ONLY HUMAN [ROSITA ESPINOSA]

Chapter 35

Present Day

When he woke up, he woke up with a gasp. A bright light on the ceiling blinded him temporarily.  His vision was still blurry,but as it got clearer, he could tell he was in a room. Though it looked like an ordinary factory office room, it was set up like a hospital room.

Sawyer looked around the new area he was in.Next to him was a hospital monitor and an IV bag. He followed it only to realize he was hooked up to it. Looking down, he also realized he was handcuffed to the bed. In which he tried to break free.

Sawyer tried to sit up but only failed to do so. His entire body felt numb, and it felt like somebody had stabbed him repeatedly a few thousand times. Once more, Sawyer looked around for any clues of getting out. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see a tray with a bunch of sharp tools on it.Instinctively, he reached for it but only for him to fail once more as the tools and a bucket fell onto the floor.

The noise must have attracted someone outside because once the dish bucket stopped spinning, a very tall man in a white doctor's coat stepped into the room, causing Sawyer to shrink and shrivel back in his bed. He wasn't sure who this person was as he had never met him before. He was in a strange room with a complete stranger.

“Ah! You're awake!  My name’s Dr. Carson, but you can call me Emmett.” started the man. He had fair skin, brown-graying hair, and a large nose.

Sawyer went to lift his hand to do a small wave, only to remember he was handcuffed, causing him to huff out in frustration. 

“Ah! Sorry about that. Just a little precaution.” apologize, Dr. Emmett with a small smile as he then uncuffed Sawyer.

“Can you tell me your name?” the man asked.

Sawyer went to speak, but no words came out. Resulting in Sawyer placing his hand on his throat. Did he lose his ability to speak? Or was his mouth so dry that it was the reason he couldn't say a word.

“Here. You can write on this for now. Until you get your voice back.” Dr. Emmett claimed as he then handed him a clipboard with some paper.

Sawyer took it and wrote down his name.

Sawyer

“Sawyer, nice to meet you. Do you remember anything? Anything at all?” Dr. Emmett asked him.

Sawyer thought for a second. But nothing came to mind. He didn't remember anything. He didn't remember how he got there. Where he was before or anything, really. He didn’t even know his last name. Images of people flashed across his mind, but there was no recognition, their faces replaced with haunted smears of color. He couldn’t think of one person he knew or recall a single conversation.

Dr. Emmett frowned when Sawyer had shook his head no at his question.”You must have suffered from a concussion. I was afraid of that.” He claimed as he pondered what to do next.

“Well, I suppose I should let your friend know you're awake. He's been checking in on you while you were asleep.” Dr. Emmett stated. But all Sawyer could do was stare at him with a blank stare.

Did he have a friend? Who was Dr. Emmett talking about?

“I'll see if I can find you some clothes down at the marketplace. You look like you could be a medium or a large. I'll see if I can find a wheelchair too. You won't be walking for a while. I'll let the boss know too that you're awake. Try not to cause any more damage to yourself while I’m out.” claimed Dr. Emmett as he stepped out the door.

………..

It felt like forever when Dr. Emmett came back with some clean clothes and a wheelchair. Sawyer was in too much pain that even the doctor had to help him change.But luckily, Dr. Emmett was also nice enough to get him some food and some water. Something that Sawyer had scoffed down quickly.

By the time he was finished with his food, there was a knock at the door. But it wasn't just any knock. It was rhythmical. Sawyer watched Dr. Emmett opened the door just a tag smidgen before he opened it all the way, allowing whoever was on the other side to walk in Sawyer’s room.

Four people walked into the room, causing it to become a lot smaller than it was before,at least to Sawyer.

A little boy, perhaps around the age of 10-12, with dark black hair, was preoccupied with an Etch and Sketch toy. Two older men both looked older. Though one looked to be just a tad bit older than Sawyer.. One had darker, shorter hair and a mustache to match. While the other one had light blonde, longer hair, and a blonde mustache to match his hair.

The other man was taller than them, a bit older than them as well but a little younger than Dr. Emmett. He was dressed all in black leather. To match it off, there was a red scarf tied around his neck. However, sitting proudly on top of his shoulder was a Louisville Slugger wrapped tightly and neatly with barbed wire. A grin plastered on the man's face.

“Well, well, well. Look who finally decides to wake up!” snickered the man. Sawyer couldn't tell if he was trying to be friendly or funny or even both.

“Well Simon, I guess you lost the bet. Our friend here hasn't turned into a meat puppet.” Chuckled the man only for the one with the darker mustache to grumble a bit.

“I guess you're wondering where you are?” The leathered man then told Sawyer. Sawyer nodded a yes at the man.

“Welcome to The Sanctuary! I'm Negan! “

………..

“So tell me, Shawty. Who the hell did you piss the fuck off!?” Negan asked him with a wide grin plastered on his face as he and  Emmett stayed in the room for the next hour while Dwight, Simon and Tin left.

Sawyer blinked at the man, he wasn't sure how to answer Negan's question. Mostly because he couldn't remember a damn thing. He had little flashbacks of him getting stabbed with a sword, but he didn't see who did it.

“What's wrong with him? Why isn't he answering?” Negan asked Dr. Emmett seemingly to be a bit annoyed by Sawyer's silence.

“He's suffering from a concussion. So he probably doesn't remember anything and may or may not get his memories back.” explained the nice doctor.

Sawyer watched as Negan grinned the biggest grin he had seen  on the man. It was as if he won the nobel prize. “So you can't remember anything, eh?” Negan asked him.

All Sawyer could was just nod. He still had gotten his voice back. But Dr. Emmett said he could have it back probably by the end of the day or hopefully tomorrow if he continued to rest and drink plenty of water.

Negan whispered something into Dr. Emmett's ear only for the doc to whisper something back, causing Sawyer to become curious.

“Well, it looks like you're going to be here for a while. There's no sense in sending you out there looking like that. So let's make a deal. I let you stay here, give ya food,shelter, and warmth. Let the good ole’ Dr. take care of you. But by the end of the week, you're gonna help my men build back our medicine supply since we used half of it on you. Sounds like a deal?” Negan stated as he looked at Sawyer.

Sawyer wasn't sure whether or not he should take the deal. But he would rather stay here than go back into the world where he could potentially die. But by the look on Negan's face, he knew he wasn't going to be given the option anyway.

So Sawyer took his paper and clipboard and began writing something before he handed it to the man.

Deal.