City of Decay: The Cleaner | MxM

Chapter 17: In the Eye of Pain

"With all due respect, I must insist, Bear. I can't leave him unsupervised. Not yet."

"You are a nuisance, doctor. I'll make sure he'll recover just fine."

Voices... I know them both. This deep, raspy voice and the calm, timid words of the doctor... Where am I? It's so dark... My eyelids feel as heavy as lead.

"I doubt it, Thayer."

"Don't test me, doc, my patience is wearing thin today. Use your sharp tongue elsewhere."

He is pissed. I can hear it in his voice even though my head feels light, unable to really process the words I am hearing. But I don't need to grasp their conversation, not with Thayer's tone. I vividly remember him being pissed in the past, but right now, I can't grasp the memory.

I know it's something that has happened, but the reason and circumstances escape me.

"Don't threaten me, Thayer. If you want him to recover properly, you'll know to let me stay – as long as I please."

Are they talking about me? They must be. The voices become clearer and clearer with every second, and yet I still feel trapped in a haze I can't fully wake up from.

"Don't blame me for the damage your stay will do to you. Not now, not ever."

I hear his heavy footsteps, the sound of his anger muffled by the pride he keeps upright. But even in my state of mind he can't fool me, nor the doctor. The sound of the heavy door slamming shut sends a shiver through my body and half a second later a cold hand reaches mine.

"Finally awake, are we?"

It's not really a question I have to answer, he knows better than I do. He knew I was about to wake up, and while I didn't catch the conversation he had with Thayer, I can imagine that it was a result of him trying to get the mighty Bear to leave.

Luckily so. "Hmmm," I can't speak. I try, I feel like words should leave my mouth, but the only thing escaping me are muffled noises.

"It's alright, the sedative is still in your blood. Sleep a little longer, you'll feel better," he reassures me, and I can't help but feel at ease knowing he's here. There are so many things in my head right now... What exactly happened? What's with Thomas and Andrew? How about the Duke? Why did this whole thing happen? And... why is Thayer here?

I surrender to the fog in my head, drifting into a dreamless sleep once more, plagued by so many questions without any answers. I'll get to them, slowly but surely. But there is one answer I'll never be able to achieve – and even if I do, how am I supposed to believe?

Why did the Shadow betray me? And why... why do I feel hurt?

I hiss due to the pain I suddenly feel. In case I slept up till now I didn't realize it, and whatever was left of the realm of dreams had left me the second I awakened to the pain. My eyes suddenly open wide, but I can't see.

It's as if my body reacted but my brain hasn't caught up yet. Or maybe it's due to the bright, white room. My eyes slowly adjust, and the room gets into focus. I dart my eyes at the painting on the wall, staring it down while I try to suppress the pain that aches through my body.

"I'm sorry." I hear the faint voice of the doctor next to me, his head lowered, his hood obscuring his face as always. "The anesthesia has worn off, but I have to assess how you're doing without it."

"I'm... fine." My voice is pressed and dry. I'm far from fine and the doctor can tell, "Okay.. I'm not..." I give in to his silence. We both know I can't just play this thing off like it's nothing.