Come on, hurry up! I think urgently. Please tell me I don't have to stay here!
But the nurse is taking impossibly long to reach my bedside. Everything is in slow motion. The light let in from the window warps. My headache starts up again, though no where close to the pain I endured last night. Before I have time to ponder this, the nurse finally opens her mouth to speak from beside me.
How did she get here so fast? She was just over there moving at a snail's pace!
"Ok . . . yup, Holli, your body is completely healthy. It looks like your arm is strengthening and healing just fine. There's no reason you should be having headaches. We think the headaches are being brought on by stress."
The words sound strange, like they have trouble reaching my ears. The nurse's voice is faint and wispy. My vision is blurry. I rub my eyes to clear them, but it doesn't help.
All of the sudden, the nurse is back at the doorway. Everything comes back into focus. My headache fades out. The nurse walks forward in regular time.
"Ok . . . yup, Holli, your body is completely healthy. It looks like your arm is strengthening and healing just fine. There's no reason you should be having headaches. We think the headaches are being brought on by stress."
Wait . . . what?
"Has she been doing anything that might stress her out lately? Has anything happened?" the nurse asks Mom.
Mom clears her throat. "Uh, yes, actually. Her father just died," she tells the nurse in a small voice. Mom clears her throat again and she blinks rapidly. I know she's trying not to cry.
The nurse gives me a sympathetic look. She begins to tell Mom a list of things she can do to lessen my stress. I don't listen.
"Also . . . when we took a sample of Holli's blood, there were chemicals in it."
I snap to attention immediately.
Seing Mom's expression of worry, the nurse says in a rush, "Oh, nothing bad, just the common chemicals found in pills and whatnot, although we were astonished at the mix of the different chemicals. Do you have any idea how the chemicals got in Holli's bloodstream?"
Mom's face does not relax. "Of course. I have been giving Holli anti-depressant pills."
How come I didn't know about this?!
I give Mom a horrified look. She responds by giving me an 'I'll tell you later' look.
I am about to explode in anger (who does she think she is, drugging me when I didn't even know it?) but I am stopped when the nurse starts talking.
"Am I right to say that these pills are not over the counter medication?" the nurse wonders, unaware of anything.
"Correct," Mom replies.
"Alright, please come with me, Beth." Mom follows the nurse out the door. They pause while the nurse stops to speak with someone just outside.
"Yes, you can see her now. Thank you for waiting."
The next moment Keira speed walks into the room. I am happy that Mrs. Doble does not come.
Keira makes herself comfortable on my hospital bed.
"So, what's up with you this time? Do you have mental issues or something?"
Normally, I would laugh, but right now, I'm not feeling particularly happy.
I tell Keira first how everything went in slow motion, the light warped, and then everything went weird. The sound, my sight. I tell her how when everything went back to normal, the nurse repeated what she had just said moments before, but Mom didn't act like anything happened.
Keira sits for a moment. When she can't think of anything else to say, she asks, "So, what were your results?
"There's no reason I should be having these migraines. They think the migraines are being brought on by stress. But that's not all. My mom was frickin drugging me! They found chemicals in my blood!"
Keira's eyes get wide. "Dang, man . . . you have the worst luck. Drugged by your own mom . . . " She shakes her head in disbelief.
"So, that's where she is; they're questioning her right now," I say.
We sit in silence for a while. A hand waves in front of my face. I blink and look at Keira.
She lets out a breath. "That was freaky. You were just sitting there, staring like--" Keira demonstrates for me how I supposedly looked. It's so ridiculous, it earns a laugh from me.
Since my muscle tissue isn't healing this time, I don't need an IV, so I gladly walk down to the cafeteria with Keira, since I haven't had breakfast.
^^^^^
After about an hour, Mom comes back into my hospital room to tell me we're leaving.
I pretend I don't hear her.
"So, where's your mom?" I ask Keira.
"I made her wait in the waiting room," she replies.
"Holli, stop it. I know you can hear me. Come on, we're leaving," Mom says firmly.
I belch loudly.
"Why? I love the food here. I can at least trust there's no hidden anti-depressants in it." I glare at her coldly.
Mom sighs. "Just come on. I'll explain in the car."
I reluctantly get off the suddenly comfy bed.
"Wait, what am I going to wear? I am not going anywhere until I have proper clothes." I cross my arms across my chest and look at Mom, as though daring her to object. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you can't take hospital gowns with you out the door."
"Oh, Mom has clothes for you in the waiting room. I'll go get them for you," Keira says. She returns a few minutes later with a small drawstring backpack.
In the bathroom I change into soft denim shorts and a loose sky blue tee. I change my undergarments, slightly embarrassed that either Keira or Mrs. Doble would've had to pick them out and put them in the bag.
I comb my hair with my fingers and step out of the bathroom.
"Thank you so much for thinking to bring clothes!" I say to Keira. She smiles and nods.
We collect Mrs. Doble and walk out to the parking lot. Mrs. Doble splits away from our group so she can retrieve her car and drive it back to her house. Keira rides with Mom and me.
The instant we get in the car, I ask, "So, Mom, why did you drug me? Spill."
YOU ARE READING
The Risen
FantascienzaHolli Rado's father is a scientist who works for the government. When one of his experiments goes horribly wrong, Holli has to find a way to eliminate her father's deadly creation, while trying to stay alive and keep the experiment from killing the...
