Eventually, as my vision cleared, I could see some of the room. My head lay on a dark red covered bed with a matching sheet over the top of me. The window I was facing was opened, letting the blue sky be seen. In front of the window was a chair with a blanket thrown over the side, as if it were used during the night and discarded there without much thought.
My eyes traveled up the tube in my hand to a stand that held a bag of fluids. It looked to be just about empty, and I wondered just how long I had been here. It could have easily been hours to days.
Looking out the window, I craved to have the sun beat down on me, heating me from the outside in. I wanted to feel the rays soak into me.
Heck, I didn’t even know what season it was. It could be the dead of winter for all I knew.
Rolling slightly over, I tore my gaze from things I shouldn’t ever want. It wasn’t my choice. At the movement, it put pressure on my dick, and I quickly shuffled to be on my side again instead.
Peeling the sheet back just enough to look down at my naked pelvis, I saw another tube, this one smaller, coming from it.
That was new.
Before I could wrap my mind around what the hell was going on or even figure out all the whys that were slowly starting to pop up, footsteps sounded from the hallway.
I didn’t have a chance to pretend to be asleep as someone entered.
“Glad to see you’re awake, doll.” The voice was smooth as honey, with some sort of accent just underneath the tone. I kept my eyes anywhere but the man as he neared, which was hard to do as he took a seat on the edge of the bed. “We’ll get you cleaned up soon. Right now, I don’t want you moving about.”
With the words, a hand brushed some of the hair off my face. Only for the strands to fall back over my eyes.
Hearing I wasn’t to move, my body fell limp once more.
“Once the doctor gets here and removes the IV and catheter,” the man continued after a moment. “You will take a bath and eat some food afterward.”
I blinked. It didn’t seem like I was given a direct order that I had to do right then and there.
The baths I’ve had before were what was considered a wipe-down. Just enough to get the sweat, dirt, and other bodily fluids from my body. It meant I wasn’t to be perfectly clean because I was just going to be used and dirty again in a matter of hours.
I’d have loved nothing more than to have a real bath with water that’d be almost too warm, where my skin would turn red, to cover my entire body. Heck, I didn’t need bubbles—just warm water, soap, and nothing else.
I blinked, staring at the man’s torso that was in my view. A soft-looking black shirt covered it. My fingers itched to feel its texture, yet I didn’t allow them to move other than to swipe against the sheet.
“You are to tell me if you’re in pain. At any time.”
This time, I nodded at the order. His voice was more demanding. I’d agree, even though I had no plan to tell him anything. It’d be used against me. At least this way, the man could know that I did understand his words.
You’d be surprised by how often orders were thrown my way in some sort of language I couldn’t ever have the possibility of understanding. The hits afterward were always more amusing to the one who thought it was funny that I couldn’t figure out what I was to do.
“There shouldn’t be too much pain right now,” the man said. This time, his hand went back to his lap instead of fighting with my stray black hair that was untamable. “My doctor friend gave you a shot of something a bit stronger to help you rest. And your fever. You have a bladder infection, but that wasn’t surprising.”
I wouldn’t be surprised if there were other infections in my body. It was normal. Slaves, even if we were human, weren’t treated with the same care. Puking or having strep never detoured the men from using me.
“Do you have a name?” the man asked after a few more minutes.
I did, but what was the point in saying it? I’d be whatever he wished me to be. I’d answer to whatever he called me.
I didn’t speak. It was the only thing that I had to call my own. Everything I had had been stripped away in a matter of minutes.
How long ago was that? I couldn’t remember how long I had everything I knew taken from me. My life had been horrible to begin with, and it shouldn’thave been that much of a surprise that I ended up where I was now. Yet, I wished more than once that things had turned out differently.
I took a deep breath, banishing all the thoughts from my mind. They didn’t belong. They had no place in this type of life.
I wasn’t my own person. I was a slave. I was a toy, easy to discard and replace when I no longer fit whatever the owner wanted from me.
Zoned out, I jerked when the sheet was pulled down and off my body. Goosebumps covered my skin, even though the room wasn’t cold.
It was a stark contrast to the basement I had been in just days before. There, I was always cold. But here, it was the perfect temperature.
