WILL THE HERO BECOME THE MONSTER? Feisty university sophomore Tonya finds a woman's body on the beach with its stomach ravaged. Missing persons return, impregnated with dragon's eggs. When medicine and magic can't remove the egg , Tonya makes a deal...
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Tonya awoke under a crisp white sheet. Raised metal bars enclosed her bed as if she were a baby in a crib, or an animal in a cage. She urgently needed to pee.
"Hey, let me out!" Her voice came out hoarse and weak. Across the room, surgeons and nurses under harsh lights were working on somebody. She was in the operating theatre, but shunted to the side as if discarded. Did they think she was dead?
"Hey!"
Tonya lifted off the sheet and looked down at herself. An amber hose led up and underneath a hospital gown she didn't remember putting on. She grabbed the side bars of the crib and tried to lift herself out of her bed, but her head was woozy, and her arms felt weak. She had to get out of there. She absolutely had to pee. Tonya lifted and strained but couldn't get herself up. The doctors and nurses ignored her struggles and cries. Exhausted, she lay back down to rest up for a second assault on the bars.
She awoke alone in a much smaller room, with no memory of the time in between. This narrow bed didn't have bars, but now she felt too exhausted to get up. Tonya managed to prop herself up on one elbow.
"Nurse?" Her voice came out in a scratchy whisper, as if she had been yelling. She looked through the door, which was open a crack, revealing light and movement beyond.
The door swung open and Drake came in.
"Tonya, you're awake." He took her hand. "How do you feel?"
"Alive." She gave him a smile. Miraculously, the minute she saw Drake, everything felt better. She didn't desperately need to pee anymore. It almost seemed funny now that she, drugged up and out of it, had been afraid they had left her for dead.
"Tell me when you're ready and I'll go get a wheelchair."
"Why? Can't I rest a little longer?"
"The nurse says they need the recovery room. You've been asleep for eight hours."
It felt like minutes. "Does that mean I'm cured?"
"Helen says they did some exploratory surgery but ended up not operating."
"Is she still here?"
Drake shook his head.
A nurse came in and checked her pulse, then shone a penlight into her eyes. "You're good to go. Is this sweetheart your ride home?" She smiled at Drake who stood at her bedside, a grave expression on his face.
"Yes."
"Shame. We were getting used to having him around." She beckoned to Drake who followed her out.
In a moment, he returned with a wheelchair.
"You gotta be kidding me," said Tonya. "I can walk."
"Good." Drake extended a hand.
Tonya took his hand for balance and stood slowly. When she felt the strength go out of her legs, she pivoted and managed to land, more-or-less gracefully, in the chair.
"I meant to do that."
They laughed.
"Of course," Drake came around behind her and pushed the chair into the hall, "which is why I parked really close. Time to get you home."
Standing outside on wobbling legs, her hands on the back of the wheelchair, Tonya waited for Drake to bring the car around. Until she inhaled crisp, outside air, she hadn't noticed how the bleachy hospital smell stuffed up her nose.
Drake pulled the car up and helped her in like a gentleman. She felt better the moment she settled into the passenger's seat, which smelled of leather and pine. She smiled as Drake pulled out of the parking lot.
"So, does this mean I'm incurable?" Tonya asked.
Drake turned smoothly onto the country highway. "No, Helen has a few more ideas you can try. Do you want to go to the dorm and lie down?"
Before she could answer, Tonya felt it. The twist and dip of something rolling over and wriggling inside her, like a swimmer doing a victory lap. The dragon was very much alive. It felt like it had come free of its shell and was swimming freely.
A sudden stab. "Ow!"
"What's wrong?" Drake asked.
Tonya sat up straighter to make room, which eased the pain a little bit.
"It's nothing. Probably just side effects from the anesthesia."
"Yeah, you were out of it for a long time. Are you sure you're okay? I can bring you back if you're not."
"I'm fine." She kept her response short, so she could stifle a gasp each time something ragged scraped at her insides. "But instead of going to the dorm, let's go to the Herbal Healing Shop."
"I'll tell Helen her we're on the way." Drake started making the hands-free call.
Tonya smiled. Where doctors failed with medicine, maybe Helen could succeed with magic.
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What had Tonya gotten herself into? What kind of magic will they try? Is this a mystery thriller, or a horror story? Let me know your thoughts on this week's chapter....
Thanks for reading. If you liked this chapter, don't forget to vote!
-- Maaja
2024 update: Good news! This story is revised and published as Double Dead Magic.
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