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administered.
"What's your name?"The nurse lifted the chart from its holder at the end of Lindsay's bed
and annotated the time and dosage of the medication."This says Ôunknown'" She quirked
a grin. "You'd be surprised how many women in the State of New York decided to name
their babies that.I swear sometimes it seems as though we're overrun with them. But
somehow I doubt that's your real name."
A deep crease appeared on Lindsay's forehead as she thought.I know thisÉ I thinkÉ "IÉIÉ"
The young woman's fear must have shown on her face because the nurse laid a
comforting hand on her leg.
Lindsay tried not to jerk away from the unexpected contact, but her reaction was
instinctive. She didn't like people touching her.That was dangerous.
"It's all right," the nurse said calmly.She lifted her hand from Lindsay's calf then continued
to thumb through the chart. "Ahh. That explains it.You have a concussion among other
things. I'm sure that tomorrow things will seem much clearer."She replaced the chart and
tucked her pencil behind her ear.
"Okay.But-"
"You need to rest now.You've only recently come out of surgery."The older woman tugged
Lindsay's sheet up to her chin and tucked its sides tightly into the thin metal bed
frame.Then she pulled a threadbare blanket from the cart she'd left parked in the aisle and
laid it over her patient."Hush now, or you'll wake up the others.Someone will be back
around to check on you later.My shift is finally over."The Ôthank God' was left implied.
Surgery? Damn. I don't have the faintest idea of how I got here. I can't think about that
now.They cut me open? Lindsay licked her lips to speak and caught a glimpse of a moving
shadow."Wait," she rasped.So thirsty."My eye?"
But the nurse was already gone.
She whimpered a little, wondering how long until the drugs would take effect.Unwilling to
follow orders without question, Lindsay refused to try to sleep.Instead, she took in her
surroundings as best she could, pushing the pain into a manageable corner in the back of
her mind.
To one side of her bed was a plain white wall.At least that's all I seeÉ I hope that's all
that's really there.She was, she finally discerned, at the very end of a long, dark ward
filled with single beds.She couldn't muster the strength to turn completely over but she
could shift just enough to see that in the bed next to hers, so close that she could reach
out and touch her if she wanted to, was a fitfully sleeping woman. Lindsay took a moment
to study her neighbor to determine whether her coat and shoes would be safe under the
bed or ifshe'd have to sleep with them.
Moonlight spilled over the stranger's drawn face, highlighting her slightly upturned nose
and a small, delicate mouth and making her appear a ghoulish gray. Her breathing was
harsh and thick and Lindsay idly wondered what tragedy had befallen her, causing her to
end up hereÉ all alone.
She's younger than me, I think. But with the same piss poor luck or she wouldn't be here
at all.But the passing interest faded as the drug began to seep into Lindsay's
bloodstream.Her chest and neck began to itch and she lifted a shaky hand to try and
scratch them.Her brow furrowed when she fuzzily realized that her hand was wrapped in a
thick bandage and her fingers splinted.How did that happen?Then she moved her hand
upward to her face, still worried about her eye, which she could feel was completely
swollen shut.She poked the tender flesh gently until she was more or less convinced that
her eyeball itself was still there.Higher still, and she could feel that her head was wrapped
in gauze.
The constant thudding in her temples and the sharper pain below her breast were
beginning to fade, and her eyelid began to grow heavy.But she continued on, her
fingertips tracing her nose, which was splinted and bandaged. Now that she wasn't
surprised about.In a blinding flash, she could see Jacque's heavy fist coming straight at
her and hear the sickening crunch of cartilage all over again.An unexpected wave of
nausea swept over her and she swallowed hard against it.She grimaced, causing her to
feel the sting of two deep scratches that ran from just below her eye to her chin.
A soft groan drew Lindsay's attention sideways to the next bed.The woman had turned
from her back onto her side and was now facing Lindsay.String Bean frowned at the sound
of the redhead's shallow gurgles.The breaths were wet and shallow, something that
Lindsay could easily place now that her mind wasn't so preoccupied by her own
misery.She'd heard it many times before, especially in the winter.Pneumonia.But then why
are her hands bandaged? She blearily noted the covered appendages that were now
sticking out from under the sheet.
Finding it hard to concentrate as the sense of dislocation within her own body grew,
Lindsay felt sleep's irresistible tug.She was about to give into it when she caught a glimpse
of moonlight shimmering off the eyes of the women who had been sleeping.She blinked in
surprise but held the stranger's pale, frightened gaze for several seconds before the
woman's eyes fluttered helplessly shut once more.
Lindsay had a sinking suspicion that she would wake up and the bed next to her would be
empty. Maybe I should call for a nurse.But wasn't a nurse just here?Everyone can't be
saved, String Bean, the grim thought came unbidden, and she resolutely turned her mind
elsewhere.Which wasn't hard, considering she now felt as though she was floating atop a
wispy cloud, high above the earth and all its petty troubles.
"String Bean," she blurted out suddenly.A soft giggle bubbled up inside her.That's my
name. She smiled to herself as the last bit of discomfort she'd been feeling floated away
as if on a gentle breeze.Drugs, Lindsay decided as the mental fog she was drowning in
finally reached out and claimed her, could be a very good thing.
*~*~*~*~*
Sunshine streamed through the windows of the women's fourth floor east wing at Charity
Hospital.Lindsay awoke to the sound of a commotion coming from the bed next to
her.Before she even opened her eyes she knew what it was.The girl who couldn't breathe
is dead.There was no particular emotion tied to the thought.Save for the fact that Lindsay [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]