The Forgotten

Stitches

Stumbling through the door covered in blood in how I shock Shelley. I reach into my pockets,
grabbing all the money I collected and throwing it on the table. Some of the bills and coins are
wet and smeared with blood. This clearly disgusts Shelley.
“If you won’t take it, I’ll happily deliver it to Archer myself.”
“No, sweetie. I’ll take it. You go get that checked out now, okay?”
She points to my leg. As if I wasn’t going to see a medic already, I give her a friendly response
with a bite of sarcasm.
“Thank you for pointing that out. I didn’t even realize I was injured. Thank you.”
I turn and limp away. The medic room is on the first floor. It’s tucked away behind the storage
rooms and supply rooms for the trades and hunters. The door is wide open, so I just stroll in.
The nurse, Tandy, is writing something down on a sheet of paper.
“Hey Tandy. Can I get a Band-Aid?”
“Sure.”
She reaches into one of the glass jars in front of her, pulling out a bandage. She turns around to
give it to me and gasps.
“That’s going to require more than just a bandage, Champagne! Why don’t you take a seat on
the table?”
The exam table, which is older than I am, looks like it came from an old 2000s magazine ad. My
great great grandfather was born in 1998 just to give you an idea of how old it is.
“How did this happen?”
“I was being followed so I bolted. A shard of glass cut me as I was crawling into an abandoned
building.”
She unties my makeshift bandage made from fabric scraps, examining the cut.
“This requires stitches. I’m going to have to inform Archer about this injury.”
“No!”
The speed of my reaction shocks Tandy. I compose myself and think up an excuse as to why
Archer can’t find out.
“This is such a minor injury, Tandy. I wouldn’t want to worry him and have him take me off duty
again. I’ll be fine. I’ll follow your instructions, keep a dressing on it, and I’ll even get you more
supplies! I won’t report the items brought in to Shelley either. Nobody has to know about this
little injury.”
Tandy looks skeptical, clearly not believing my story. If Archer finds out about an injury on my
first day back, I’ll be benched for at least a year while I’m retrained. I put on my best pleading
face and look at Tandy.
“I promise it won’t happen again.”
She takes what seems like forever to accept my tale.
“I’ll trust you for now, Champagne. My end of the deal is that you need to make daily stops in so
I can make sure it’s healing properly. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She sighs before rifling through a drawer and extracting supplies.
“Lay back, sweetie. This might sting a bit.”