Beasthood

~Chapter 12- Confront~ Part 2

*

“I think Jaz should have a shower. Freshen up,” Maria suggested in a gentle voice.

Jaz gazed at her with a blank expression.

“Driver put your suitcase away,” Maria added. “He'll get it out for you when Skye is done here.”

“I need my bag,” Jaz said.

Driver got up. Jaz watched his boots move towards the built-in closet. He slid the door open. She saw a few men's shirts and shoes on the floor in the small opening before he pulled out her suitcase and shut the door.

Those clothes looked very similar to the ones... You've gotta be kidding me! she shrieked inwardly with disbelief. She'd had a niggling suspicion but now she was certain: this was Driver's bedroom.

She didn't know whether to be horrified or grossed out. In the end she landed somewhere in between, but a missing item distracted her as Driver carried her small, red suitcase a short way before placing it on the floor in front of her.

“My handbag?” she questioned a little impatiently. She needed her iron pills fast. She'd already stretched herself.

“Alf!” Maria called out the door.

Jaz turned at the sound of a nearby door opening and then approaching footsteps.

A young man's voice just outside the bedroom door replied, “Yes, Ma'am?”

Jaz saw only the tips of his orange trainers from the doorway.

“Bring her bag,” Maria instructed.

“And the bottle?”

“That too.”

Bottle? Shit! Does he mean my pills? They know? Jaz tried to conceal the horror in her face but it was a poor effort.

Skye, who was applying a strange mushy green mixture on Jaz's clean cut, looked up when Jaz's hand tensed. Jaz barely saw her. Her eyes swept over Skye before falling back on Maria.

The young man entered. Jaz recognized him as the one who'd brought the tray; and who she'd attacked. She cringed as the guilt took over before being squished by her growing anxiety.

He observed her with intrigue before Maria said lightly, “Thank you, Alf.”

The young man gave her the bag and then left the room.

“We only found out today,” Driver said.

Jaz turned in his direction and her eyes landed on his face. He looked at her kindly, apologetically. She was stunned and then suspicious.

“Your- Erica... she never heard you mention it. Never even suspected you were anaemic,” he said.

Jaz frowned. “It's not exactly something I tell everybody. It's personal,” she retorted.

“You sound like you're... ashamed?” he observed incredulously, though the emotion was only faint in his tone.

Skye had finished applying the earthy-smelling mixture to Jaz's palm and was now wrapping a bandage around it.

“I'm not ashamed. It's just nobody's business. And I'm glad she never knew. It's not something I'd want my kidnappers to know.”

Driver exhaled sharply. “You could have died if we hadn't found out!”

She looked at the floor then back at him. “Death seemed more appealing,” she mumbled.

She avoided his penetrating gaze, focusing on Skye's healing hands as they worked. She guessed she must have appeared indifferent to the bombshell she'd just dropped on everyone, but inside she was deeply ashamed. She really couldn't believe she would have let herself die rather than tell them she was in need. It was pride beyond the extreme. The need to better herself (even in this horrible, twilight-zone of a situation) was like an itch she felt compelled to scratch. Not for anyone else; for herself.

After a moment, she glanced up at Maria who was still holding her handbag. “Can I have my pills, please?”

“Of course.” The old woman sounded surprised by Jaz's politeness. She held out Jaz's bag, stepping forward to reach her.

Jaz took it and bobbed her head in thanks. She opened the bag and found the pills bottle. A sense of paranoia tickled at her brain as she wondered if they'd swapped the pills. I'd know anyway,she assured herself, though she wasn't confident. Despite everything, something told her they wouldn't do that.

After all this drama and lack of food -apart from the bloody steak which had only boosted her energy enough to fight Driver- she was feeling the symptoms of severely low iron. She felt so tired she could barely keep her eyes open; and very sick and hollow from days of bad sleep, next to no food and only tap water. She wasn't even sure the pills would help. Guess it doesn't matter if I ask now. “This might not be enough...” she began.

Maria gazed at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Skye finished the bandage and got up to leave.

“I think I need an iron shot,” Jaz replied quietly. It was a hard thing to admit, especially to these people, but she didn't have a choice. “It's called Iron Dextran. That's what I'm usually given. If not, Ferumoxytol works pretty much the same.”

“Skye?” Driver signalled. It sounded like a command, Jaz observed, but then considered his voice always seemed to sound that way.

The dainty, tall girl turned to him, the first-aid kit tucked under her arm.

“Go with Maria to the surgery. When you find it, come back here alone.”

With that, the two women left, and Jaz's lungs compressed at the realization that she was once again alone with Driver.