Page 30 of High Stakes

A numbness.

A darkness.

I felt absolutely nothing at all.

I blink the tears from my eyes and take a deep steadying breath. I need to get the fuck out of here and figure out where everyone else is. I need to go home.

A nurse walks into the room with a small stack of papers. “I will need you to sign these AMA forms to acknowledge that we do not recommend you leaving the facility. As well as the rest of the discharge paperwork.”

“Of course.” I look her up and down and realize that she’s the nurse who was in the room with me when I woke up last week. Her wild red hair gives her away almost immediately. I take the pen from her and sign my name on all the dotted lines.

She narrows her eyes at me and purses her lips. “I thought you didn’t remember your name,” she remarks, and gives me a knowing look.

I shrug my shoulders. “Maybe I just made one up that sounds cool,” I retort, and hand the pen back to her.

“I brought you a pair of scrubs. Your clothes were quite literally toast when you arrived here.” She smiles and sets a pair of ugly green surgical scrubs on the foot of the bed. “When you’re finished, just head to the right. The elevators are at the end of the hall. There’s a payphone in the main lobby. You can call an Uber from there.”

“Thank you,” I respond sincerely as she closes the door behind her. I sit on the bed for several seconds before I finally swing my legs over. My head swims and my entire body shudders with agony. “Fuck,” I bite out through clenched teeth and scowl down at my broken body. Everything is mostly healed, but my muscles are stiff and weak from not being used in the last several weeks.

I throw the sheet the rest of the way off my legs and stare down at my scarred and mottled skin. My thighs and calves look like Deadpool’s face. The fresh skin is still bright pink and inflamed. With a deep breath, I bend my knee and slide one leg and then the other into the pant legs.

Holy fucking shitballs.

My eyes blur with tears and I fall back against the pillows with the pants only pulled up to my knees. I pant shallowly through the pain and grit my teeth, trying to bend my legs and get the scrubs the rest of the way up to my hips. I manage to get them halfway up my thighs before heat washes over my entire body and my head swims with darkness threatening my vision. I’m going to pass out just from putting fucking pants on.

The door opens slowly and the redhead pops her head around the corner. “You doing okay in here?” Her voice holds a hint of humor.

I drop my hands and sink back into the semi-flat pillow, not even caring that I’m practically naked in front of her. She’s probably already seen everything multiple times now. “I didn’t realize… how much it would…hurt,” I pant out, and squeeze my eyes shut as a wave of nausea rolls through my stomach.

“Those burns were pretty bad, dude. Not to mention, you’ve been lying in a bed for weeks without moving your legs. You were intubated for a while too, so your breathing is not going to be what you’re used to. Everything needs to be taken in small steps.” She comes over to stand in front of me and helps me pull the pants over my ass and ties the string for me.

“Thank you,” I say softly, and let her help me shrug out of the hospital gown and into the scrub top. Moving my arms is painful, but not as bad as my legs. They got the majority of the damage. I clench and unclench my fists as she takes a few steps back.

“No problem. There’s a car waiting for you downstairs.” She pulls out a cellphone and holds it out to me, but I make no moves to take it. “It’s just a phone. Take it.”

“Where’d it come from?” I ask warily, staring at the electronic like she’s handing me a piranha.

“Does it matter?” she asks, and gives it a shake in my direction. “Look, I’ve got people that I’m sure are in the sameline of work that you are. And I know they’d do anything to get back to their family if they were in your position.”

“And what position do you think I’m in?” I ask her in a low voice.

She squares her shoulders and tilts her chin up with a hint of defiance. “If I told you that, then I’d have to kill you. And I’ve worked my ass off to keep you alive for the last several weeks. So that would be a shame and a waste of my time and skills.”

“Fair point well made,” I acknowledge with a smirk.

She holds out her hands to help me stand. “Besides, you need to get back to that woman and tell her that you love her.”

I place my hands in hers and groan in pain as I stand on wobbly legs. “How do you know about her?” I mutter, and clench my jaw so hard my teeth hurt.

“You screamed her name for two days straight when you first came in. And someone named Hayden. You were hellbent on finding both of them.” She sets the pace as we walk to the door one step at a time.

Each time my feet lift and reconnect with the floor, a sharp pain shoots up my legs. I look up and watch the door move closer at a glacial pace. The realization that I’m not going to be able to get anywhere quickly makes my stomach turn to lead. At this rate, I’ll get back home by my eightieth birthday.

After several strings of curses, a few breaks to catch my breath and not pass out, and one very long elevator ride, I’m standing next to a black sedan. “Thank you,” I say again, and look for a nametag, but there isn’t one.

She waves me off and opens the door for me. “Don’t mention it, really.” Her fingers grip my hand tightly as I groan in pain with the effort to bend and sink into the car. “I firmly believe in karma, so I’ve hopefully scored some brownie points in that category.”

I nod once and focus on trying to get my breathing back under control. “What’s your name?” I ask her as she puts her hand on the door to close it.

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