Circles

Chapter Thirty Six

        I wake up slowly; it takes a while for me to be fully awake. The bedroom is empty.

        “Liz!” I yell, hoping she can hear me.

        She comes in the room a minute later. “Oh, you’re up. Want pain medicine?”

        I nod. “What time is it?”

        “Eleven AM. You slept through the night. I gave you lots of the sedative.”

        “Oh, okay. What happened to Matthew and Nicole?” I ask.

        “They left shortly after we got you in bed, but Matthew came back and spent the night.”

        “He did? Why?”

        “He wanted to make sure you were safe. He woke me up before he left, which was about three hours ago,” Liz says.

        “Did he talk to Mike?”

        “Oh, punches were thrown,” Liz says, handing me two blue pills and a glass of water.

        I slowly sit up to take them. “What happened?”

        “When Mike came to bed, Matthew was laying on the floor next to your bed. From what he told me, Mike asked him why he was here, and then Matthew yelled at him about what he’s been doing. Then Mike kept threatening to do all of these really messed up things to you, just to get Matthew worked up. That’s when Matthew lost it and started punching him. Mike got a couple of hits in, but Matthew got his point across,” she explains.

        I nod. “Alright.”

        Liz sits on the edge of the bed. “I have something kind of sucky to tell you.”

        “Okay?”

        “Matthew isn’t going to see you for three weeks. He said you need to rest up, and I agree with him.”

        “I can take care of myself!” I protest. “That’s not fair, I-”

        “Calm down, Alex. It’s for the best. This way Mike won’t bother you, you won’t have to sneak out all the time; you won’t even have to leave the house. It’s a good thing.”

        “But I want to see him…”

        Liz carefully gives me a hug. “I know, but don’t you think he’s right? Whatever healing you accomplished in the past three weeks was most likely completely undone last night. If you don’t let this heal, this is just going to become an endless cycle.”

        “I hate Mike,” I say. “This isn’t fair.”

        “We all hate Mike. Life isn’t fair,” she says. She shrugs. “Sorry. It’s the truth. Go to sleep.”

        I do.

 

        The rest of the week is agonizing; Liz hardly lets me out of bed. I take strong pain medicine every five hours, and am forcibly sedated every night. It’s boring, I miss Matthew, and I’m still in pain. By the time I’m halfway through my prison sentence, I’m allowed to leave the bedroom, but not the house.

        “Can I please just go see him?” I beg Liz while she’s cooking dinner one night.

        “Sorry, sweetie,” she says. “Matthew’s orders.”

        I sigh and go back up to my room.

 

        “Are you feeling any better?” Mike asks at the end of the second week.

        “Don’t talk to me,” I say quietly, covering myself up in bed. This is the first time he’s talked to me since Matthew put me on hold.

        “I don’t think you’re in any position to tell me what to do,” Mike says, walking up to my bed.

        I start crying. “Mike, please don’t hurt me, I can’t take it, I can’t take it, I-”

        “Shh…” he says, pressing a finger to my lips. I look up at him. “I won’t hurt you if you behave. It’s discipline, remember?”

        I am about to tell him off, but I decide it would probably be smarter to just listen to him for the time being. I nod.

        “Good girl,” he says, patting my head as if I am a dog. “Do you need anything?”

        “Can I have some orange juice?”

        “What’s the magic word?” he asks in a sing-songy voice.

        I roll my eyes. “Please.”

        He grabs my chin firmly. “Don’t roll your eyes at me ever again. Do you understand?”

        I nod and he lets go. “I’ll be right back with your orange juice, baby.” He smiles.

        “I’m not your baby,” I say to myself after he’s gone.

 

        It’s almost the end of the third week of my imprisonment, and I am getting antsy. Mike has been offering to do more and more for me; lately, he’s been the one getting me pain medicine rather than Liz. I don’t object. She has a life, too.

        “Here you go, baby,” Mike says as he brings me my daily orange juice. He’s been delivering it to me ever since I first asked him.

        “Thank you,” I say, taking it.

        “How do you feel today?”

        “Like new,” I say. “The pain is pretty much gone; I finally feel like myself again.”

        Mike smiles. “Good, I’m glad.”

        I take a big sip of the orange juice. The pain medicine has been making my mouth dry.

        “Woah,” I say to myself.

        “What’s that?” Mike asks, standing near the bed.

        My eyelids suddenly get overwhelmingly heavy, and the mere thought of staying awake seems impossible. It’s different than the sedative I normally take. “Dizzy,” I mumble. “Woah,” I say again.

        “Use complete sentences, Alex,” Mike says. His voice sounds like it’s coming from miles away, but I know he’s right in front of me.

        “Sedative?” I ask.

        “No, baby, it’s not.”

        “I’m dizzy,” I say, my words slurring together.

        Mike says something, but I’m too far away to hear what it was.

        “Why is your voice echoing?” I try to yell, so he can hear me. I’m not even sure if the words came out. “What’s going on?” I say, but it comes out as gibberish.

        “Just relax,” I hear in the distance. The words echo throughout my head for what seems like hours.