Audrey Hepburn's Pearls: Part I

Chapter 64.5: 1968, Georgina

Chapter 64.5: 1968, Georgina

"You're going to feel a little pinch."

"A pinch?"

"Okay, you caught me. Its going to hurt. But after that, smooth sailing."

"That's not very reassuring."

"No, its not."

I was naked in my bleach bombed bathtub in my bleach bombed bathroom with my hands over my private parts in embarrassment. My cheeks were completely red, my body flushed with color. Luciano had just done a thorough examination of me, something I hadn't anticipated, which made it feel like ants were crawling all over my skin, just like when Eddie had been touching me.

The door was shut, to keep contaminants out. Liddy, a very young woman who must have been even younger than Frankie, was arranging silver surgical instruments on a silver tray. I didn't like seeing them. They made my body tense. 

"You see this bag? It contains a good anesthesia. It will help you sleep. You won't feel anything, maybe not even remember this conversation. When you wake up, you'll be in your bed. I'm going to connect it to your I.V."

"Don't they usually use masks for things for like this? Sleeping gas?" I asked. I hadn't meant to sound condescending, but now that the procedure was here I was getting anxious.

"Connected to a machine at the hospital. We've got this, though. Its just as good."

But I wasn't sure I entirely believed him. In the brief second it took me to reflect on this, the needle had gone into my bare arm. "Ow," I uttered. 

"See? Its not so bad."

Liddy came over and took the bags attached to my arm now by an I.V tube and strung it over my shower curtain rod. A question that hadn't occurred to me to ask came up in my brain.

"And why couldn't we do this at a hospital?" 

"You've asked that before. I wouldn't be able to get the permits. You need a doctor's recommendation for any type of surgery."

"Why can't you write one?"

"Look at Liddy's fingers. They're going to count down from ten. When I get to about seven, you will be asleep."

"But why couldn't you write one?"

"-three, four, five-"

"Lucian..."

"-Seven, ei..."

Strange globules of color were making their way across tile. They looped around each other, colors that did not even have names. They were funny looking. 

Out of the corner of my hearing, I heard a funny voice.

"Attach another bag. Quick, goddammit."

"His eyes are opening."

"Take the bag! Stop talking!"

Sleepy feeling was making the colors darken, turn evil looking. They were scary.

The first sound I heard was a bird chirping. Then ocean waves. The bird was chirping pretty regularly, every second or so. What a strange species. 

The second sound I heard was a male voice, saying something. I couldn't make it out.