Little Dark One

39 - stitches

Keira

I woke up alone in a sterile hospital room with no recollection of how I got there. I squinted through drowsy eyes and took in my surroundings. The window to my right faded from orange to pink and blue, it was either dusk or dawn, but I had no way of knowing which.

I was attached to an obnoxious monitor that was beeping steadily beside me, and my head was pounding like I took fifteen shots of vodka the night before. I slid my tongue around my mouth in search of moisture, but there was none. All I found was the aftertaste of anesthesia, heavy on my tongue.

I felt like I got hit by a truck, my whole body was aching. I glanced down and lifted my hospital gown to find a heavy bandage over my right shoulder and another over my left collarbone.

Fucking fantastic.

I groaned audibly and a few seconds later a plump little nurse popped her head in.

"Oh good sweetie, you're finally awake." She drawled in a fading southern accent as she stepped further into the room, checking my vitals. She pulled a wheeling tray over and handed me a cup of water with a bent straw. "You'll need some hydration." I took a few long pulls from the straw and sighed in relief.

"I'm your nurse Candace, and I'll be checking your vitals and asking you a few standard post-surgery questions, okay?" I nodded and she continued. "What is your full name?"

"Keira Blue Kline."

"Great." She scribbled something on her clipboard. "Do you know what day it is?"

"I'm not s-sure." I tried my hardest to recall anything helpful but I had trouble keeping track of the days since I fell into Tommy's world.

"That's okay sweetie, it can be difficult to keep track. It's Thursday, August 16th." I nodded again, feeling drowsy. "On a scale of 1-10 how bad is your pain?"

"Um, around a 6 I guess.." I mumbled, my voice husky from extended sleep.

"You poor thing. Let me just adjust your IV here. Give me a holler if your pain level rises and I'll give you something stronger. I'll get the doctor in here as soon as possible to give you a more detailed update and answer your questions." She was speed walking out of my room before I could even process half of what she said.

I glanced back towards the window and noticed it had darkened slightly since I last looked. It was dusk. I zoned out, wondering where Tommy was and why I was even here to begin with. 

I second guessed myself, realizing I gave the nurse my real name. I was probably a wanted woman now, I should have used a fake name but I had no idea if someone had already given them my name. 

I knew practically nothing and it was beginning to really frustrate me, my curiosity was running rampant with unanswered questions.

A tall doctor in his mid to late forties strolled in with a clipboard and a stern expression.

"Miss Kline. So good to see you awake. My name is Dr. Gratts, I'm your surgeon. I'm here to give you an update on your treatment and answer any questions you may have."

"Okay.." I murmured, gesturing for him to continue.

"You came in around 5am this morning under cardiac arrest, with severe blood loss. Luckily, we were able to resuscitate you and we then rushed you to surgery where we extracted the bullet and repaired the damage from the gunshot wound–"

"I was shot?" I exclaimed, sitting up straighter and immediately regretting it.

He cocked his head to the side and then nodded. "Memory loss is not uncommon after a trauma like yours. You came in with a gunshot wound in your shoulder, a few cracked ribs and a deep cut just below your collarbone; where we placed ten stitches. We were hoping to have some clarity on how you received these injuries once you woke up." He frowned and made a note on his sheet. "Hopefully, you will have your memories back by the time the police stop by in the morning to take your statement."