The Day They Came (WATTY AWARDS 2016)

Chapter 23

Claire moaned. Her eyes opened up slowly. A cough forced itself out of her mouth from somewhere deep inside her body.

The bright light startled her. She shut her eyes again. Then opened them as her eyes adjusted.

"Are you awake?" The voice came from beside her. She managed to look over to the person speaking to her.

The voice belonged to a nurse. He had a soft tone, and sat at a computer beside her bed.

When she blinked, he smiled a little at her.

"Don't try to speak yet. You'll stay in recovery for about twenty more minutes. In about ten, I'll ask you to speak." He looked at the computer to confirm that he had told her the right instructions.

She gulped a little, the small amount of saliva feeling good in her dry throat. As she lay on the bed, she thought about what had happened. She remembered the IV going into her elbow. An image of Xyzle walking with her as far as he could came to mind as well.

She couldn't remember falling asleep in the operation room. She wanted to ask if that was normal, but her throat felt super dry.

Time passed slowly in recovery. The face mask came off at some point. By the time ten minutes had passed, her throat became even dryer.

"Try to say something, please, Miss Davidson." The nurse broke the long silence.

"H-Hello..." It took her a moment to form the word due to her dry throat.

"We'll get you something for the dry throat when you go back to the pre operation room." The nurse continued to talk to one of the other nurses as she simply looked around. She still felt a little dizzy, probably from all the blood loss. The only good thing about getting burnt was that it helped cauterize her bullet wound.

For the next ten minutes, she stared at the ceiling. Though there were various noises in the room, she found none of them entertaining. She simply wanted to get out of the hospital.

Soon the bed began to move, and someone opened the door to the room. She noticed that it was her bed moving, and blinked a couple of times. Surely Xyzle was waiting for her in that other room.

The walk was only a few minutes long. As she had thought, Xyzle sat on a stool in the pre-op room. He had a book from the waiting room in his hands, open and almost to the end.

"Xyzlendisquin?" The nurse attempted to say his name. He looked up.

"It takes time to say my name correctly. Xyzle is fine." She smiled a little as she heard his voice.

"What do you want to help with that dry throat?" The nurse turned his attention to her.

"Water, please." She managed to croak out two words. The nurse nodded, and left the room to bring the water to her.

Xyzle stood up and walked towards the bed. She took his hand in hers. A shiver traveled down her back, but it was a good shiver.

"I'm glad you're okay." He kissed the back of her hand. "Do you know where we can go after we leave the hospital?"

She nodded slowly. It took her a moment to find her voice again, but she found it.

"United Nations..." Before she could continue, the nurse brought in a small cup of water.

He brought the small table near the bed, and set the cup down. It didn't take long for her to get the cup to her mouth. A couple of long sips took care of her dry throat, but she knew that she would drink much more before it was fully gone.

"You will need to stay overnight so we can make sure it begins to heal right, and you will have to come back in two weeks for a follow up." The nurse spoke up. "Dr. Ashcroft will be in shortly, and then you will be taken to a room. Xyzle, you're more than welcome to stay with her."

With that, the nurse bade them farewell, and left the room. Xyzle turned his attention back to her.

"The UN building is not far from here. They meet in three days." The two sentences took more out of her than she thought they would, and she took another long sip of water.

"Will you be able to come with me?" He pulled the stool closer to the bed, and then sat down.

"No. I will be laid up. However, Jackson Armstead is a friend of mine, and a representative at the UN." She whispered, trying not to make her throat drier than it was. When he nodded her on, she told him how to get in contact with Jackson and to mention her name or Peter's. Peter would probably get a better reaction than hers.

"I'll go make the call. Ask them not to move you until I return, please." With that, he stood up and walked out of the room.

Claire returned to sipping her water as she waited. She couldn't feel anything in the area where she'd had surgery, but she knew that it would not last long. Come that night, she'd be in a lot of pain. However, since she would be staying overnight, it was completely possible they'd give her stronger medications to keep her numb.

Dr. Ashcroft walked in. He held a clipboard, and was currently looking at a piece of paper.

"Good to see you're awake, Miss Davidson." He smiled. "I assume the nurse told you that you'll be here overnight?"

"Yes." She smiled a little. "However, Xyzle has asked that you not move me to a different room until he returns. He had to make a phone call."

With a laugh, Dr. Ashcroft nodded. He set the clipboard down on the table, and began to move her IV bags to an IV stand.

"You'll be taken to your new room by wheelchair. Will you be able to sit up?" He helped her sit up, and she managed to do so. Then, he adjusted the bed to support her as she sat up, the IV bags situated on the stand.

"If the wheelchair lounges a little, yes." She tried to make a joke. Though it fell flat, Dr. Ashcroft still laughed.

"Fair enough." Then, he went to refill her cup.

With that, she watched the liquids in the bags drip into the tubes. From the tubes, the liquids dripped down and into her elbow. Something cold had been added, sending shivers up and down her elbow, then her body as it traveled through her system.

She pulled the blanket close around her. It was warm, as if it had only just been set there.

Dr. Ashcroft returned.

"Cold?" He sounded concerned, and then noticed one of the little bags had condensation. "Ah. You're getting cold drugs..." He placed another blanket around her. "There. Once the bag warms up a little more, the drugs won't be so cold either. Give it maybe half an hour."

"Thanks." She smiled a little and took a sip of her water.

"We will have a room for you in a few hours. There are a few patients being discharged today, but for now, all the rooms are full. You'll be here until then." Dr. Ashcroft was paged over the intercom as he finished speaking. "I'll check in on you tomorrow."

He walked out of the room for the final time.She sighed, and closed her eyes.