21. Jason
Iwoke up in the hospital and I had this bad feeling when I realized that it wasn’t the sort of hospital that I should have been in. It felt old and dank, pipes leaking sort of feel. It wasn’t a building that was used much, certainly not for a hospital. I knew that it was Dr. Griffin that had brought me here, before I realized what was going on. I thought of Abigail, but nothing was going to make me see it otherwise.
Feeling around, I was afraid to call to Abigail because then someone else would come. I was able to sit up, but I was attached to a machine that I knew would rat me out if given the chance. I had the worst feeling in the world going on. I was prepped for surgery by the state of what I was wearing. I couldn’t see the paper gown, but I knew it to be one for surgery. I had had several before and it was hard to focus on what that meant. Why was I going into surgery? For what? I had many bandages and pain coming from multiple places on my body. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but I remembered the beating and Abigail getting away. Did she stay gone like I’d asked her to? Was she okay? The words ran through my head, questions that I didn’t have an answer to. I wanted it to be different, better, but there was a part of me that didn’t know how to deal with it.
“Ah, you’re finally up. I was wondering when you were going to get around to coming back to us. You had a hell of a beatdown, Jason. You keep pissing people off.” He chuckled and it made my blood run cold.
“I could have sworn that I made it clear I wasn’t interested in working with you, Dr. Griffin. You want to go too far, and I declined. Do you remember?”
The older, balding man agreed that he had heard and remembered what was said. He looked upset about it all, though there was nothing more that could be done about it. “I did, but you were pronounced dead at the hospital. You were in quite a state. We brought you back to life and while you were here, I suspect that we wanted to help you further and fix your eyes. When you wake up, you will be grateful. Won’t that be enough?”
I disagreed and told him again that I didn’t want someone else’s eyes.
“Too late, Jason. They are already on their way and the medicine has just hit your veins. You won’t have much longer to fight about it. I bet you have already lost the strength to fight me. The power of it happens really fast.”
I tried to test his theory. I needed to get the hell out of there, but I couldn’t even move my arm or anything. It was like I had no say in what my body was doing anymore. I was helpless, a feeling that made me sick to my stomach to feel. That sickening feeling was back, overwhelming me.
“Don’t worry, Jason. We are going to make history together. Don’t you see?” He chuckled at his own joke. “Well, you don’t see now, but you will, I promise.”
I didn’t have anything to say even if I could have talked. I wanted to ask about Abigail, wondered what had happened to her if I was pronounced dead already. I had no answer and that killed me. I needed answers, but all I got was forced darkness with no light in sight.
I cameto with the doctor tsking me with concern. Something was wrong and I was afraid to ask him what it was that had happened. It wasn’t something that I was going to want to hear. I could just feel the softness that was coming over me. I had a lot more to say and the quicker I got it out, the better.
“You have to talk to Abigail. She is on the phone and isn’t going to leave this place until you tell her to go. I don’t care what you say, as long as it has nothing to do with me or my people. Get her to leave or I will, though I promise that it won’t be done nicely. I don’t have time for this, Jason. We are on a schedule, and the organs are only good for a little while.”
I swallowed hard, my mouth dry, and got some water. Then I agreed, because he made it clear that he would do what he “had” to Abigail to keep his secret. The idea of that scared me. I mean, it really scared me. “Give me the phone. I will say what needs to be said.” I didn’t have another choice, but damn if I wanted to do it.
When the phone was handed to me, it was ringing, and Abigail picked it up. She was relieved to hear from me, but not for long. The relief was quickly picked up and turned into something else. I wished that I could have done something different, but I had to break the link. Something bad was going to happen if I didn’t.
“Abigail, the doctor says that you won’t leave, and you are keeping me from getting the help I need. You need to go. I don’t want you here and you are messing it all up.”
There was silence and then Abigail wanted to know if I was for real. “We barely know each other, Abigail. You are acting like I told you I loved you back. If you remember, I never did. I don’t feel that way. You need to go. It was just a booty call. There is nothing else between us, so please go. You are just causing me trouble. That’s all you’re doing.”
I waited for her answer, but then she hung up. I didn’t know what she was thinking, but she wasn’t going to go home. I felt like it went the way that I wanted it to go, and it made me ill. I reminded myself that I had no choice, but it didn’t help with the guilt. None of this was what I wanted, but if I could get it done and over with faster, that was the only good thing on the horizon in my opinion.
I handed the phone back to the doctor and I saw him put something into my IV. It wasn’t clear what he was doing, but the more I tried to focus on it, the worse it was. I got shaky and I heard him say something, my name perhaps. I was already out of it when I looked up toward the lights. Whatever he was doing to me, I wasn’t going to be able to fight it. Now, I was all alone. No one was going to come and save me.
I wokeup a while later groggy. I was still having the conversation with the doctor in my mind. I knew that something had happened. I felt different. I felt like I had just woken up from a long sleep and that meant I had been put out. Again, I had had so many experiences with being put to sleep, I knew the signs. I knew that, unfortunately, I’d been put to sleep for some time. It wasn’t a good feeling at all.
There was a strange notion that came over me and once it hit me, I finally did something that I never thought was going to make a difference again. I wasn’t going to believe that anything was the problem. This was all just showing me how it was going to go. All of my time felt like practice, but I had no idea what I was practicing for.
My eyes opened and I was able to see. It was blurry at first, clearing up as I blinked and time lapsed. I didn’t move, didn’t do anything except look around, enjoying the art of seeing after so long. This was better than I could have imagined. That’s what there was to say to all of it. I couldn’t believe that I was trying so hard to not let it happen.
The place was as dark and dank as I knew it to be. I hadn’t seen the concrete block style walls that were painted white, now dirty gray color, but I had known that they were there. Not only was this place an old building, but I would almost bet that I was underground as well.
“Can you see me?” my doctor asked with concern and excitement. The doctor’s voice brought me back to reality. I could see that he was nervous, and I wondered why that was. It had been a success, so he should have made it easier to deal with. I felt horrible, so why wasn’t this as easy as I suspected? He should be gloating, but he had a contemplative look on his face. It was the sort that made me cold inside. Why did it feel like nothing I said or did was going to fix this? I was worried that I had messed it all up, again. I was starting to understand that no matter what, I was going to have to figure something out. I had to get out of here.
“What?”
“Can you see?” Dr. Griffin asked louder than before, like now all of a sudden, my ears weren’t working. Then, I looked right at him and flipped him off. It wasn’t the best thing I had done, but all I could muster in the current mood. I should have been accommodating. I would have likely gotten more answers and maybe some moment to fix it all. I had so many ideas of how it was supposed to go. There was nothing I could do to feel better about any of it. I knew that no matter what, there was going to be a moment when I got to get out of here. It was fast approaching, and I needed to be ready.
“I see you have kept your sarcasm, good. I fear you are going to need that.”
“What did you do?”
The doctor sighed. “I saved your sight, did the impossible. Isn’t that enough?”
It was, but if not for the way he was looking at me. Why was I getting this sap look that I got right now? It didn’t make sense. I wanted to see what was going on, but I had no real clue. I was so lost. “What has happened?”
“Your little girlfriend didn’t listen. She brought the police with her, and we had to take care of business. I never meant for anything to happen, but you know how things go. You were in the military; you know what happens when people aren’t where they are supposed to be.”
“What happened to her?” I started to ask as I got up. I couldn’t believe what was being said to me. I wanted to hear it, while I looked him up and down. I wanted to get the truth out of him. I was debating if I was going to kill him or not.
I was sure that there wasn’t much more that I could do. I was stuck wherever I was for the moment, but I could see, and I would be able to fix this soon enough. I just had to get these people to keep the drugs out of my system.
“She was hurt, but I lost track of how she is doing. She isn’t my patient you see.” Why did I worry so much that he was trying to make a reasonable case for what he had done to her, to me? What had happened to Abigail?
“Tell me what is going on!” I demanded. He just scoffed at me like I was an impetuous child. I didn’t know what he had in his mind, but it wasn’t long at all before something inside of me broke. He just shushed me and said that he would put me further away if I was going to yell. Since I was tied down this time around, for the moment, I was going to have to listen to this crazy man. He had gotten his way, I could see. Why wasn’t I happier about it? Not knowing what had happened to Abigail was a hard one to swallow. It was hard for me to focus on much of anything else.
Dr. Griffin left and I was left to contemplate what came next. While he might have thought that I was going to stay here and take what was given to me, I’d never really been that way. I didn’t know what was going to happen next, but I was eager to find out. Whatever came next, I swore to myself that the doctor was going to pay for what he had done to me, one way or another.