“I’m not leaving.”
Footsteps entered the room and my heart pounded.
“It’s just the doctor,” Enoch murmured, squeezing my hand that was tangled in the fabric of his shirt.
I heard something electronic whirring before the sound of hands being roughly rubbed together. “I’m happy to see thatyou’re awake,” a male voice said, stepping around the curtain that had been blocking the small window that gave a view to the hallway outside. “I’m going to ask a few questions, so we can get to know one another a little better.”
I studied his appearance with distrust. Trying to tell if he could be someone here to hurt me, sent by Los Siete to silence me.
“What’s your name?”
I hesitated. Unsure what name they had on file. I went with the safe option, “Emory.”
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Emory. I’m Dr. Moore. I’ve been taking care of you. Can you tell me how old you are?”
“Twenty-two.”
“Very good. And do you know what time of year it is? The season?”
I had to think hard to recall what month it had been. Was it September now? Was that fall or summer?
“That’s okay if you can’t recall right now. How about you tell me how you’re feeling?”
“Um, the tube,” I said, one hand leaving Enoch’s chest to gently prod my nose. “It hurts.”
“Where does it hurt?”
“My nose and my throat.”
“I understand. Yes. The tube can feel uncomfortable. Right now that tube is giving you the nutrition you need to heal. What does the pain feel like? Scale of one to ten, ten being the worst pain you’ve ever felt.”
I grimaced, letting my hand fumble back to Enoch. “A one.”
“Are you in any other pain?”
“Not really.”
“Can you give me a number and a location for the pain?”
Honestly everything hurt, but the worst was in my back.
“My back. Maybe a two.”
“We’re going to have to change the bandages on your back later today, so we want to stay on top of that pain. Please let the nurse know the second it starts to hurt any more than a two.”
I nodded. He smiled. Was it genuine? Why did it feel sinister? Why was he looking at me so intently?
I watched his eyes bounce to the monitor behind my head, but I didn’t take my eyes off of him.
“We also want to see how your body handles eating something. Just a little bit of broth.”
The thought of eating anything made me want to vomit. “I’m not hungry.”
“Yes. That’s understandable. It’s not much though. And once your GI system wakes back up, you should start feeling hungry again.”
It didn’t sound likely, but I didn’t bother telling him that.
“Other than the pain and not being hungry, how are you feeling?”
