Set in Ink

Chapter 15

It's four days later when I wake up. I don't know how I can sleep for this long. I know it's part of recovering. I don't know how i'm not hungry. There is no one in my room now, so I have time to think. I start therapy in three days, and then what? What will we do? Where will we go? Gramps will tell me soon. I don't have to worry about that yet.

It's kind of weird how sympathetic and nice Vander has been lately. He hasn't been as sarcastic or rude. I think I have stressed him out. It isn't because he loves me, he feels guilty. He thinks he should have saved me. I need to let him know that I'm strong. I'm capable of saving myself, and apparently other people too.

I don't know much about Vander. When I see him again I will get to know him. I want to ask him what he likes to do and how old he is. I want to know what his family was like and if he has a girlfriend. Has he ever dated before? Does he have friends? We can get to know each other.

It seems that now, whenever I want to think about something I can't or there isn't any time. Now that I have time to think, I don't know what to think about though. I decide that where I am is a good place to start thinking.

I am in a hospital room, it's dark and cold in here, but I have a lot of heavy blankets piled on top of me. There are lots of machines beeping around me. I have tubes all around my body. I'm laying in a comfortable hospital bed with white blankets and a very soft and cozy pillow lying under my head. The rest of the room doesn't have much in it. Just a couple wooden cabinets and two wooden chairs. I don't know what is outside of this room or where we are.

Next I think about the situation I'm in. This will be a rather short topic to think about as well, due to the fact that I don't know much. I'm in the hospital because Gramps saved me from the government and a piece of glass went through my throat when I saved Vander. The glass would have gone through his heart. My tattoo is dangerous. I will receive more information later. That's all I know.

Why did the government want me? I ask myself. It was probably because of my tattoo. How did they find me?How did Gramps find me? Hmmmmmm... It's not like I left a breadcrumb trail. There wasn't an obvious way to find me. Was there? There couldn't have been.

All of these thoughts are making me, surprise surprise, tired. Why am I tired so often now? I wish sleeping this often wasn't a part of recovery. At first I try to fight the feeling, but then I allow myself to fall asleep. There is no use in trying to stay awake.

When I wake up three days have passed. All of the tubes and beeping machines have left my room. There is a nurse sitting in one of the wooden chairs in my room, filling out paperwork. She glances up at me.

"Addilyn!" she exclaims like we're friends reuniting, "perfect timing, let's start speech therapy. We still don't want you to talk without permission, so here's a little notepad and pen to carry around and write on."

"Okay, thank you," I write on the notepad.

She grabs my arm and helps me up. I'm not really sure why she is helping me stand, only my throat was injured. She helps me get dressed in actual clothes. I put on a white camisole, with a red cardigan over it and blue jeans. I see that the hospital has provided me with many brand new outfits. We walk to the physical therapy room. There is a door at the back of the room that she takes me through. She tells me to have a seat, and I sit down. Then she leaves and I wait for about a minute until a very happy looking lady comes in.

I notice that I don't feel any pain in my throat. It must have healed very well.

"Hey!" she exclaims.

What is with the happy nurses here? I ask myself.

"My name is Annie and I will be your speech therapist.

"I look around the room, the walls are plain white. There is nothing but the wooden chair I'm sitting in and another one across from me in the room.

"Hi," I write on the paper.

"That's the first thing I will teach you! How to say hi." she says. "So why don't you go on and say it for me?"

"H," I begin, I can't get any further."

"Try again," she tells me.

"H," I say again.

"Keep going," she says.

"H, h, h, h, h, h, h," I repeat over and over.

She lets me keep going for a few minutes. I am starting to become very frustrated.

"You can stop now," she says. "That was very good, that's the kind of endurance we like to see in patients. We can't have someone who isn't willing to work to get their voice back," she encourages me. "How about you try to say eye.

"I try to say eye but what comes out ends up sounding like A.

"Try again," she says. "Eye."

"Ah," I say.

"Better, keep going," she encourages again.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, A, ah, A, A, A, ah, ah, ah, ah," I notice my throat begin to become sore, I keep going, "A, A, A, ah, ah, ah, ah, eye."

"Wow! You got it, great job! Can you keep saying eye for me?" she asks.

"Eye, eye, eye, ah, eye, A, ah, ah, A, eye, eye, eye," I say.

"Okay, thank you. Now say hi for me."

I had a feeling this is where these sounds were going.

"H, h, h, h, hah, hey, h, h, hey, hah, h, h, h, hey, hi," I say.

"Good!" she says. "You're free to go!"

That was short. I think, but I know why it was that short. My throat hurts like crazy. I begin to massage my neck a little, knowing it won't help, as I walk out of the room, when, as if she reads my mind, Annie hands me a cup.

"Boforan," she says, "pain killer."

I look into the cup, there are two small red pills. They both have a little capital B indent in them. I pour them into my mouth and swallow, then I make my way back to my room.

When I get to the room Vander is waiting inside for me. "How'd the therapy go?" he asks. "Are you able to say anything yet?"

"Hi," I say with a wide smile, thinking this was a big accomplishment.

Vander just laughs. I give him a half mad, half sad look.

"An hour and all you can say is hi," he says.

An hour? I think. I didn't think it was that long, but I guess it was. I give him a pouty face this time, completed with puppy eyes.

"I'm kidding," he says, "that's actually very impressive considering all that you've been through.

"I smile and he smiles back. I decide that I don't want to ask him about his life until I can actually talk. I'm pretty tired anyway, so I write "Can I sleep?" on my paper.

"Addilyn going back into hibernation," he says with a smirk, "yes of course you can."

He exits, and I lie down without bothering to change out of my day clothes. I fall asleep instantly.