Chapter Eleven
Anastasia
The rattle of cages pulls me from a fitful sleep.
Hissing because of the pain in my hand and leg, I roll over to see food has been placed just inside the door.
I place my hands down on the mat and immediately regret it as the pain in my hand causes my arm to give out.
Shit, I’m no nurse or doctor, but that cannot be good.
When I’m finally able to pull myself into a sitting position and get a good look at my hand, I know that I’m going to die here.
The cut on my palm is bright red around the edges, swollen to the point I can’t make a fist and oozing.
I look down at my leg and hiss because the bandage wrapped around is showing that it too is oozing, slightly bleeding, and swollen.
If I don’t get some antibiotics soon, this is going to get really bad really quickly.
It’s not good now as I can feel the body aches and hot and cold feelings, which mean I’m running a fever.
“I’m so going to fucking die here,” I whisper under my breath.
“We all are eventually,” a small sad voice says from my right.
Unable to do much more than turn by head, I let it flop in the voice's direction. “I’m taking it that’s the only way out of here?”
A slim, dark shoulder lifts before falling. “It’s the only way I know of. I used to hope for something different, but it’s been so long now that’s the only way I see it.”
“Seems about right for my sister,” I state flatly.
She lets out a humorless chuckle. “If madam is your sister, then I can only imagine your life with her. She is pure evil. They act like Master runs the show, but we all know that she is the boss. You do what she says when she says it, or you will pray for death.”
“Fucking great. I cannot wait to see what she has in store for me.” I turn to look straight ahead, fighting the growing darkness. “It’s her opinion I’m responsible for all the bad shit in her life, and now she can do whatever she wants to me and I can’t do a fucking thing.”
The bigger guy from a few days ago walks past my cell. “Excuse me, can I get some more bandages and maybe have someone look at the damage? I’m pretty sure it’s infected.”
He stops, sneering down at me. “I’ll talk to the boss and get back to you. You should eat and drink something.”
“That’s a great idea except I can’t seem to get to my food.” I grumble, laying my head back on the wall and letting the darkness take me under.
I come to at some point to people whispering above me and someone poking and prodding my injuries. I groan as I weakly try to pull away from the person. A voice cuts through the hazy fog.
“They’re seriously infected.”
“Then fucking do something about it,” the smaller man demands.
“She needs more care than this. Her fever is getting too high.” The new voice snaps as his fingers move along my wound.
“Give her something for the fever and put shit on her leg. That’s the only reason you’re fucking here. Do we need to look into getting a new doctor?” the smaller man’s voice makes me want to poke holes in my eardrums.
“I’ll start an IV with some meds. Do you know anything about her medical history?” the new voice asks. “Who the fuck am I kidding? You probably don’t even know her name.”
I use the last of the energy I have. “Not allergic. Fever-induced seizures” is the last thing I get out.
There is shouting around me before I feel like I’m being carried.
The cool air blowing across my body is both soothing and jarring to my feverish skin.
I try with everything I have in me to open my eyes and see where we’re going, but I can’t.
Between the fever, the pain my body is in, and the fear of the unknown, my brain can’t take anymore.
“Goddamn it, she’s doing it again!” the bigger man shouts, and we stop moving.
I come back to myself, the telltale signs of a seizure still thrumming through my aching body.
As my senses come back online, I realize I’m in the back of a moving vehicle.
The voices around me are familiar but not safe.
Panic grips me, and my stomach twists hard.
I’m sweating and freezing all at once, and the black haze that has been clinging to me since the night Jose punched me surges again, trying to drag me under once a-fucking-gain.
The last thing I hear before sweet oblivion swallows me is enough to make a single tear slip from the corner of my eye, trailing into my hair.
“Boss says she’s too much of a liability. We’ve got to get her gone,” the smaller man snarls.
“Well, Anastasia, it looks like you’ve finally lost,” I mumble to myself as my eyes slide closed and I lose the fight.