Killjoy (A Lesbian Story)

24: Max

Flashes of images went before me; the red lights in the lab, an opened corpse of a man on a desk, broken tile, Grimes grinning at me from above, and Steve pointing a gun at me. And then there was pain. Searing pain in my neck and shoulder. It pulled me away from my intense, howling hunger, but it still held on. The hunger dug it's claws into my brain, fighting against me to escape. A MMA match of me against whatever Grimes has made me in to.

And I won.

My eyes opened to only be blinded by a white light. Trying to raise my hand to block the light, my hand was stuck at my side.

"For Christ's sake." I groaned, closing my eyes again. I squeezed them shut and breathed out through my nose.

Opening my eyes once more, they adjusted to the light and I looked down at myself. In a new, clean hospital gown, I laid in a hospital bed with my hands stuck to my side due to a leather belt over my abdomen and wrists. Another belt was on my forearms just below my elbows. Another belt was around my ankles and just above my knees.

I chuckled softly at the amount of precautions they've taken.

An IV stuck out of my hand and snuck up to a bag with clear liquid. Next to it was a heart monitor with a steady movement. On the desk next to me was the penguin stuffed animal with tulips in a glass next to it.

I smiled and felt my tongue against the top of my mouth. My tongue felt like sand paper. I coughed slightly and tried to relieve it somehow. My mouth felt different. Tasted different. My neck and shoulders were killing me.

The door to the hospital room opened and my mom walked in with a tray of food and water.

"Good morning sunshine." She smiled at me and sat the tray on a table near my bed, "How're you feeling?"

"Like death." I croaked, "What happened?"

She hesitated before undoing the straps on my arms before putting a straw in the water bottle and handing it to me, "You don't remember?"

I took a hearty sip of water and shrugged, "Bits and pieces. I remember the lab and Grimes. Did we get him?"

"Yes sweetie." Mom smiled softly, "He's being interrogated to translate his notes. Thor's been at it for days."

Days?

"How long have I been out?" I asked her.

"Only two days." She nodded in reassurance, wiping my hair from my forehead. Her hand rested on my cheek as she looked to my neck. I followed her gaze to see the edge of a bandage peeking out of my gown.

"What happened?" I asked, looking back up to her.

Mom only smiled tightly and patted my arm, "Let me get Steve and Ash. They can explain better than me."

And so she left my room, her lab coat billowing behind her like a cape. My mind went to the image of Steve pointing a rifle at me. Did he shoot me? I mean, I don't blame him if he did. Especially if Grimes was trying to take complete control.

The doors opened again. This time, Steve pokes his head in and grinned when he saw me up. "Morning! Glad to see you're awake!"

He walked in with Ashley in tow. Her eyes looked puffy as if she's been crying. They met mine and she smiled softly. There was something else behind those eyes. Something I couldn't quite decipher.

"I'm glad too." I smiled.

Ashley sat on my bed, her hand rested on my thigh, "How are you?"

"Good. For the most part." I nodded, resting my hand on her's, "Kinda fuzzy on what all happened back at the lab."