Page 51 of Tempt Me

He wasn’t here.

The doctor said I had been moved from a different hospital. Was he there? And what about the doctor? Where had she gone?

“I need the doctor,” I said, feeling sick all of a sudden, nausea roiling in my gut, making me swallow over and over to avoid vomiting on my lap.

Ferdinand looked over at the closed door and back at me.

“Stay here. I will fetch your doctor.”

I eyed him cautiously, noticing his usual suit and business wear was slightly skewed. His tie was moved sideways, and ‘Nandi wasn’t one to have a hair out of place. He wore too much hair gel. His hair reminded me of a man from the 1950s.

“Sorry to have disturbed your business trip, darling. You can return to your meetings. There is no danger present now.”

He stood up to his full height, which I used to think was terrifying until I met a true giant, my professor. Now, it made me secretly smile. He leaned down by my bed and kissed my forehead, tilting my chin up to his emotionless face.

“We shall see.”

With Ferdinand looking for my doctor, I didn’t waste time. I got up and unhooked the finger monitor from my hand, pulling the bag attached to my arm through the IV off the hook and carrying it with me as I looked around the room.

I walked to the side area. A sink was there with toothpaste and a toothbrush wrapped in plastic packaging.

Sighing in relief to rid the awful taste of seawater and whatever medicine was shoved into my mouth, I ripped open the package and turned on the sink.

Brushing my teeth made me feel a bit more human.

I was too fast to put the brush back onto the counter, so I dropped the lid on the toothpaste.

“Damnit!” I cursed, getting to my knees and crawling around, looking for the fucking white cap that flew off.

It was darker in this corner of the room. I squinted, scooting on the ground with my ass hanging out in the damn hospital gown. My hand rolled over a small object, and I picked it up, standing and walking toward the light to see it wasn’t the lost cap but a pill.

My breathing hitched as I remembered the encounter with Ferdinand and the female doctor. I turned my attention to the closed door in the corner, a feeling of unease bringing a chill to my exposed body.

I snatched a blanket off the bed and wrapped it around my shoulders, walking in my grippy socks over to the door. I put my ear to the cold metal, listening for anything. I expected to hear the boogeyman growling from the other side, ready to eat me.

I huffed, my chicken shit attitude getting the best of me. I definitely was not the person who would run toward the sound in the night in a horror movie. I would take off running the opposite way with my camera ready to capture the dumb fuck that went toward it.

I thought about the silence—the rattling of the shelving unit and the crashing of the bottles. The pill weighed heavy in my hand.

I took a baiting breath and pushed down the door handle.

The door wouldn’t open. It wasn’t locked, but when I pushed on the handle, it was like it was blocked by something.

The opposite door to the suite opened, and I froze. The light from the hallway was lighting me up as sure as fire.

“What are you doing out of bed, Pet? I brought your doctor.”

I turned around and looked at the man in a white lab coat. There was nothing feminine in his voice when he spoke to me.

“Good evening, Miss Summers. Your chart and recent tests show that you are doing quite well.”

I stared at the man, looking over my shoulder to the door behind me.

“Were you always my doctor?” I said, confusion lacing my foggy brain.

The doctor scratched his beard and started to speak, but Ferdinand cut him off by swiping his finger over a space on the wall.

“My god. How is anyone supposed to be healthy in a sludge-filled cesspool? Look at these walls. I demand the immediate removal of my betrothed. She is ill and clearly cannot function with the amount of filth in this place.”