Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Even though I hadn’t seen much of him since his return, just knowing he was in the house was enough. It wasn’t much different than in the past, other than the fact that he was sober now. But even with the drugs and the spells, he’d kept a certain kind of distance between us that I was never able to close.
The drugs they gave me were working pretty fast, and I was losing the fight to stay awake, but every time I closed my eyes, I envisioned the most horrific things, things that scared me to the core. They’re nothing more than hallucinations, I’m sure, but at the moment, they seem very real, and I come awake with my heart pounding with fear.
My throat felt raw, so I know I must’ve been screaming for hours, but I have no recollection of it. I felt a mix of fear and anger that this had to happen now. Not only is Ryder clean, but he’s been acting very strange lately, so now is not the right time for us to be apart for any length of time, even though I haven’t been allowed to see much of him since he’s always busy and those two mutts always acted like I was a stranger and not his wife.
I have to get out of here. I have to know where he is. Where’s my phone? Oh no, how could I be so careless? I started to panic when it wasn’t on the bedside table and nowhere else in sight. Calm down; no one knows your password, everything is safe. That may be, but I still felt more than a little unsettled not knowing where it was. If it should get into the wrong hands, there will be a lot of trouble.
The person that was here just a few minutes ago was gone, and I hadn’t even noticed her leaving. What kind of hospital leaves sick people alone? I hate this feeling of being alone because it’s only then that I realize how empty I truly am. Even my thoughts are empty and vapid, something I hate to admit even to myself.
“Hello, is anyone out there?”
I heard movement at the door and turned my head hopefully in that direction, but it was just another nurse coming to check on me. “How are you feeling, Miss. Andrews?”
“My name is Sumner. Do you live under a rock? Don’t you know who I am?”
“Oh, sorry, the chart said Andrews. My mistake.”
“What’re you doing?” I tried turning my face away from the phone she held up, but it was too late. The light from the flash went off a couple of times more while I yelled for her to stop. “It’s procedure, nothing to worry about. No one other than the hospital staff will see these.”
“How can I trust that? If any of those get out to the public, I’ll sue this place out of existence.” I can’t let Ryder see me like this. Maybe it’s not as bad as I remember. I’ve been here for hours, so obviously, they must’ve done something with all of that gook they pasted on me. “Is there any change? Did any of what they did make those things go away?”
“Have a look. It’s not as bad as you think.” She brought the camera over, and I looked on as she brought up the first picture. I didn’t recognize the thing that looked back at me. It was grotesque, like something from a sci-fi movie.
“That’s not me. What is that?” I pushed her hand away roughly as bile rose in my throat.
Crying hurt like hell, but how could I avoid it? I couldn’t see any way that my face could come back from that. I was a red, swollen mess with pustules all over my face, from my forehead to my chin. My nose was bulbous and out of shape, and my head was twice its normal size.
And my hair. I tried lifting my arm to feel for it, forgetting that they were tied. “What happened to my hair?”
“Oh, the toxin took most of it, and we had to shave the rest before it spread.”
“Toxin, what kind of toxin? Will it grow back?” I started to hyperventilate.
“We’re not sure yet what kind of poison you were exposed to; as to your hair growing back, we’ll have to see. It pretty much damaged your scalp.”
My mouth was left open in horror at her words. This was a bad dream; it couldn’t be happening. Things like this don’t happen to me. “Call my mom. I need to talk to my mother.”
“We’ve tried contacting your next of kin, but no one is answering. We’ll keep trying, of course, but it might take a while.”
“Why? Why can’t you call them now?”
“Something seems to be wrong with the phones; we’re having them looked at as we speak.”