I nodded, clinging to that simple promise, even as the room blurred slightly at the edges.
“Am I in trouble?” I couldn’t remember if I’d already asked that question, but it was a burning weight on my mind. Surely, I had to have done something wrong, and that was why I was here.
Wherever here was.
“No,” he answered softly.
“Can I see Father?”
The room was quiet for a moment. “…No.”
“Why not?”
“Because he is in trouble.”
The words sat between us heavily.
“In trouble,” I repeated faintly.
“Yeah,” he said.
My fingers tightened in the blanket again, twisting the fabric until my knuckles ached. “Did he… did I make it worse?” I asked. “Did I get him in trouble?”
“No,” Patel answered adamantly. “You didn’t cause any of this.”
“But he said—”
“I know what he said,” Patel cut in gently, but firmly. “And I’m sorry. But what he said wasn’t the truth.”
I shook my head weakly. “He wouldn’t lie.”
Patel exhaled. “Sometimes people lie to protect themselves. Sometimes they lie to keep control.” He paused, watching myface. “He’s been lying to you for a very long time.”
“About what?” I asked.
“Maybe everything.”
I looked despondently at my lap.
“If he’s in trouble,” I whispered, “then why am I here?”
My gaze drifted back to the needle in my arm. The tape tugged at my skin every time I shifted, a constant reminder that I wasn’t just having a nightmare—this was my reality. “And what is that? Why is it in me?”
“It’s called an IV. Do you see those bags?” he asked, pointing above my head.
I nodded after glancing up and seeing two clear bags hanging on a tall pole by the side of the bed.
“Well, anything that gets put in those bags goes into your bloodstream from that needle. You were dehydrated when we brought you in, so the nurses hooked you up to fluids to rehydrate you. They also put a little medicine in there a while ago to help you relax.”
“Okay.” That sounded too complicated for me to comprehend. It was all so confusing and scary, but it felt a bit better having someone try to explain things. “And what about… why I’m here?”
“Well, there are a lot of reasons for you being here, but the most important one is to make sure you’re healthy and safe. We’ll worry about the rest later.”
“How long do I have to stay here?”
“As long as it takes for you to be medically stable,” he said. “Then we’ll talk about next steps.”
“Next steps,” I echoed. “Like… where I’ll go?”
