Bombay

- - 10 - -

"I haven't seen Michael today, is he okay?" I asked Ashton the following day, as he sat down on the rolling stool. 

My mother had just stepped out for a minute to grab some breakfast from the cafeteria downstairs, and shortly after her departure Ashton had come in. 

Overnight I'd been moved out of the curtain room, to a much bigger one somewhere on a new floor. It was fully enclosed now, no more curtain divider and constant loud sounds from the nurses desk. 

This bed was much softer, and I was finally given controls over how far the bed sat up or down, with the intense promise of taking it slowly. 

Plus, I'd also gained a large window in the room, and it was nice to be able to tell the time of day again. 

I heard Ashton let out a sigh from beside me, and my attention snapped back to him. 

"He's been taken off your case." He said calmly, causing my mouth to drop open.

"What, why?" I felt my heart rate pick up speed as annoyance took over my body once more. The man had literally cut me open and put me back together, he deserved a bit more respect. 

"It was by request of your mom Sage, which is understandable given how far he stepped out of bounds." He explained, sounding more resigned than anything else. 

"This isn't fair, I want him back." I complained, rolling my eyes and letting out a short huff. "Don't I get any say?" 

I saw Ashton contemplate for a second, before a small frown crossed his features. 

"If it were up to me, yes, you'd get final say. But, it's not, and sadly we have to follow her requests." He reasoned. 

Despite the anger I felt, I knew fighting fire with fire when it came to my mother, wouldn't do me any good. However, my emotions seemed to be winning out right now, pushing my better judgement to the wayside. 

In a matter of forty-eight hours I'd been through literal hell. 

I didn't know what had happened to me, but I know I woke up in a strange hospital bed with a giant ass cut across the bottom part of my stomach. The surgeon responsible for this dropped some cryptic ass message about my other parent, a topic that had been taboo in my house for my entire life. And now my mother was being a bitch to me every single time I spoke. 

I wasn't allowed to ask questions about anything, she really didn't want me speaking to any medical staff whatsoever, and she refused to leave me alone in the room for more than ten minutes.

My entire life I'd trusted and followed my mother's every move. Sure, I was smart and old enough to know some of the things that went on in my household were unconventional, but it was what we had to do to get by. 

In this moment though, it truly felt like everything I thought I knew was coming into question. Between medical staff walking around on eggshells 24/7 and my mother acting fishy, I wasn't sure what to believe. 

"Earth to Sage?" Ashton said, waving his hand a few inches away from my face. His eyebrows were creased with concern, and I realized I'd been zoned out for a good minute.

"Sorry.. sorry." I mumbled, shaking my head. "What were you saying?" 

He paused for a moment, before letting out a sigh and handing me a cup of pills and some water. 

"Just that someone from the physical therapy team would be up here later to get you moving a little bit." He said, as I took the medicine. 

I pondered his words for a moment, before glancing up.

"What team are you apart of?" I asked, realizing he'd been here since I woke up. Whenever I'd switched floors, all the nurses and staff had changed to new people. He however, had not.

"Neurology." He said with a smile, seeming proud of what he did. 

I paused for a second thinking, I knew Michael was a part of internal medicine, because he'd told me that. Which made sense, since something had clearly been wrong with my stomach. But I didn't know what neurology could have to do with any of that. 

"Is something wrong with my brain?" I asked curiously, trying to not seem like I was prying. Even though, deep down, I was. 

No one had looked at my brain, not one person had even mentioned anything regarding my head. I knew the answer to my own question, but I wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth. 

"No! Not at all!" He said, his tone reassuring, like he thought I was worried about that small detail in particular. 

Congratulations Ashton, you just earned yourself a spot in the fishy category, right alongside Michael, and mom. 

"Then why are you apart of my care team?" I asked, trying to sound professional. In all truth I was using the words from the white board that kept my doctors and nurses names on it, in front of me. 

He paused for a second, opening his mouth and forming words before closing it again. 

"Because, it's what your mother insisted on." He said, taking off his gloves and grabbing some sanitizer. "Anyways, I should be off. I've got a few more patients to check in on. See you in a bit Sage" 

He was in a hurry to leave, that much was easy to tell. While I may not have known much about him, I knew for damn sure that he shouldn't ever try to be an actor. 

It wasn't an unfamiliar sight, seeing people get nervous and antsy when my mother was involved in the conversation. But, her having her bluff in on a doctor we'd never met before in such a short amount of time, was quite the feat. 

I relaxed back into the bed, allowing my head to hit the pillow behind me. 

I had two choices at this point:

1. Attack this head on. Refuse to be silent anymore and start asking.. no.. demanding answers from my mother. This wasn't something I'd ever done before though, and I really wasn't sure how far it'd get me in the long run.

If I started to refuse and fight treatment though, it may have a stronger impact. Perhaps convincing her to come clean with me about what's going on. 

Or, it could get me in more confinement than I'm in currently. Preventing me from ever finding the answers I craved.

2. I could continue to play the good patient, and daughter role. Going along with everything they say, following the guidelines, and continuing to conduct my own investigation on the backside. Without me even trying, I was slowly finding things out. However, when I did a little pressing myself, more small details were falling into place. 

Like Ashton being associated with what tidbits Michael had dropped. 

And, with the chance of being up and moving around in not too much longer, there was a chance that I'd get to the bottom of it even faster. Especially, if I got out of mom's reach a bit more.  

After a bit of deliberating, I decided a combination of the two tactics would be best. Pressing both sides for answers, until I figure this all out. 

And with that, the therapy team came in, and I got to walking.