Page 127 of Depths of Destruction
"Tell me you won't leave me."
"I'm not letting you out of my sight." He quickly kisses me on the lips. "Let's go."
He steps out of the helicopter and picks me up. We're on the roof, and he carries me to the elevator and into the room we're expedited to.
I don't look at the other men. My brain tells me they are safe, but something in me is scared of anyone but Andre.
For the next few hours, medical teams check out both Andre and me. They clean both of us. At first, they attempt to move him to his own area, but I object, and he tells them he's not leaving me.
The Interpol team stays out of the room for the majority of the time. After a few hours, Andre and I are as clean as we're going to get from the hospital staff. I get a tetanus shot and a round of IV antibiotics. Every time someone other than Andre touches me, I jump and my pulse races. The sharp pains that soared through my heart in the truck come back, and I clutch Andre's hand, or shirt, or any other part of him I can.
The doctor looks at my back, but it becomes hard to breathe, and the chest pains change. Instead of a stab, it now feels as if someone is scraping glass across my heart. New tears fall down my cheeks, and I clench Andre's arm with my shaking hand.
He strokes my hair and keeps eye contact with me. He asks the doctor, "Can you move in front of Naomi, please?"
The doctor takes a few steps in front of me, and my breathing calms. "Do you normally have panic attacks, Ms. Salazar?"
"Never."
"It's not unheard of after a traumatic experience."
I stare at him, unsure of what to say.
"Is her back infected?" Andre asks.
"So far, it doesn't appear that way. You'll need to keep it clean and put antibiotic cream on it."
"Am I going to have scars?"
He shifts and looks slightly uncomfortable. "You had a considerable amount of flesh ripped when the prongs were removed. Scarring is highly likely. But the cream I'll give you can help with some of the damage."
I'm going to always have a memory. A stain of the wrath of Santiago Gómez.
"What about nerve damage from the shocks? Naomi still feels a buzzing." Andre asks.
"It's getting a little better." I admit.
The doctor smiles. "Time will answer a lot of your questions. Unfortunately, we don't know all the answers at this very moment. But if it's improving, that's a good sign. I want you to continue a round of medication for the next week and follow up with your primary care physician."
I turn to Andre.
He tucks my hair behind my ear. "We'll make sure we do that."
The doctor instructs the nurse, "Go ahead and bandage her wounds."
I grasp Andre's arm again and struggle to breathe.
"Can you give me the bandages and I'll do it?"
She looks at the doctor.
He hesitates but says, "Sure. The nurse can direct you on what to do. It'll be good for you to know how to change them."
"Thank you."
He leaves, and the nurse directs Andre on how to clean and bandage my wounds.
"Take this with you." She hands me a plastic bag. It has my prescription, ointment, and bandages in it.
