Special Needs

Chapter 43: The Infection

My dreams became bizarre and disjointed and I was convinced at one point that I was lucid dreaming. I walked into my parents' house just to see them and watch them go about their lives because I missed them so terribly. But every time I woke up, I remembered that my current reality was worse than any nightmare. I lost track of time. Whenever I woke up, I was assaulted by pain so I took more Norco and went back to sleep. Sometimes I went to the bathroom. Sometimes I ate a banana or an apple. I drank water when I was thirsty. And I slept.

Dr. Blake came in to change my bandage.

"Has it been two days already?" I asked.

"Indeed it has," he said.

He began to remove the bandage but when he pressed a little too hard, I shrieked in misery. "What the fuck?"

"Sorry," he said. "Looks to be a little infected."

"That's no surprise," I scoffed in my hoarse voice. "You're not a real doctor. You're a professor of health-related law." I coated my words with a thick layer of sarcasm.

"No need to be nasty," he said. "I attended medical school, I just didn't pass the boards. But I can assure you I'm capable of basic first aid. It will just take some antibiotics. And, let's see, when was your last dose of Norco?"

"I don't fucking remember," I grumbled.

"Well, take two more because this will hurt," he said as he prepared to clean the wound. 

"I can take it. You and your brother have already hurt me more than this ever could."

"I told you Harry is alive," Dr. Blake said.

"Then why the fuck don't I see him?" I seethed. "You're a couple of lying, cheating, psychotic assholes and I hope to God in heaven that you both rot in hell when-"

He pressed on the wound with a medicated cloth and I screamed louder than I ever had before. "Son of a bitch!" I sobbed. "You absolute bastard."

"I told you to take something for the pain," he reminded me.

Without even thinking, I let my good arm fly and nearly cold-cocked him in the head, shrieking again in pain as I accidentally rolled onto my injured shoulder. But the triumph I felt in watching him fall off his chair was worth it.

Surprisingly, he remained calm. The fucker had probably prescribed himself some happy pills, too. He rubbed his sore jaw and said, "Do that again and I'll have to strap you to the bed." I wanted to bark out another sarcastic reply but then I thought better of it. I really didn't want to be tied down. He finished bandaging the wound and then he said, "I'll be back later in the day with some antibiotics. Take some more pain killers and put some ice on it."

I didn't give him the satisfaction of watching me take the pills, but I swallowed three as soon as he left. I groggily walked to the kitchen and opened the freezer. Of course we didn't have any actual first-aid ice packs, so I grabbed a bag of frozen hash browns and the half-eaten carton of chocolate ice cream. With the addition of a spoon, I retreated back to my bed, preparing to gorge myself on chocolate until the pain meds kicked in again.

I sat, hopeless and heartsick, eating and wondering where on earth Harry could be.

Dr. Blake had said he would be fine. Did I dare believe him any more than his liar of a brother?

If Theodore had him somewhere else in the house, could he hear me? I had an idea. I got out of bed and rushed to the front doors, where a guard was still stationed like a statue. I wondered how many times the guards changed places, how long their shifts were, how much was Theodore paying them. Maybe this guy was a robot and I could just break the glass in the doors and push him over and throw a bucket of water on him so he would short-circuit.

Maybe I was delirious from the pain and narcotics.

I started screaming for Harry, giving the guard a good jolt. It made me laugh pretty hard which I hadn't done in a long time. Then I screamed again and again until my head and my shoulder were throbbing. In between screams, I listened for any sign that he was in the house and may have heard me. Eventually, I went to the back door so I could yell from outside, but I found that an armed guard was now stationed there as well.

What the hell was Theodore's deal? I was hired as a nanny, a babysitter for lack of a better term. It was one of the most common jobs on earth. How had it come to this, fighting for Harry's life and my freedom, recovering from a bullet wound and stumbling around the suite screaming like a deranged lunatic?

I screamed anyway and I startled that guard too. He turned around and gave me the death glare but I just laughed in his face. Then I laughed some more. And even more. I laughed so loud and so long that the guard eventually pulled out his radio and called someone, probably Theodore. Probably reporting that I was having a mental breakdown.

"Hey, Theodore!" I screamed as if he could hear me through the window and through the guard's walkie. "Come and give me some drugs! You're the drug lord! The kingpin! Come on, Teddy, make mama happy!"

Oh my god, what was I saying? I didn't care. I found it stupidly and strangely hilarious and I kept laughing until I finally collapsed onto the couch with exhaustion. The blood was soaking through the bandage and left a splotch on the cream-colored fabric. I laughed at that, too, and then passed out yet again.

Dr. Blake woke me some time later, telling me to take the antibiotics he had brought. I sat up and almost refused, but if I was going to die, I didn't want it to be from septic shock. I chugged the pills down with a full glass of water.

"When can I see Harry?" I mumbled miserably.

"That's up to Theodore," Dr. Blake responded.

"Then when can I see Theodore?" I snapped.

"I'll see what I can arrange," he said and left quickly.

"I'll see what I can arrange," I mocked. What? Like these two had incredibly full social calendars what with holding people hostage and torturing them and prescribing illegal drugs that he couldn't possibly fit me into his schedule? "I'll see what I can arrange," I mumbled again, stumbling back to my room.

I downed three more Norco and fell asleep. I didn't move again until it was time to have my bandage changed, two days later. Of course, I had awakened several times in between, took more drugs and then rolled over and went back to sleep. I might have been dehydrated because I didn't remember getting up to pee. Or who knows? Maybe I just pissed the bed. I didn't care about anything anymore. All I wanted to do was to sleep to escape the horrible nightmare of being held captive with no explanation, no idea if or when I'd be let go, and no Harry.

While he was changing the dressing on the fifth day, Dr. Blake told me, "Theodore says that Harry will be coming back soon."

"Yay," I said flatly.

"I thought you'd be excited to see him," Dr. Blake said.

"Is he coming back in a body bag? Or pumped full of so many drugs that he's got brain damage? Or maybe Theodore just spent all this time brainwashing him to believe he's really nothing more than a stupid child."

"I don't think any of those things are accurate," Dr. Blake answered.

"Forgive me if I don't believe you," I spat. He finished the dressing, coaxed me to take another round of anti-biotics and then he left.

I wouldn't believe anyone until I saw Harry alive and well with my own eyes, until I held him with my arms again and kissed him.

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The chapters are intense but I hope you'll find some comic relief in them as well. Thanks so much for keeping the story going <3