Royce(5)

“No, she’s apparently hurt and I’m trying to get to her to see how badly. I didn’t find out about it until just a few minutes ago.” He was suddenly very tired. “Her uncle works here. Do you know how long she’s worked for me?”

“Ten years.” She rattled off the address. Jesse was coming toward him with an older man who he assumed was the uncle. “Bobbie, I’ll let you know what I find out. Her uncle is coming now.”

His car pulled up out front just as he shook the man’s hand. They were headed out to the car when he realized that he had a meeting in progress. He thought about having one of his brothers go up and fix it, but decided maybe, if he didn’t return, they’d go back to their jobs. Probably not, but who knew?

~~~

Kasey didn’t think she was going to make it home. But when the big, ugly building came into view she nearly wept with joy. She hurt in places she’d only read about and some she didn’t even know a body could hurt in. She made it up the three flights of stairs barely and had to work to get her keys out of her pocket. When she managed to get them free she couldn’t make her fingers wrap around them to get the key into the lock at first, but finally got it to stick. She got the door open and was falling inside before she remembered to take the keys from the lock.

Fuck it, she thought, as she stumbled toward the bed. If someone wanted to murder her, she’d welcome them to. She didn’t even care if they took their time. It wasn’t like they could make her suffer any more. But she turned to take them out anyway. She wasn’t really that stupid.

She cried out when she laid down. She didn’t know what she’d done, but something sharp was poking at her side and she was almost afraid to look. She had just closed her eyes when she heard someone pounding at the door.

“Go away,” she whispered, all that she could manage. “Please.” This time, when she closed her eyes, she knew she was slipping away in a void that she was sure she should be worried about. But by then it was too late.

When she opened her eyes again her uncle was there and he looked worried. She tried to assure him she was fine, but her body refused to cooperate. She closed her eyes again.

The room was bright, which threw her off. There were no windows in her apartment and she knew for a fact that she wasn’t in her room at her uncle’s place. She tried to roll over, but she felt weighed down and heavy. It took her several tries to get her eyes to pry open and then a bit more to make them focus. But it mattered little because she still had no idea where she was.

“Christ, girl, it’s about time. You scared me plum to death.” Her uncle came into her line of sight, but he was out of focus for a few seconds.

“Where?” she croaked. It was the best she could do with the towel stuffed down her throat and the elephant on her chest.

“St. Luke’s. You’ve been here ‘bout four days. Best we can tell, you got the record for being out. You done your family name proud.”

She wanted to smile, but it was just too exhausting. She heard her mom, but couldn’t keep her eyes open long enough to see her.

“Mom?” She heard some shifting then suddenly her mom was there. Tears formed, but she couldn’t tell if they fell or not.

“I’m here, baby. You’re going to be all right now. You rest and get better. Jay and I will be here with you.”

Kasey had a moment to wonder why her mom and uncle where in the bedroom with her, but she fuzzed out again. She was just drifting off when she remembered something, but it was there and gone so quickly she let it go. Besides, it hurt too much to try to chase it.

She knew that she drifted in and out a lot. She also knew that there were changes when she’d been out, that she noticed, but didn’t remark on. There were things she thought she’d imagined, others she knew she had.

Like the man, Mr. Hunter. He’d been in her bedroom too. That was just plain silly. What on earth would he even care…unless he was there to fire her? Maybe, she thought, but couldn’t remember why. Then she opened her eyes one day and knew she was in the hospital.

“Hello, Miss. York. I’m Abby, your nurse. Can I get you anything? If you’re in pain, I can give you something for that as well.”

Kasey tried to move, but it hurt too much so she looked around the room as well as she could just using her eyes and not turning her head. This place changed with every eye opening, she thought, as she took in the sofa and the big television. She looked back at Abby for answers.

“Where…where am I?” She almost dreaded the answer. If she was where she thought she was, she was in big trouble.