Patient Twelve

Chapter Four

"Diana!" Sweeney yelled.

He grabbed my shoulders, and I pushed his hands off of me.

"Don't touch me!" I screamed.

"You need to calm down."

"What did you do to me? Where are my eyes?"

"Once you calm down I will tell you."

The tears made my vision blurry. Sweeney was crouched in front of me. He reached out again. I raised my hand and slapped him. My palm tingled when it hit his cheek. Sweeney cradled the side of his face with his hand. I kicked my leg out and I hit him in the shin. Sweeney howled and grabbed his leg.

I pushed myself up off the floor. I stepped around Sweeney, and he grabbed my ankle. He jerked his arm back, and I lost my balance. My elbow collided with the floor. Pain shot up my arm, and I screamed. I rolled onto my back, and Sweeney was getting up onto his feet. My foot was still in his grasp. I kicked my free foot forward and aimed for between his legs. He snatched my other ankle before I hit him.

"I didn't realize you were this feisty," he told me.

"Let go of me, you sick fuck!" I screamed.

I furiously kicked my feet to try and get out of his grip. He rolled his shoulders, stretching them out before he started walking backward and pulled me with him. I tried to dig my fingers into the tiles to stop him. I couldn't get a grip. My fingers were slipping from the blood coating the floor. My gown was soaked from the blood coming out of my arm. Splatters of my blood were on Sweeney's coat. A crimson trail was following me as he dragged me out of the bathroom.

I managed to hold onto the door frame when he pulled me into the hallway. My knuckles turned white as I tried to cling onto the frame. Sweeney grunted and he tried to pull me free. I shook my one ankle free and kicked him in the side of the knee. He let go of my other ankle and screamed out in pain.

I scrambled to get onto my feet. I was only able to take one step back before he grabbed a fistful of my knotted hair. He yanked my hair. I gritted my teeth as it added to the throb in my temple.

"Let go of me!" I screamed.

Sweeney pulled me in front of his body. I dug my nails into his arm. I clawed at his skin and his blood bubbled to the surface.

"Stop it, Diana," he said.

I screamed as he pushed me forward. I continued to scratch at him as he pushed me down the hallway.

"Quit it, Diana," he said. "I don't want to have to do this."

"What did you do to me?"

Sweeney pushed us out of the hallway. He dragged me over to the bed. In one swoop, he tossed me onto the bed. I swung my hand forward and hit him in the chest. I went to punch him again, but he grabbed my wrist. He forced it down onto the mattress. I beat on his shoulder as he wrapped the restraint around my wrist.

"Stop!" I screamed. "Please, don't do this."

"I can't have you hurting yourself," he said.

"You're hurting me."

"You're covered in blood and you did this to yourself."

Sweeney reached over me and grabbed my other wrist. I built up saliva in my mouth as I fought against him. Before he could pull away, I spit the saliva at him. I wanted to hit him in the eye, but I got his cheek instead. He groaned and wiped his cheek with the back of his hand.

"You need to fix your attitude," he said. "You'll be in these restraints until you apologize to me."

He opened one of the drawers under the counter. He pulled out a clean gown. My heart pounded in my chest as I thought about him changing my blood-soaked gown. He tore off a piece of the gown and brought the shred of fabric over to me. He pushed my head forward, and I tried to roll away from him. He tied the cloth around my mouth to gag me. He pulled out his worn-down office chair. The wheels squeaked as he sat down beside the bed. I thrashed against the restraints and tried to shimmy the gag off of my mouth. Sweeney put his warm hand over my wrist.