“What do you mean, brother?”
“How long have I been here?”
They didn’t answer right away.Taylynn looked away as if she was checking with someone else before she told him.
“Five days.”
“Five days?”
She pressed her lips together and nodded.
How had he lost nearly a week?Obviously, he was hurt or he wouldn’t be in the hospital.Or maybe he was here because he’d been unconscious.No.He hurt.He was hurt, but how bad?Five days?It was hard to think, as if the gears he’d always imagined in his brain hadn’t had their oil changed in all of his thirty years, or longer.He knew that wasn’t how brains worked, but it was the mental image he had formed to help him cope.
What the hell had happened to cost him five days?
“Can I get these off?”He tried to lift his arm as a woman’s face he didn’t recognize came into view.Her scrub top was light blue with little cats all over it.He assumed she was the Kristina that had introduced herself a moment ago.
“Now that you’re awake enough to know not to pull at the wires and tubes, we can take them off ...unless you start fighting things again.”He heard the rip of Velcro being pulled apart, then a second.
“You can move your arms now.”Taylynn’s voice was soft, drawing his attention to her.
Spider brought both hands up to scrub over his face, then lowered them again.
“Water?”he looked at Taylynn.He hated being helpless.
His president’s old lady brought the cup back and placed the straw against his lips.He took a small sip.
“Thank you,” he said as she turned to set it down.He felt like shit, but he remembered what she’d been like when they’d found her and knew she understood how shitty he felt.Taylynn just smiled and put her hand back in his.Spider looked back to the other side where he could still see Kristina.“What are the chances of sitting up, at least a little?”He hated being flat on his back.He didn’t even sleep this way at home and suspected that might have been part of why he’d fought the wires.
“We can tilt you up but do it slowly.You’re on some strong meds because you’ve got some serious injuries and we don’t want to make them worse.”
“What about this thing?”he reached the hand Taylynn wasn’t holding up to touch the foam collar around his neck.
“I’ll have to talk to the doctor about that.I sent him a message that you’re awake.He should be in to see you before too long.”She checked a couple of things, hit buttons on the machines around him.
“The beeping, can we silence that?”
“No problem.”She reached up and hit something on the side of the screen that displayed his heart rhythm, heart rate, and more information that he didn’t understand.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”She lifted a wired remote into his view.“There are controls on the bed, but this will be easier for you for a bit.Here are the bed controls, the TV controls, and a button to call for me.If I’m not available, one of the other nurses will come check on you.Let us know if you need anything.I meananything.You should get as much rest as you can.The more you rest, the better you will heal.”
Spider nodded as she put the controller in his hand.
“Is there anything else I can do for you right now?”
“What happened?How bad is it?”
Kristina shook her head.
“I don’t know the details.I only have the instructions on how to care for you.Your doctor will have more answers when he comes to see you.”She smiled at him one more time then stepped out of his line of sight.A moment later the shush of the door opening told him she’d left.
He didn’t like that answer but he knew he wasn’t going to get a better one, at least not from her.He felt around hitting buttons on the remote at random until something happened.First the TV came on.
“Need some help?”Raven stepped up to the side of the bed where Kristina had been.
“Please.I want to sit up some.”
