“No. Please let me leave.” Her voice became high and urgent, her breath coming in gasps, her eyes dilated, like a terrified child’s.
The terror surging through him as he watched the unchanging, flat line on the monitor loosened his grip. He finally let go of Andrea, and she ran, her sobs echoing behind.
No. No, amore. No.He pressed his hands together in a silent prayer.
A few moments later, the beep became a rhythmic pulse, and the doctors told them Maggie was stable again. It was as if Maggie’s heart didn’t bear beating while that serpent was in the same place.
Scene81
Maggie
I didn’t know how long I’d slept. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that I woke up. Alive.Fuck. Not again.
I had tubes in my mouth and nose, and I felt like I was choking. There was a voice talking to me. Seconds later, I realized it was the nurse’s. Then I slept again.
Now, wide awake, I took a look around the room. The big tube in my mouth was gone, but my throat was sore. I had nose prongs, and needles stuck to my arms. I was naked and cold, covered only by a sheet, wires and tubes coming out of different areas around my chest. I tried to move but my arms and legs were strapped down. Looking to the side, I saw a number of machines and a nurse rising from a white chair.
“Maggie, can you hear me? Don’t talk. Just nod,” the nurse said.
I barely nodded. I was in so much pain I couldn’t tell what, or where, hurt the most.
“You had lung surgery, and you’re in the ICU now,” the nurse continued, checking the monitors of the machines. “Are you in any pain?”
I nodded again. For the next several hours, I drifted in and out of sleep. The nurses’ faces kept changing. I might have seen Dad’s face, too. And Mike’s.
Eventually, I found myself awake with a doctor standing at the side of my bed holding a clipboard, a nurse, and a green curtain behind them. “How long have I been here?” I slurred painfully.
“This is your second day in the ICU,” he replied, setting the clipboard aside and flashing a light in my eyes. “Look here, please.”
“The fuckin’ restraints?”
“There’re for your safety, Ms. Dawson. It’s common procedure.” He turned off the irritating flashlight. “Can you tell me your full name, age and marital status?”
I rolled my eyes, or I tried. “Am I the only patient in the room?”
“Yes. Can you please answer the questions?”
“Why the curtain? Someone out there?”
“There are many people outside waiting to see you. I didn’t think you would want them to see you like that. But I can open it, if you like.”
“No.”
“What’s your full name?”
“Maggie Carolina Dawson. Almost twenty-six…single.” I tried to breathe to stop the tears, but I coughed in pain. “This hurts.”
He grabbed his clipboard again. “It’s quite normal. Coughing is actually a good sign of recovery.”
Great. Even my body is acting against my will.
“There are no complications so far. The nurses would guide you through breathing exercises and help you with the pain.” He checked the monitors of the machines and scribbled something down. “You’ll be transferred to your room shortly, and someone from Psychiatry will see you as soon as possible.”
I closed my eyes. “Is…Dad here?”
“Yes.”
“Can I see him…before the shrink?”
