I woke up gasping for air and clawing at the bed sheets without any recollection of what I might have dreamed about, though I was sure it wouldn’t be good in my state. Then I could only see a bright light, but I could hear voices. I couldn’t understand one of them, but the others were shouting at him to calm down. I could breathe again after a few seconds. I managed to relax a little after that.
I was staring up into a white ceiling. There was a horrid smell of rubbing alcohol mixed with other smells I could only identify as being sterile. Was I in the hospital? I turned my head to look at the rest of the room and found a panicked Eric.
“L'amour, sont vous d’accord? Pouvez-vous respirer bien? N'importe quoi a-t-il fait mal? Si ces bâtards vous font mal, j'irai faire...!” I couldn’t understand his French… Why couldn’t I understand his French? I had understood his panicked speech before, but now I did nothing but draw a blank!
“Eric, calm down.” He deflated instantly, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. That had been far too easy…
“Vous semblez épuisés, l'amour...” I sat up slowly and as carefully as I was able before I looked up into his worried face.
“Eric, I don’t understand you…” He looked as shocked as I was upset… I was upset? Why should I be upset? I hadn’t been raped and I was alive despite a near miss! I should be ecstatic…! But I wasn’t… “Eric, I can’t understand you…” I couldn’t stop myself from repeating the thought. It was as if repeating those words would bring back my memory of the language.
“Vous ne pouvez pas me comprendre?” Why couldn’t I understand him? I was shocked at myself when tears welled in my eyes and fell down my cheeks. I shook my head, trying to convince myself I was wrong; that I could understand every word of his French, but no matter how many times I ran his panicked speech through my head, I simply couldn’t understand a word of it.
I covered my mouth with my hand, unconsciously making sure it wasn’t the one with the needle in it, to muffle my already quiet sobs. Why was I crying over this? Why did it hurt so much not to be able to understand him? I was blatantly shocked when Eric pulled me into his chest and simply held me. He didn’t say anything; though I was sure he wanted to. I had no doubt that if he was speaking, it would be in French, and I knew he wouldn’t speak until he had calmed down in order to keep from upsetting me further.
I couldn’t stop myself from clenching fistfuls of his sleeveless shirt in my hands. I needed the contact more than a needed to breathe. I was just lucky that wasn’t a literal truth. I had no idea what was in the IV, but it was forcing away the panic attacks that would trigger my asthma.
Ye gods, what was I doing with my face pressed against the man’s chest? I turned my head once my quiet sobbing had slowed to hiccups. I could hear his heartbeat… It was beating faster than was the norm. I could feel my face heat from the blush that no doubt covered my freckled cheeks. Was he really as panicked as his heart let on? Why, though, when I showed such a blatant disregard for his feelings?
I pushed myself away from his warm body to sit up straight and search his face for answers. “Eric… thank you for saving me again…” I had never seen a man’s face turn such a shade of pink, and I wasn’t sure why he was blushing until I really thought about it. I didn’t think I had ever said a word of thanks to him in the time we had been at the base together.
The doctor walked in at that point. She was an attractive blonde woman I had never seen before, which confused me. If Eric had gone to the closest hospital from where I had nearly died, he would have brought me to Infinity General Hospital. If that were the case, I should have been looking at Doctor Martin and not this mysterious female.
“Hello, I am Doctor Gregory. I’m glad to see you’re awake. You gave us all a scare; most especially that young man sitting beside you.” I studied the woman quickly. Her eyes were dark green behind her glasses and her skin was slightly tanned. Her hair was tied back into a tight ponytail and she wore a blue dress with heels I wouldn’t have been able to put on without help beneath her lab coat.
“This is Infinity General, correct?” She nodded as if barely listening while my mind raced through my thoughts. Every signal in my mind telling me to run was going off, but I had no idea why.
“Where’s Doctor Martin?” I felt Eric put his hand on my shoulder and tense. He was catching on to my instincts.
“He’s with another patient, so they sent me to check up on you.” I was glad for whatever was keeping my panic attacks down by that point. There was something in her tone that made me increasingly uncomfortable. Her eyes kept darting to the window and back to the clipboard in her hand as she moved closer. She hesitated a few times, at which point I turned to Eric who nodded to me. At least he was aware of it.
“Could I wait for Doctor Martin? I have private matters to discuss with him.” The woman flinched and scribbled something on her papers.
“You may once I get you X-rayed to make sure we didn’t miss any broken bones or any other serious internal injuries.”
“Would I not feel those now that I’m awake?” She shook her head quickly, scribbling again.
“You’re probably still in shock after the incident, so we’re pretty sure you wouldn’t.” I was in shock? That sounded possible… Could that be why I couldn’t understand Eric? Did I have the same issue as he did in reverse?
She motioned for me to follow her as she moved out the door. I took a last glance at Eric who nodded after her as if to tell me to go. I didn’t trust her, but, for some inexplicable reason, I knew I trusted Eric at least a little more. However, I could feel the fear creeping into my lungs and being forced back by whatever medication I had been given.
I grabbed the IV stand and rolled it along beside me and down the hall dressed in nothing but the hospital gown that forced my face to heat up just slightly. I hated the hospital for this exact reason… With my luck they had destroyed my shirt when I had come in. I saw the woman stop and turn to wait for me a few seconds before she entered through another door on the left. I followed her in quickly, hoping this would be quick so they could allow me to go home.
I would be happy to get out of the hospital where I could remove its sterile smell from my body with a good shower… The smell made me increasingly uncomfortable and only reminded me of my frequently violent attacks forcing me into this place.
Doctor Gregory turned to me after I closed the door behind me and cursed involuntarily as she seemed to remember that she had to remove the IV. She wasn’t the most patient of doctors. She practically ripped the needle from my hand before she bandaged it. We went quickly through the process of the X-ray at least. She only X-rayed my upper body before she came back with my clothes and a prescription for the medicine in my inhaler.
“I’m sure you know to get your prescription filled tomorrow at the latest?” I nodded and quickly dressed myself in my under-things, jeans, belt, boots, and a t-shirt I didn’t recognize with the hospital logo on the breast pocket. It seemed they had destroyed my other shirt, but that didn’t bother me as much as my situation.
Once I had my clothes back on and I was adjusting my belt around my waist, I felt a prick in my neck. Seconds later, I was out like a light.