Page 90 of New Beginnings
I focused my gaze on my mother, her hand tightly gripping mine, tears welling up in her eyes and a look of overwhelming relief on her face. With Rumi on the other side, her hand clasping mine, I saw tears welling up in her eyes and a mixture of relief and joy spreading across her face.
“What happened?” I asked.
Rumi’s brows bunched together in confusion. “You don’t remember?”
Shaking my head, I glanced around the room, taking in the surroundings. The sterile white walls and the constant beeping of machines made it clear that I was in a hospital. I had an IV running through my left arm I wished was pumping pain meds through my veins instead of whatever the hell it was because it wasn’t doing shit for this pain. The incessant beeping of the machines was grating on my nerves. The nauseating smell of chemicals and antiseptic filled the air.
I hate hospitals.
“Why can’t she remember?” my mother asked, her voice a little frantic. “I’m going to go get the doctor.”
I watched as she rushed out the sliding glass door, the sound of it sliding shut echoing in the room.
Rumi sighed. “You were shot,” she said, her confusion shifting into anger.
“Shot?”
Why in the hell would anyone want to shoot me?
“What happened?” I asked. “Why did someone shoot me?”
“I don’t know Rebel. You’d have to tell me. The only thing I know is that you went somewhere with J.D., then Caesar got a call that you had been shot and I needed to get to the hospital.”
The only thing I remembered was going to meet with Agent Revels so J.D. and some of the guys could grab him but then everything goes blank after I got there.
“Where’s J.D.?” I groaned when a sharp pain ricocheted through me. “Fuck! I need to see him, Rumi.”
Why wasn’t he here? Did he get Revels?
“You really think I’m going to let that bastard anywhere near you after he almost got you killed?” Rumi sneered. “That’s why I wanted you nowhere near him or Caesar. They are just alike. Nothing but damn trouble.”
I let out an exasperated sigh and rolled my eyes. “Not your choice,” I said as soon as our mother stepped into the room, the sound of the doctor’s footsteps echoing behind her.
“Ms. Pierce. It’s nice to see you’re awake,” he said.
What was I supposed to say? Thank you, doc. I’m glad I didn’t die. That didn’t seem appropriate, so I just nodded.
“I’m Dr. Ryan,” he said, flipping through the medical chart. “I’m the trauma surgeon on duty today and tomorrow. How’s your pain?”
“It hurts like a motherfucker,” I mumbled as I shifted in the bed but stopped once the pain got worse.
“Rebel, language please,” my mother chided.
I rolled my eyes.
“It’s fine, I’ve heard worse.” The doctor laughed. “So, on a scale of 1-10, Ms. Pierce your pain is...”
“A hundred, doc. One fucking hundred.”
I heard my mother huff, a sigh of exasperation escaping her lips. He nodded with a small smile across his lips as he scribbled on the chart.
“I’ll have the nurse increase your pain medication,” he said still scribbling on the chart.
“I’d appreciate it,” I said. “So, what’s the damage?”
He stopped writing and looked at me. “Well, you almost bled out,” he said, and my eyes widen. “You had some internal bleeding and when the gentleman brought you in you weren’t breathing. During surgery we stopped the bleeding and repaired the damage.”
“I almost died.”
