In His Arms

Day 3

I roll out of bed sick to my stomach and my whole body aches. As soon as I stand I grab the bed frame for balance. My feet hurt so bad I can't put weight on them.
This time I let myself fall to my knees. I shuffle over to the bed post and take out my earring. I scratch a third tally mark into the wood.
I try lifting myself back up but fall over again. I grab the nightstand and pull myself up carefully.
I hear footsteps behind me as I'm still climbing back on the bed.
Someone pulls be back and I fall into the wheelchair.
I whimper when I slam into the chair. They tie my hands down and push me out the door.

After twists and turns I'm taken back to the room I first woke up in. Same white walls, same tiled floor, same odd buzzing noise.
They place me in the chair and I'm unable to move at all. The strap holding my head in place is tight.
An overhead light swings around blinding me. I squint my eyes and the scientists crowd around me.

They force my mouth open and poke various metal tools around.
"Bicuspid on the upper left."

One of them scribbles down the information. A pair of gleaming pliers catches my eye.
"What's going-"
Two hands force my mouth open. My jaw fights to shut and it does- on one of their fingers.
Smack
Heat rushes to my cheek. They reach for my face again.
"No! Stop!"
They pry my mouth wide open and hold it firmly in place. The cold pliers brush against my lip as they reach to the front of my mouth. I scream at the top of my lungs.
With a firm grasp on my tooth he twists. I scream.
He moves the tool back and forth, back and forth, then yanks down hard.
Tears flood my face and blood gushes all over my mouth.
A rich iron taste fills my mouth. I continue screaming as the pain grows worse with every passing second. It's as if someone shoved needles into my gums.
The pliers hold a partially blackened tooth and they place it on a metal tray.
I yell louder when a piece of gauze or cotton is roughly shoved into place. No matter how hard I cry or scream the pain is still present. The gauze falls from the gap and they put it back in. They shove my mouth closed and when I bite down every nerve in my face screams in agony. They begin unstrapping me from the chair. I kick and scream through closed teeth.

Hands clamp around my arms and legs but I flail and fight back. One hand slips and drops my leg. All the other hands let go and I fall on my back. They pin me down and something pinches my arm.
Within seconds I feel drowsy and heavy.
***
I wake up slowly. With eyes still closed my hand reaches out to grab my phone but swishes in the air.
"Ughhh." I groan.
I roll over and open my eyes. I'm greeted with a white wall. My wall isn't white and my desk is missing.
Wait..
Memories come flooding back.
No it can't be. This wasn't a dream. My heart sinks into my stomach.

I roll over, sit up, and look to the stand. I bowl of soup sits steaming on the night stand. I touch my cheek and yelp in pain.
My fingertips are red. I look back at the pillow. It's soaked in crimson. Blood clumps my hair together. I carefully pull the gauze from my mouth and it's saturated in dark blood. Drips of blood fall to my tongue. I take a wad of tissues and stick them in the gap.
The blood begins seeping through quickly.
I blink away tears and throw the gauze in the trash.
My stomach growls at me angrily. The soup looks so good but I can't possibly eat.
I lay on my back. I know I haven't brushed my teeth more than once since I got here but there's no way my tooth could have been rotten so fast.

Is it the infection? There's no way a disease can do this so fast. It's just not possible.
My stomach growls again. I should eat, I haven't eaten hardly anything, but it'd hurt too much.

I cough and more blood shoots from my mouth. My throat had been on fire lately. I glance at the soup. That'd soothe my scratchy throat for sure. But my tooth.
I sit up and stretch my hands out to grab the bowl. It's warm and looks delicious.

I shouldn't. I'm so hungry though. I rip the tissue from my mouth and gulp down the liquid. My gums burn intensely where my tooth once was as the soup flows over it. It only takes seconds till I see the bottom of the bowl.
My face hurts but I don't care. I'm still hungry. I lick the tiny drops around the edges and bottom of the bowl. It's not enough! I throw the bowl and it flies into the wall.
I pull the white blanket over my bare legs. It's freezing in here. Goosebumps form on my flesh.
I cough heavily. Grumbles erupt from my stomach. I glance at the night stand. The tissue box sits there demanding to be noticed. I reach out and grab one. It's light and feathery. I tear the corner off and hold it up.
Light pours through the thin paper. I'm so hungry. I stick my tongue out and place the tissue piece on it. The paper melts and I swallow it. This time I tear off a bigger chunk. It melts so perfectly. My saliva makes the tissue crinkle into little rolled up pieces. I shove the whole tissue in my mouth and enjoy it as it dissolves. I grab three more, put them between my teeth, and rip bites from them. My empty stomach yearns for more. I reach over to the box and set it beside me tearing fistfuls of the thin sheets from the cube. Every bite makes me crave more.
My door opens and two men walk in. I freeze mid bite. One spots the bowl and picks it up in his gloved hand. They stop suddenly when the spot me. Once out of their daze they dash towards me.

"No!" I scream.
They rip the tissues from my hands and take the box. Both of their hands are full of bloody tissues. I'm yanked from the bed by my arms.
"No! Let go! Let go! Let go!"

As they drag me from my safe haven I see my hazy reflection in the tiny window of the metal door. Blood runs down my chin and drops splatter my hospital gown. I look down at my hands and they're also red.

They drag me down the hall while I kick and scream like a madman. I'm too short for my feet to touch the ground. I start kicking the men carrying me away despite the pain in my feet. They drop me but before I can attack one grabs my arms and the other grabs my ankles. I yelp when he grabs my ankles. I twist and try to loosen their grip. They're strong. Instead of twisting enough to make them drop me I'm facing down and my limbs are twisted at weird angles.

All I see is the white floor and the trail of blood I create as they carry me.
We turn corners and they don't mind if they accidentally bump me into walls. They stop for a second and I hear a door creak open. I swing back and like a doll, they toss me in the room.
It's dark, I can't see a thing beyond the sliver of light from the hall.

I scramble to my feet and rush to the rusting door. It slams shut and I ram my shoulder into it. The tiny slit of light is gone.
"Hey! Hey, let me out! Let me out of here!"

My hands grow warmer as I hit the door repeatedly. Gritty rust coats my hands and arms.
I let my arms fall to my sides and I rest my forehead on the door.
Hisssss
Where is that coming from? The hiss rains from above and a putrid smell hits the air. My eyelids grow heavy and so do my limbs. I fall over.
"No..."
I fight to keep my eyes open but they keep threatening to shut. It's hard to breathe.

They close and my breathing slows almost to a stop.