Friend. The word made my stomach drop, and memories crashed into me all at once.
Marcus.
He'd hit me. Over and over. His fists slammed into me until I couldn't stand anymore. The pain had been so overwhelming I'd barely registered anything else. Then the pressure on my throat, the way he'd squeezed so tight I thought he was going to kill me right there. And then... I couldn't recall what happened after that.
My heart rate spiked, and the monitor beeped faster. I froze at the jarring noise, suddenly hyper-aware of every pain in my body. It wasn't as sharp as it was a few minutes ago, but it was still very much there.
The last thing I could remember was the feeling of Marcus's hands around my throat. So if I was here instead of at my flat, that meant...
He must have decided to cover his tracks. Maybe he thought he'd taken it too far. Or...
No. He was trying to make sure I didn't tell anyone what he did. Or he was trying to make me feel like I owed him for "saving" me. Either way, he was playing mind games again.
My fingers clenched the edge of the blanket until my knuckles hurt. Marcus was here. He had to be. He wouldn't just leave me alone with the nurses. He wouldn't give me a chance to say anything. I forced myself to turn my head and look around the room as best as I could.
Without my glasses, everything was out of focus. But I couldn't make out anything that looked like Marcus or anyone else. It was just me and the nurse.
But that didn't mean he wasn't close by. He could be at the door waiting for the nurse to leave. He could be lurking inthe hallway to keep an eye on who came in and out. I had no way of knowing.
Nausea mixed with the panic. If Marcus was here, what would he do when the nurse left? Would he try to finish what he started?
I tried to push myself upright again, but my chest protested immediately.
The nurse's hand nudged my shoulder to carefully ease me back down. "Mr. Hale, I'm serious. You need to stay still."
I didn't want to stay still. I wanted to get up, get out, and put distance between myself and Marcus. But the pain held me in place, and my vision swam again.
I couldn't fight him. If he came back, I wouldn't be able to stop him. I couldn't even sit up without wanting to scream.
My heart pounded harder, and I closed my eyes to try to block out the panic. I had to figure out a way to stay conscious. I couldn't afford to let my guard down. Not when Marcus was still out there.
The nurse's voice cut through the haze of my thoughts and pulled me back to the present. "Your friend stepped out to get some food," she said gently as she adjusted the blanket. "He'll be right back. I'll come by to check on you in a bit, too, but just hit the call button if you need anything before then."
She gave me one last reassuring smile before heading for the door. I wanted to ask her to stay, to not leave me alone here. But the words wouldn't come. They were trapped behind the tightness in my chest and the dry, painful scratch in my throat. I managed a small noise, half-formed and useless, and she didn't notice.
She pulled the curtain behind her and stepped out, letting the door close with a quiet click.
I tried to force down the lump in my throat. My hands shook, and I forced them into fists to try to make them stop. I took a slow breath to calm the pounding in my ears, but it didn'thelp. The more I thought about being alone, the worse it got.
I could still feel his hands on me, grabbing my neck, crushing my throat. I could still hear the snarled words, the contempt in his voice. Fear crawled up my spine and squeezed tight around my chest.
I forced another breath. In and out. Slow. Careful. It felt like dragging glass through my lungs, but I couldn't fall apart now. I counted the seconds between each inhale and exhale, forcing the fear to back off enough to get my thoughts back in order.
I needed to keep my wits about me. I needed to be ready. When Marcus came back, I had to find a way to get out. Or at least make enough noise that someone would come. Anything to keep him from attacking me again.
Just keep breathing. Just hang on.
Somebody would come. He wouldn't get another chance if I stayed alert. Even as I thought that, though, my hand slid over to the call button and gripped it with all the strength I could muster.
I stared at the ceiling as I tried to keep my breathing steady, but the heart monitor betrayed me. I couldn't make the beeping slow down. The longer I lay there, the longer my thoughts circled around the same panicked spiral of Marcus coming back and finishing what he started.
I squeezed my eyes shut to fight against the ache building behind them. The pain in my head wasn't as bad now, but the dull, relentless pressure wouldn't let me focus on anything for too long. I wanted to think, but everything kept slipping away.
The ceiling blurred in and out of focus, and I had to blink a few times to clear my vision. I moved my fingers to make sure I still had control of my body, and they twitched against the call button. Good. That was something.
I didn't know how long I lay there, staring up andforcing myself to take slow, shallow breaths. My chest hurt every time I tried to draw in air, and my ribs ached with every little movement. I couldn't do much without setting off another round of pain, but even staying still made me feel like I was going to suffocate.
My throat tightened as I fought down the bile threatening to rise. The headache flared again, and I winced. I just couldn't think straight. Every time I tried to make sense of things, the pressure in my head blurred the edge of my thoughts, leaving them fuzzy and incomplete.
