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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐃, 𝐎𝐁𝐍𝐎𝐗𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆of the monitor was the only thing she could hear as the young redhead slowly opened her eyes, only to reveal a very dimmed lit medical room. Her head was spinning and pounding like crazy. She felt warm... actually warm for the first time in several days.
Groggy and confused, Sage attempted to raise her arms, but found them bound by restraints. Panic settled within her and a whimper escaped her lips as she flailed around trying to free herself. Immediately, hands were holding down her arms.
"Sage, calm down. Calm down," the soothing voice of her mentor said, causing the redhead to look up, eyes wide and examining him from head to toe just to make sure he was real. He still looked exactly the same, perfect hair and all. Walker gave her a comforting smile. "Hey, there she is. Welcome back."
Sage tried to say something, but her mouth was too dry to form words. Walker instantly sensed this and brought over the cup of water that was waiting for her and let her get a couple sips in. "Here, let's get these restraints off of you."
"That is not your call to make," a new voice said, causing Sage to shoot her head in the direction in panic, only to reveal a woman in a white uniform. Most likely a healer. "That is for the doctor to decide."
"Look at her. Does she still look violent?" Walker snapped, before rolling his eyes when he saw her hesitate. "Then go get the doctor so we can take these off."
The nurse shuffled out of the room quickly. Walker waited until she was out of sight before continuing to take off the restraints. "Don't worry, kid. I'm not going to let them stay on longer than they should."
"W-Why do I have them on?" Sage managed to finally question, feeling relief when her hands were free and watched him as he went for her ankles.
Walker looked up at her nervously. "You don't remember the past two days, do you?"
Two days? Sage repeated in her head before shaking her head slowly. "Barely. I, um... I remember being airlifted out of the arena. I remember being wheeled here but... I think I might be blocking out the rest."
Walker took off the last restraint and moved over to where he had been sitting, pulling the chair closer to her bed. He then stared at her for a several seconds as if he just couldn't believe she was there, before finally finding the courage to speak. "You wouldn't let anyone touch you. You kind of went into a trance-like state. Wouldn't speak, wouldn't eat or drink. And whenever someone tried to examine your injuries, you got violent. Now PTSD isn't uncommon after the games. The workers here are used to it, but their methods to getting you compliant are a bit extreme. They finally had to sedate you to work on you, but they still put restraints on you just to be safe."
