Dancing With The Devil

Chapter 43

I was handcuffed to the stretcher in the ambulance which I found strange. I was a victim. For a long time I just stared at the metal that encircled one of my wrists, keeping me relatively stationary. The ambulance attendant was asking me a lot of questions. They were usually about me. I ignored all of them for a long time. My mind was too busy to be worried about her tedious words. I felt very little, like I was swimming through a haze.

Then, her gloved hands reached forward with a moist cloth and she began wiping some of the blood off of my fingers. My eyes slowly slid upward, seeing the soft-faced woman who was attending to me for the first time. She was humming to herself, seeming to have given up on asking me questions for the time being. I watched her as she cleaned my palms.

"There, that's better." She remarked when both of my hands were free from blood.

"Thank you." I whispered, feeling slightly better. At least I wasn't walking around with a constant reminder on my own flesh.

"Now, I want you to tell me a little bit about what happened, okay?"

I didn't respond. My eyes went back downwards and I gave my head a slow shake. Saying the words out loud would make it too real. Confessing what happened to someone else would damn my actions to reality. I wasn't ready for that. I felt I would never be ready.

"Did you hit your head at all?"

I shook my head again. And though it didn't feel like it the emergency medic was unraveling me ever so slightly as the ambulance drove to the hospital. She started by asking me simple questions that I could answer with small nods or the shaking of my head. Was I dizzy? Could I remember what I had for breakfast? Then she slowly pushed harder, still asking very small questions, but forcing me to give a verbal answer now. What had been wrapped around my throat? Did I remember losing consciousness at all, or did I remain awake through the whole attack? Did I just get the blood on my hands or had I felt some get in my mouth or in my eyes? I answered all of her questions truthfully, but didn't expel any excess information.

We reached the hospital. There was another man in a deep green uniform waiting for me. He wasn't carrying a large gun like the men who stormed into my house had been, but he was no less intimidating of a human being. He was the one who removed my handcuff from the stretcher, but it became very clear very quickly that I was still his prisoner. He was never more than two feet away from me as we moved through the hospital. And the hospital was nearly bursting at the seams with men like him. It seemed strange. I could only imagine doctors and nurses filling these hallways.

I was moved to a private room. Several people entered. Each one of them spoke to me quietly, but professionally. The man who had been assigned to me stayed near the only door, his eyes locked on me for the entirety of these exchanges. One of the doctors began touching my stomach. I flinched both from pain and form the surprise. Josh had delivered a violent blow there that I had forgotten about until now. I watched the agent shift, ready to pounce on me if I made another move. My grey eyes met his and I slowly sank back down into the lumpy bed. The doctors continued to examine me and ask me various questions, asking me to lift my shirt so they could see my bruised stomach and check for internal bleeding. Then it was onto my swollen face that was still attempting to heal from the violent slap. Then, it was my aching throat that had been squeeze mercilessly.

Once it was determined that I would survive the night they cleared out, leaving me with the officer.

"Where's Jasper?" I demanded.

The shock was nearly completely faded. My mind was no longer filled with the murky fuzz that made it nearly impossible to function. Now, I knew that I had left my friends in my dining room, still tied to chairs. I hadn't even checked to feel a pulse before I let Jasper's counterpart lead me away. That might've been the last time I would see the two people who meant the most to me and I hadn't even put up a fight. Now, I was being catered to in a hospital and I hadn't said more than a few words about the people I cared about most.