The Doctor

There was a buzzing in her ears, long and reverberating as she slowly regained consciousness. Avery groaned as she tried to open her eyes but found that she felt better keeping them closed for the moment. Beeping. Something was beeping. A hiss and she could hear someone moving about nearby. Fingers probed her closed eyelids, peeling them open as a bright light blinded her.

“She’s coming around.” a female voice spoke softly, as the darkness returned and Avery allowed it, with relief.

She dozed off for a little while and when she awoke there was a medicinal smell in the air as the beeping continued in the background. It took her a moment to realize that she was in the hospital, the repetitive sound from the heart monitor near her bed. Avery couldn’t be sure, but there was something wrong with her arms and legs. She didn’t know if she couldn’t feel them or not because she could not move anything. She tried to wiggle her toes, which thankfully she was able to do, but she could not move her legs.

That’s when Avery realized that soft restraints were encasing them at the ankles, the material foreign against her bare skin. It was the same deal with her wrists, although she could move her hands without too much difficulty. The same soft cuffs held fast against the railing of the bed as she tried to free her arms. Again and again, Avery jerked her arms but to no avail as the beeping increased. She was stuck.

Next, she tried to move her legs as she twitched them back and forth, the panic growing in her as she realized that she was tied to the bed. A further examination of her left arm showed that there was a peripherally inserted central catheter, or what was commonly known as a PICC line, in it.

An IV? What the hell’s going on?

Since her mother had been a nurse, it was something that Avery was familiar with. The clear fluid bag that hung up on a stand high above the bed caught her eye, as she watched a single drop disappear into the long tubing at the base of it. She was nearly falling back to sleep again, lulled by the gentle beeping since she’d stopped struggling and her heart rate resumed its normal pace.

Wake up!

A voice inside her cried, jostling her awake as she stared back at the bag again. Another drop repeated the motion of the first one a moment later. The door to her right suddenly opened and a wrinkly-faced, older woman entered the room wearing a smile. She looked like she could be someone’s grandmother with her short fluff of bright, white hair and maternal features.

“Don’t fret, dear,” she said, moving closer to the bed to lay a comforting hand on the side of Avery’s head in a motherly fashion. “You’re going to be all right.”

“Where….”

“You are safe now, and that’s all that matters.” the woman said, in a calm tone of voice as she turned towards the dresser across the room.

A crystalline decanter sat on top of a clear, plastic tray and the woman poured some water into a matching goblet.

“Drink this,” she urged softly, helping Avery hold her head up as the young woman greedily imbibed. “There you go….”

“Where…..what happened….” Avery tried again, but the woman put the glass back to her lips.

She gulped down the water greedily and then sat breathing heavily from her exertions.

“The doctor will see you shortly.” the woman, who Avery now surmised was a nurse judging by the white uniform she wore. “You just rest and I’ll be right back.”

The nurse left, pulling the door closed behind her and Avery could have sworn she heard the click of a lock being turned. As more of the fog began to lift from her head, Avery took a good look around what appeared to be a hospital room. Aside from the dresser, there was a nightstand that contained a simple tissue box and the water glass the nurse had put there. A rolling bed tray stood over to one side of the hospital bed that she was in, but there was nothing on it.

My phone.

Where’s my phone?

And as Avery looked around further, she noticed that her clothes were also nowhere to be seen. Neither were her shoes, her purse, or anything else that belonged to her. She pulled at the soft restraints again just as the nurse entered the room again, wearing the same, serene smile. An orderly had followed her this time, bearing a large tray with a dome-covered plate on top of it.

“Careful,” the nurse cautioned, moving forward to help Avery sit up, “We’ll get you situated so that you can try some breakfast.”

Breakfast? How long have I been here?

“Where’s my stuff? I need my phone….”

“Don’t you worry about that right now, dear. Eat your breakfast like a good girl and the doctor will see you shortly.”

“No. I’m not hungry and I would like my phone, please. I need to call my…...”

“Let’s not make things difficult.” the nurse warned, never losing the calm tone of voice that was starting to grate on Avery’s nerves. “You must be hungry since you didn’t eat at all yesterday.”

“What are you talking about?” Avery asked, eyes agape, “How long have I been here? And why am I being restrained…”

“I’m sorry, dear.” the nurse said, legitimately looking a bit sorrowful as she placed her warm hands over Avery’s, making the girl want to cringe at the unwarranted familiarity of this stranger. “You had a bit of….trouble...settling in when you first came to us. The restraints are for your own protection as well as for ours, you do understand?”

No, she didn’t understand.

She wanted to leave.

Now.

“Well, I feel fine, okay?” Avery lied, trying to ignore the fact that something was still off within her somewhere. She stood her ground as she cut her eyes first at the nurse and then the large orderly, hard. “My phone, please.”

Josh had to be out of his mind with worry if she’d been here as long as the nurse had said.

“Robert,” she stated as she ignored Avery’s request, gesturing towards the hulking orderly staring at her from across the room, silently, “will be taking care of you during your stay...”

Forgetting about being polite at this point, Avery erupted and raised her voice to be sure that she was not being misunderstood. They couldn’t just keep her here and she wasn’t putting up with it anymore. She would sue the goddamned hospital the moment she got out of here, making sure whatever doctor this crazy bat was talking about was at the very top of her list.

“No, you don’t seem to hear me. I’m not staying here.” Avery interrupted rudely as the glare she cast at Robert shot spite and malice. Then she got bold on them and began swearing to drive home her point. “Let me the fuck out of here! NOW!!”

Avery thrashed on the bed, the restraints fraying against the force of her body pulling on them, screaming at the top of her lungs as the food tray got knocked over during her tantrum.

“Calm, you must be calm….” the nurse repeated over Avery’s screams, as Robert used his big mitts to forcefully grip her arms.

“No!” Avery shouted and then began screaming again as she saw that Robert had a large syringe, the long tip of its cap in between his teeth as he smoothly pulled the barrel affixed to the needle away and inserted it into her arm.

“Noooooooo…...”Avery howled as the heaviest of feelings began to come over her entire body. Her thrashings and convulsions from trying to break free grew less and less animated as she sank into the mattress, her eyes rolling up into her sockets as she fell still now.

“There we go…...there we goooo…..” the nurse’s voice faded away as Avery gave up the fight and went into the darkness.

***

When Avery awoke in what seemed like days later, the nurse was gone and so was Robert. Tears sprang to her eyes as she realized that this was not a nightmare, as she had stupidly hoped, but an actual reality. These people were fucking crazy and she was stuck here now, no one knowing that she was even here. Letting that fact set in, Avery’s shoulders shook as she began to sob. She cried like she hadn’t in a very long time, terrified about what all of this meant for her. The door opened and Robert stepped into the room first, followed by that damned nurse.

“Are we feeling better, dear?” she asked, pleasantly as she actually stood there and waited for Avery’s response.

She was going to have to play along, at least for now.

“Yes.”

“Good,” the nurse beamed, rubbing an affectionate hand over Avery’s hair as it took everything in the girl not to pull away. “That’s very, very good. See? Isn’t it much easier this way? Hmm?”

Again, she waited with that creepy-ass smile on her face as Avery affirmed. She listened to the woman prattle on about the rules of the facility and how Robert would be taking her to her room in a short while. Avery didn’t dare ask about the phone again or mention anything about wanting to leave. It wasn’t going to be easy, but she was going to need time to think this through.

She didn’t say anything as Robert gripped the rails of the bed and leaned close to her, the look in his eyes clear. She was to go along with him, without causing an outburst or making trouble. Slowly, he undid the restraints as the nurse watched from across the room, smiling warmly as Avery was finally allowed to stand. Robert gripped her upper arms as her legs threatened to collapse, moving her towards the door where a wheelchair waited as the nurse followed. She hadn’t been on her feet for so long it felt very weird to be standing and walking, even though it was not very far. She was placed in the wheelchair and Robert snapped metal restraints around her wrists and ankles before he pushed the chair out of the room.

As she was finally able to get a look at the outside of the small room, Avery was dismayed to see that it was a simple, empty hallway. There was no other staff present as they walked the corridor towards a set of silver doors. Avery’s eyes flitted to the nurse’s hand as she removed a flat, digital card and waved it in front of a nearly invisible panel and the doors slid open.

It was an elevator car.

Robert nudged the chair forward and into the elevator as the nurse walked in last, and waved the card again inside. Another panel opened, showing a multitude of buttons. Before Avery could get a really good look at them, the nurse pressed one of the buttons and the elevator began to move either up or down. Avery really couldn’t tell, but all she knew was that she hoped she’d be able to find a way out of here. The doors whisked open again, and Avery’s hopes fell as she saw a long corridor exactly identical to the one they’d just left. Nothing but closed doors with glowing, digital-numeric keypads where the doorknobs should be, a small, square frosted window taking up most of the top part of the metal door.  Some of the windows were lit up and others were not.

“Here we are!” the nurse sang gaily, as she produced a different card this time to insert into the slot beneath the keypad, chip end first.

Just like at the store when paying with a credit card.

The door buzzed them in softly and Robert pulled the handle to open it all the way.

A large bedroom greeted Avery as she was hustled inside and the nurse closed the door behind them.

“Isn’t this nice?” she asked, as Avery stayed silent but gave a small nod, “You’ll find the bathroom behind that door there, and the closet over here will be replenished with gowns daily. Meals will be served at eight, two, and six and you will eat every last bite, do you understand?”

Again the creepy smile as she waited for Avery to respond. And when she didn’t, Robert moved towards her and she shrank down in the chair.

“Yes.” Avery finally answered, which seemed to placate Robert enough so that he moved back towards the doorway.

“Good! Over here is a television for your lessons, but if you behave then you will be allowed to watch a DVD from our approved library. There are also other crafts that you will be permitted to do, as well. Really, you will like it here.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Avery muttered, sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

“Oh, don’t look so down, dear.” the nurse said, patting Avery’s shoulder, “You’ll get acclimated in no time, I promise. The worst of it is over and as long as you behave we won’t have any problems, okay?”

Again the creepy smile as she waited for Avery, who glanced at the silent Robert over by the door, to answer.

“Yes.”

“I just knew that you’d eventually come around!” the nurse crowed, as she backed towards the door.

Robert moved forward to unshackle her from the wheelchair after the old woman stepped out into the hallway.

“Now, it’s almost time for lunch so we’ll leave you to get settled in.”

And just like that, they were gone, the door sealing shut behind them. Avery waited about a minute before getting out of the bed and trying the door, only to find that there was no handle on her side.