Page 29 of Nowhere to Hide

I sighed as the room grew hazy.

I didn’t really want any more drugs, but the floating was preferable to the nerves and fear. As I slipped under, the gray eyes followed me.

Chased me.

The sounds of my feet pounding on the wooden planks echoed in the darkness. Water slapped against the piles that held up the dock. It sounded impossibly close and far at the same time. One wrong step and I’d fall into the blackness.

Wouldn’t it be better to slip under the water?

Away from the pain.

Away from the grasping hands and the rough rope that snaked up my wrists. It wrapped around me and climbed higher to my neck. I wanted to pull it free, but I couldn’t move. It was like a snake, tightening with every movement.

My arms were under the bindings.

My fingers were useless.

I slipped away.

The lapping water growing louder.

“I like it better when you struggle.”

I sat up and gasped, my fingers ripping at my throat. Then the pain had me crying out.

The rattle of the door sounded, and a short, rounded man came out of the dark followed by a nurse.

“Ma’am?” the cop asked.

The nurse pushed him aside and rushed to my bedside. “Priscilla? Are you in pain?”

I hissed as my thigh throbbed as much as my head. I was fuzzy with the adrenaline surge from the nightmare and the drugs free flowing through my veins.

The nurse pulled back my sheets and quickly left me to go to a cabinet.

I gasped at the blood flowing from between my legs.

“You’re fine, you just moved too much. Let’s get you patched up.” She lifted the little receiver clipped to her scrubs. “Can I get a little help in room eleven?”

“I can help,” came a voice through the speaker.

“Thanks. Grab the on call if you can.”

“On it.”

“Okay, just sit back Priscilla.” She looked over her shoulder at the cop. “She’s fine. You can go back to your post.”

“Are you sure? I can help.”

She shook her head. “We’re fine.”

Were we?

I wasn’t so sure.

I lifted my hips and shifted as pain and blood coated my inner thigh.

“Don’t move, please.” She held my leg, but it was too late. Deep red bloomed under the dressing and the room darkened as the loss of blood reacted to the meds as the adrenaline seeped out of me like the blood.