Alarms sounded and a light flashed in the hallway beyond my mostly closed door.
I’d managed to disconnect the wires and move a few inches toward the side of the bed when two women and one man, dressed in blue and one in green came charging in.
“Donovan, stop.”
“Do you know who I am?” I asked with my gaze narrowed and jaw clenched. “I’m getting out of here.”
It was the one woman in green—her name tag read Sally—who met me stare for stare. “Do you know who we are?”
“Nurses.”
“Donovan, we are responsible for you and your safety while you’re in our care.” She lifted my feet, moving my legs back to center. “You want to leave. Fine. We will all work toward that goal. Disconnecting the monitors and falling to the floor will not achieve your objective. It will prolong your stay.”
Fuck.
Exhaling, I acquiesced to her manipulation.
“Sally?” I asked, focusing on her.
“Yes.”
“I will walk out of here.”
“Then you need to listen to us.”
“I’m not accustom…”
Sally smiled. “No one is asking you to get used to this. We’re asking you not to make our jobs more difficult.”
I gazed from one person to the next. “How much do you make? I’ll double your salary. Get me out of here, come home with me, and care for me there. I need to be home. We can make a deal.”
“Do you intend to require home nursing for the next twenty years?” Sally asked.
Twenty years?
“No.”
“Well then, I think we should all keep our jobs.”
“Has anyone dropped off my phone?” I asked.
The younger woman in blue came forward. “No, but we’ll check in the morning. Now it would be best if you slept.”
“I want to get up.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Today,” I said.
Sally nodded. “Technically, today. Agree to rest, and we’ll discuss mobility tomorrow. Physical therapy will be in to assess your needs.”
I longed to scream, curse, and make demands, but I was too fucking weak.
Prey.
I was prey.
Van