The Music Box

Part 4

"Hey...hey."

Charlotte was awakened by a voice calling to her and a hand shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes wearily and was at once aware of a throbbing pain coming from her throat, her forehead, and her arms. She looked at her arms and saw bruises all over, some larger than others. And when she tried to lift her legs she found they too were in extreme discomfort. Not physically able to move she continued to lay there and focus instead on the voice still coming from beside her.

"Hey, you all right?" It was a woman with a rich British accent. "I'm one of the nurses at the London airport. You were pretty banged up when they brought you to me. You still are, I guess. I just can't believe the nerve of some men. Attempting a rape on a plane? Well, that's just unheard off. I am so sorry this happened to you, Sweetie."

Color flushed Charlotte's cheeks. She tried to correct her, to tell her that she had not been sexually assaulted, she had been tortured for information, but she couldn't talk. And, Charlotte decided, it was better that people didn't know what the brawl was really about. There was no need for questions and investigation. For now, pretending to have been almost raped was the best option.

Charlotte did her best to act like she had really been humilated by the whole thing, while in reality she was busy worrying what had happened to Vincent-or, whatever his name was. Surely he would be put into prison. There was no way he could escape.

Right?

Anxiety rushed through her. She was suddenly very frightened. Meanwhile, the nurse was still jabbering on next to her.

"I do hope you're okay, Dear. As soon as your vitals are all back to normal I can let you go. But for right now you just have to stay put."

Charlotte unconsciously reached up and held her neck, as if by willing it to feel better it would. It was burning. She had never experienced this kind of pain before.

"Aw, let me give you some pain medicine for that," said the nurse. She reached to shelf behind her and shook two pills out of a container. Handing them to Charlotte with a glass of water she added, "By the way, I'm Alice."

Charlotte took the pills and tried to swallow them but ended up choking and spitting them out and onto herself. She coughed hard and cried in pain. Clutching her neck, tears pouring down her face, she collapsed back onto the bed and sobbed. The sobbing hurt too much though and so she tried to stop but couldn't. The gasps she took were agonizing, which made her cry more, which created more pain. It was an endless cycle and she didn't calm down for quite a while. Alice tried to soothe Charlotte while wiping her arms and legs that were wet from the spit.

After a few minutes the wailing subsided and Charlotte was again in control of herself. "There, there, it's all right."

Charlotte shut her eyes tight.

"I do hope the incident on the plane and you having to remain in the infirmary for a little while hasn't delayed any of your plans."

She shook her head.

"Good. Are you visiting Family in London? Should I call someone to let them know what happened?"

She shook her head again.

Alice frowned. "Is nobody picking you up?"

Another shake.

"Well, do you have somewhere to stay?"

Exasperated with all the questions but being the honest person that she was, Charlotte once again shook her head.

"Oh, dear. Well we can't have that, can we?" Alice seemed overly distressed about the fact that Charlotte didn't have any plans or connections in London. She tapped her chin.

Charlotte's mind wandered to Vincent once again. How could it be an organization? That would require a headquarters and a leader and a structure of attacks. She had been so paranoid about looking out for one person that she could hardly comprehend the thought of looking out for an entire group of people. They could be anywhere. How many of them were there? Were they all men? Who were they? Who would want to be a part of such a thing? What was Vincent's goal, anyway? Charlotte looked at Alice who was busy cleaning a piece of equipment and suddenly became suspicious of her. She had been rather nosy. Was she part of Vincent?

The headache began to return and Charlotte moaned. And then cringed.

Alice came over and patted her hand. "You sure you don't have any plans here at all?"

How many times did she need to ask? Charlotte thought about lying just in case Alice really was a part of Vincent but decided against it. After all, if she lied it would only be a matter of time before "they" figured it out anyway.

She nodded.

"Well, I have an extra bedroom in my apartment...," she paused.

Charlotte supressed a groan as she realized where this was going.

"You could stay with me, if you wanted."

There it was. The offer.

She should've been grateful-she probably would've, in any other situation-but she did not want to create any ties to her current location. She planned on moving around a lot, and the fewer people and places she became personally connected with the better.

She wanted to say no. She should've said no. But when she saw the hopeful look on Alice's face she couldn't turn her down. It was the look of a lonely young adult who wanted to lend a helping hand to another person.

However, that's the look Vincent-or, whoever he was-gave her before he shoved a thermometer down her throat.

Severly conflicted she shrugged her shoulders.

"That's only if you have nowhere else to stay."

She didn't have much money either. And no job.

She nodded, though she felt she would regret it later.

Alice grinned. "Wonderful! You'll like my apartment. My brother and I, you see, we're originally from the countryside so we aren't exactly accustomed to city life. So he and I made an effort to make the decorations as 'homey' as possible." She stopped, noticing how much pain Charlotte was in. "I'll get you some liquid pain reliever." She took a medicine bottle from the cabinet behind her and poured some liquid into a small cup.

Charlotte accepted the pain reliever gratefully and swallowed-painfully.

"Once you think you're good and ready we can head out. Your vitals seem all okay and your luggage was brought here too."

Charlotte still couldn't speak but motioned for Alice to hand her a pen and paper that was on the counter by the cot. On it she wrote, "I'm ready now."

"Are you sure?" came Alice's reply.

Charlotte wrote, "Yes. And thank you for everything you've done to help me. By the way, I'm Corrine."

Alice beamed. "Oh, it's nothing. I'll get your bags and we'll be on our way."

Alice grabbed Charlotte's suitcase and small carry-on as Charlotte attempted to stand. Her legs were still wobbly but she refused to remain lying there helpless for another hour. So she gritted her teeth and ignored the pain. Standing hunched over slightly she gave a meek smile to Alice and they were on their way.