Blue on Blue

Chapter Three

"Rise and shine!" A brown skinned woman with short blond curls is standing over Maggie, holding a small white cup. A red and gold paisley print covers her scrubs. "I'm Nurse Louise." Her smile is wide and white. "That med you took last night could put a horse to sleep for days. Here. Doc wants you to take this."

Maggie frees her legs from the covers and sits up. She wipes the corners of her eyes with the heels of her hands. "What is it?"

"A dose of sunshine to help you wake up. Go ahead, take it." 

Maggie shrugs and pops the orange pill into her mouth. 

"That's it. Now, let's get you showered and dressed."

Maggie lathers shampoo through her hair, still stiff with gel. She pulls her fingers through what remains of the spikes, until loose strands collapse down the sides of her face. 

She grabs the bar of soap and spins it between her palms. The suds are just a hint lighter than her pale skin. She glides the soap over her ribs and down past her hips, along bony protrusions, ever more prominent since the hunt began.

"Gotta hurry in there," Nurse Louise calls out from the doorway. "You don't want to miss breakfast, now do ya?" 

Maggie's stomach twists at the mention of food. 

The nurse chuckles. "You certainly could use some meat on those bones of yours." 

Maggie hasn't eaten anything since she's been in the hospital besides jell-o and ice chips. Then again, she was hardly eating anything before her hospital stay. The hunt has a way of destroying her appetite. 

Maggie reaches for the faucet knob. Her hands shake. The lack of food must be getting to her. A drop in blood sugar could make her feel this way. Her knees twist. She braces herself against the tile. Just turn the knob, dummy. She reaches for it. Her fingers slip. She gulps at the air.

"No," she whispers. "Not again." It's not hunger's grip on her, it's Dread's. He's here and he's hunting her. "Get away from me," she gasps.

"You okay in there?" Nurse Louise's voice grows louder. Concerned. "You alright?"

"Yup, yup," Maggie musters, her voice shaking. She spins the faucet knob and yanks a towel from the rack, wrapping it around her.

"You can't hide," Dread growls.

"Screw you," Maggie screeches.

"What was that?" Nurse Louise calls out. "You alright in there?" She's standing just outside the shower stall.

"Ummm, It's nothing. Nothing. A bug. I got it," Maggie blurts. She watches Dread slip into the shadows of the room. 

The nurse arches an eyebrow. Her gaze follows Maggie's stare to the corner of the room. Her mouth twists sideways. "What are you looking at?" 

Maggie returns her attention to the nurse. "Oh nothing. Nothing." She has to change the subject before the nurse starts asking a line of questions she's not prepared to answer. She points to the nurse's hand. "What's that you're holding?" 

The crease between Nurse Louise's eyebrows softens. She holds up a duffel bag. "Your mom dropped off some of your clothes."

"No more hospital gown?" 

The nurse shakes her head. "No need for 'em here. It's not your body that we're treating, now is it?" She taps her finger against Maggie's forehead. "We're concerned about what's going on up here."

Maggie grabs the duffel bag and unzips it. "Good luck with that," she mumbles. She pulls out a pair of Levi's and an over-sized hoodie. 

Nurse Louise tugs at Maggie's hoodie string until it slides through the eyelet.