Page 35 of The Harbinger
Dr. Sergei?
“You have a fever,” he said, his accent thick and heavy.
“Help me, please.”
“I am.”
“This isn’t helping.” My quickened pulse jumped as I ground my teeth. “You’re not helping me. You want to kill me.” I rolled to my side, my shoulder sinking into the mattress as I threw my feet over the edge of the bed. “You’re killing me.”
Gray smoke bubbled on the yellow walls, popping free with a wisp of smoke until another boiled to the surface. The hot floor burned my bare feet, and I bolted towards the door.
“Ostanovit’ yeye.”
Vlad and Ivan marched through the bedroom door, their suits replaced with white scrubs.
“No. No.” My voice broke as I screamed, backing away. Ivan lunged with contempt, their hands wrapping around my upper arms and pulling me from my feet as they marched me backward. “You can’t keep me here.” My motions slowed as my body labored to breathe, the air too thin. “I can’t breathe.”
They tossed me onto the bed and stood over me.
“There’s no air.” My hands pounded against my chest as they walked away, their white scrubs morphing into black suits.
“Concentrate on my breathing and match my rhythm,” a woman beside me said, taking my hand and placing it on her chest. “It’s the anxiety from the withdrawal.”
Dr. Sergei placed the cold end of the stethoscope on my chest, stealing what little air I had.
“Take a deep breath. Now let it out.”
I blew the air from my mouth, my teeth chattering. “I’m so cold.” Ripping my hand from the woman’s grasp, I pulled the blankets up to my shoulders, but they ripped off just as fast. My skin ripped and tore, and the muscles in my thighs tightened when I extended my legs. “It hurts.”
“You have a fever. No blankets until it’s passed.”
I pinched my eyes closed and focused on the red speckles floating behind my lids, giving my body time to steady my breathing. My heart settled but sat at an elevated pace, its rhythm no longer chaotic as I sunk into the mattress. “Where’s Sacha?”
“I’m here.”
Tepid water poured like heavy rainfall over my hair as a woman sang indecipherable words softly in my ear.
This little light of mine…A cooing, familiar voice washed over me, wiping away the discomfort and nausea.
Mom?
Blood covers my hands in thick crimson, and heavy droplets splash onto the hardwood floors beneath me. The knife in my hand clatters to the floor, where three dead bodies lie face down. A woman, a man, and a child. What have I done?
A face flashes before me.
Jenny?
Her smile causes a sob to break through me, then I screech. A wriggling, dirt-covered worm pokes through her spread lips, beetles contort her face with agony, and a silent scream opens her mouth wide. My vision blackens as her rotting corpse engulfs me.
I ran my hands down my body, the ever-flowing tears mixing with the shower water.
What is wrong with me?
Warm muscular arms wrapped around my torso and under my knees, pulling my weak, naked body from the floor. The woman who sang to me, a blonde with curled bangs and a mole above her lip, wrapped a towel around me as I curled into his chest, smelling of spice and citrus.
“Rest now,milaya.The worst is over.”
Chapter 9