Page 41 of Escape

“Hey,” I said softly.

What he saw when he looked at me, I didn’t know. I had to imagine my face looked terrible. But Huck didn’t seem to be repulsed, because he smiled at me and said, “Hey.”

“How long have I been in here?” I asked, my throat feeling painfully dry.

“Not quite a day and a half.”

Wow.

I’d missed more than twenty-four hours of my life, remembering only two bits of it when I woke briefly and saw Huck at my bedside. At least the memories I had included him.

Before I had the chance to ask my next question, a nurse walked in. She noticed I was awake, stopped in her tracks, and smiled at me. “You’re up.”

“I am.”

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Thirsty.”

She smiled. “I can get you some water. How is everything else feeling?”

I took a moment to assess the situation. “I don’t feel as tired as I did when I woke up two times before this. But when it comes to the pain, I don’t know. Maybe I feel sore. I guess I’m afraid to move, because I don’t know how bad any of the injuries are.”

She nodded her understanding. “I just saw your doctor walk onto the floor as I was coming in to check on you, so he might—” The nurse stopped speaking as a doctor walked in behind her. “Here he is. Dr. Garcia, Josie was just curious about her injuries. Did you want to talk to her about that while I run to get her some ice water?”

“Sure. Thanks, Heather.” The doctor focused his attention on me and said, “Hi, Josie. How are you feeling today?”

“Too nervous to move too much for fear of injuring myself,” I confessed.

He sent a nod and a smile my way. “That’s understandable. Your body has certainly been through some trauma. So, let’s start with the facts. In addition to the bruises and cuts on your face, arms, legs, and torso, you had a dislocated shoulder and some cracked ribs. We got your shoulder put back in place, but there is going to be a period of rehabilitation with that. We’ll take that one day at a time and see how you do with it. As for the lacerations, they’ve been cleaned and treated with ointments where necessary. When it comes to the ribs, unfortunately, there’s little we can do to speed up that process. They simply need rest to heal.”

“I wasn’t wrong about my shoulder, then,” I mumbled.

“If you assumed it was dislocated, then no.”

“So, is that all?”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. As surprising as it might be, the biggest area of concern was the concussion you suffered. We learned that you had your faculties when the ambulance arrived, but we don’t know how long you might have been out before making that call for help. In addition, you did lose consciousness right when you arrived, so we want to monitor you for just a bit longer before we send you on your way.”

“Is that why I felt so tired?”

Dr. Garcia gave me a nod. “That’s likely the biggest reason why. But don’t diminish what the lack of adrenaline in your body once you felt safe in that kind of situation would do. I wasn’t there, so I can only go based off what I’ve been told. It is my understanding that although all your injuries are undeniably bad, some more severe than others, you were very lucky.”

And if I’d listened to Huck and taken him up on his offer, I wouldn’t have needed to feel relieved about being lucky. I would have likely been called smart in that case.

The nurse returned with a cup of water, Huck taking it from her as she approached the bed. He released his hold on my hand, brought the cup to my mouth, and angled the straw toward my lips. I drank slowly, the cool water feeling like heaven on my parched throat.

When I glanced up at Huck, I couldn’t miss the way he was looking at me. Like it was his life’s greatest privilege to be holding my cup of water for me, so I could take a drink without having to lift a finger. I still hadn’t had a chance to speak to him about everything I had wanted to, and there was such a buildup of tension between us. Or, well, I felt the tension on my end. I couldn’t be entirely sure what Huck was thinking.

And I wanted to talk to him, so I needed to do what I had to do to get everyone else out of the room. So, I pulled my head back slightly and released the straw. “Thank you,” I said softly.

Huck smiled at me and returned his hand to mine. “Anything you need, Josie.”

Maybe I was going to need the water back, because my throat suddenly felt parched again.

Begrudgingly, I tore my gaze from Huck, focused on Dr. Garcia again, and asked, “What happens now?”

“Well, I’d like to do a couple of tests quickly just to confirm everything looks good neurologically, and we’ll evaluate what’s happening with that shoulder,” he answered.