to be broken in some places and bruises that were lost if she continued to look at her shoulders. She didn't recognize her own body, she followed her right hand where the intravenous line was infiltrating fluids that kept her hydrated and medicated against pain.

She felt the pain spread through her body as she became aware of it. Her back felt like an elephant had walked on it and her hips sank into the mattress of the stretcher with great heaviness. She felt it real when she saw the leg that was on top of her sticking out from the rest of her limbs arranged on that cushion, purple on some sides and scratched on others. That fucking bastard had wanted to kill her.

Tears overflowed her eyes, uttering a sob that woke up her companion.

-Aeryne?- Dylan positioned himself at her side, drawing the gaze of the girl to him, who wouldn't stop crying. -Calm down pretty girl, you're safe now- he stroked her hair trying to reassure her. He felt how the brunette held her hand almost begging not to be left alone. He wasn't going to abandon her, not again. Once she was able to reassure her she was able to get some concrete response from her.

-It was in the elevator, he injected something in my neck, I guess it was morphine but he couldn't...-she wiped away the tears that had soaked her face.

-He is already in custody, Detective Williams will know what to do, for now we have been discharged from work until they can decide what they will do with our grades- he moves the chair closer to the stretcher to be closer to his partner.