It's All Coming Back to Me Now

9: Nights of Endless Pleasure

Previously:

"You okay?"

I nodded, my cheek rubbing against his. I tightened my arms around him. "Thank you for coming for me, Serkan."

"I always will, Eda. Always."

***

"Eda, keep talking to me, okay? Stay awake and keep talking to me." My head lolled on his shoulder. I was too weak to hold it up. It was the strangest feeling...like I felt my life literally draining out of me.

"Serkan, I can't hold on. My hands are numb. I'm not strong enough anymore." I felt the poison taking hold in my body and I was terrified. I vaguely remembered reading that rattlesnake venom could kill you in as little as six hours, and could cause serious damage if it went untreated for more than two hours. It had been at least an hour since I'd been bitten. Serkan was walking as fast as he could over the rugged terrain while carrying me, and I knew he must be getting tired, but he didn't let on. I couldn't tell how far we were from the house. I could barely keep my eyes open.

He stopped and checked our surroundings, making sure there was nothing dangerous nearby. "Baby, can you stand up? Just for a second? I'm going to pick you right back up, okay? You can still hold onto me."

I nodded weakly.

"Okay, I'm going to let your legs go. Just let them fall to the ground. Can you do that for me?" He was being so patient, so gentle; He was trying to bury his worry so I wouldn't be scared. He had always treated me like I was more precious to him than anything; nothing had changed.

"Yes. I can do that."

He slowly lowered my legs until my feet touched the ground. I kept a hand on his shoulder as he turned around to put an arm behind my knees and scoop me up into his arms again. My head fell against his chest and I tried to look up at him, but my eyes felt so heavy. He kissed my temple. "I've got you. Don't worry about holding on; I have you."

It took about twenty minutes to get to his car from that point. He carefully sat me in the front seat and buckled me in and ran around to the driver's side, ignoring questions from everyone who'd been waiting for him to return with me. He took off, his tires squealing in the driveway. I'm sure he broke every traffic rule known to man on the way to the hospital.

***

"You got here just in time, Ms. Yıldız. Just try to relax and get some sleep. You'll have the IV in for about four hours, then we'll see how you're feeling and decide whether or not we should keep you."

"Will the numbness go away? And the swelling?" Serkan asked him. I was glad he was asking questions, because I was too out of it to think straight.

"Yes, it should. The swelling may take a bit to go down, but we've got the ice on her now to help with that. She may also run a fever, feel nauseous, have a headache. Those are all normal side-effects of the anti-venom. We can treat her for those things as necessary."

Serkan nodded. "Thank you, Doctor. It's okay if I stay in here with her, right?"

"Are you her husband?" the doctor asked.

Serkan looked at me, and then back at him. "Yes. I am."

"It's fine, yes. Let the nurse know if you need anything or if you notice anything out of the ordinary." He looked at me. "You should try to sleep, Miss." I nodded. I could barely keep my eyes open, so I didn't think I'd have any problem following doctor's orders.

***

Eda sat cross-legged on the floor in front of a huge canvas, her long hair pulled up into a ponytail on top of her head. Her brush moved in sure strokes, bringing her imagination to life .