Chapter 2
Two
“You’re going to fix him up, then make sure he eats. I want him ready to move in two weeks. That’s when he’ll go to the main house. He’s no longer of use to me.” The evil woman’s voice grated against his skin as she told the doctor what to do.
The older man nodded slowly. “I will do what I can to help him along. It might take more than two weeks.”
A gun appeared out of nowhere. The barrel pointed against the doctor’s forehead.
“You were saying?”
“Nothing! I’ll… I’ll get him better.”
If he’d had the strength to laugh, then he’d have let himself be amused at the entire interaction. The woman’s ability to intimidate amazed him. Grown men cowered around her. You’d think she was ten feet tall and built like a giant.
Instead, she was only a bit taller than him and thin. She also remained dressed up at all times like she was going to a fancy dinner. It confused him when he first arrived. After many years, he’d grown used to it.
Part of him wanted to be surprised she’d be sending him away. For years, she’d promised to keep him forever. She said he was her favorite.
Clearly, it was all lies.
She was ready to send him off like she’d done with the others. He was no fool. He knew what happened to him once he left would be ten times worse than what he’d already experienced.
A healthier version of him could have fought to escape. He might have been able to find freedom and start his life over.
But he’d been with her since he was young. In all that time, she’d only given him enough to keep him alive. There was no chance for him to truly get strong and build muscle. And when she left, the guards would often ignore him as a way to punish him for distracting the boss.
It was all messed up. He’d never asked for her attention, nor did he want anyone else’s.
The doctor left while he was lost in his thoughts. When he came to, it was to find the woman watching him with a soft smile.
“I’m so sorry, darling. I was hoping to not be gone so long this last time. Those stupid guards should have taken better care of you. Don’t worry. I took care of them. You won’t have to worry about them ever again.”
Her words were said with an excitement that shouldn’t be there. She doesn’t have to say they're dead. It’s obvious she’s happy about taking more lives.
He didn’t know how many people she’d killed in all the time he’d been with her. It was a lot. More than he’d been able to keep track of.
He used to try to count them. Then one day, he’d been beaten by a new guard who wanted to prove a point. When he woke up, he’d been told three days had passed. There was no way to know how many men had come and gone in that time.
“The doctor will see to your care. Once you’re well, we need to have a talk about your future. I have big plans for you, darling. Plans I think you’ll find refreshing.”
Refreshing.
What does that mean? Why does she think he’ll feel that way?
Too many questions ran through his mind. He wanted to know what it all meant and what would come next. He had a bad feeling about it all. A feeling so bad it hurt worse than the aches in his body.
This was a soulful pain. One he knew he’d never escape from.
“Fix him,” the woman growled at the doctor who’d just stepped back into the room before storming away. Most of the guards left with her, though two stayed at the door to monitor him.
No one was ever left alone with him. Not since that guard hurt him before.
While he was happy to know the same thing couldn’t happen again, he also hated being treated like a pet. He never got to have friends like the others. He never got to meet the people she brought to her home like they did.
He might have worn a collar as the others did to show ownership, but his was gaudy and meant to show off. Theirs were functional pieces to label them as part of the servants.
Sometimes he wished to be as plain.
“You’ve caused quite a stir this time,” the doctor said, menace in his tone. “She’ll kill me if I can’t find a way to make you better. Then she’ll likely kill you too, pet.”
He shook his head, trying to let the other man know this wasn’t what he wanted. None of this was what he wanted.
“Help us both.” He whispered the words. His throat burned with the noise, for it had been days since he’d been given water before that morning. No matter how much he sipped at it, he couldn’t shake the pain. He couldn’t moisten the dryness coating him.
It was like that with everything in his small, lonely world. There was never any relief.
The doctor peered down at him. Leaning closer, he shined a light in Gideon’s eyes and tugged at his face. He longed to close his eyes throughout the process since it occasionally helped him zone out. If he wasn’t watching, then the bad things didn’t really happen.
“I’m not quite sure if this is anything more than dehydration and starvation.
If you’re not better with proper nourishment and the antibiotic drip I’m going to administer, then I’ll have to come back and encourage her to take you to a hospital after all.
There's only so much I can do in this setting.”
His words were bitter. Like he hated to even say them.
One of the guards scoffed. “You’d have better luck convincing her of literally anything else. She never takes him out of there unless it’s to bathe him. She’s even outsourced it to one of the other servants for when she’s gone. If it’s not done right, she kills them upon her return.”
“Then we’ll have to ensure he gets better! I think we’re all on the chopping block if her pet doesn’t get well,” the doctor replied, voice firm and final.
The guard cursed under his breath as the other said, “I agree. Let’s try to work together for once. We’re not the enemy here.”
They shared a look. It was one he recognized, even as an outsider. The doctor and these two guards didn’t have to like him to know he was valuable. So long as they helped keep him alive enough for the woman’s plans, then they could survive another day.
It was every man for himself.
Literally.