My body stings.
My mind burns with torment.
“What can I do?” Danny asks.
“Get Mark over here…now,” Joseph says.
The heaving won’t let up. There’s nothing left except bile burning my throat.
Joseph comforts me while I lean against the toilet bowl.
“Dee, sweetie, are you with me?Goddamn,that bastard! I could murder him for doing this to you,” Joseph hisses through gritted teeth.
Time passes, I have no clue how long, and my heaving doesn’t stop. I cough and splutter into the bowl again as I hear footsteps behind me.
“Dee, my name is Mark. I’m a doctor. I’m going to give you something to help, okay?” he asks as I rest my head on the toilet seat, feeling completely spent.
I can’t answer, and I can’t believe how much time must have passed for the doctor to even be here.
I must be delirious.
My breaths are short and few and far between.
There is some rustling, but at some stage, I close my eyes, so I have no idea what’s going on.
“Okay, a little sting,” someone says, then the pinch of a needle goes into my arm.
The toilet paper holder whirs, and someone wipes my nose and mouth with the tissue.
“The pinch skin test shows she’s severely dehydrated. Coupled with the fact she hasn’t eaten much in five days, I think I’ll set up an IV… and Danny, you can change it when you need to. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten how?” Mark clarifies.
“No, all good, brother,” Danny replies.
“Great! I’m going to prescribe anti-nausea tablets. I will give her a few anti-anxiety tablets to keep her calm and help her sleep. She can take them three times a day if needed. There’s a possibility she’ll need an antidepressant, but I’ll have to conduct further testing when she’s cognizant,” Mark says.
There’s more talking, but the ringing in my ears muffles it.
Finally, I’m floating, and only when I’m placed on the bed do I realize I am being carried.
I’m lying on my back, and there’s a pinch of another needle.
It doesn’t hurt.
Maybe it does.
I don’t know.
None of it matters.
***
I hear something.
What the hell is that noise?
It’s persistent.
Annoying.
