Cold Brew and Bullets (Part 1 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 19- A New Friend

Eliana:

The word hazy didn't even begin to describe what I felt. My sense of time was completely off, and no matter how many times I woke up from dreams that felt more like nightmares with enough consciousness to check the time on my phone, I was back asleep before I could react to it.

Someone must have been checking on me or taking care of me while I was in and out of my senses, because there was a half empty pitcher of water next to me and and a couple empty mugs. After about a week of not eating and being stranded in a cell, then being here where I was mostly living on liquids, I still hadn't gained all of my weight back and I still felt a little weak.

Pain was apparent in my body, which meant the medicine was wearing off, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Pain could pass, it came in waves. I had felt much worse things in life, but now that I was awake for it, I decided to sit back in my pillows for a few minutes and take some deep breaths. It couldn't get rid of everything that hurt, but it did take my mind off of it. I found my phone on the bedside table and began to flip through the news, thankful that someone had been keeping it charged.

It wasn't more than thirty minutes before someone came into the room, a woman I didn't recognize. Even the doctor had been a man, so this appearance was extremely welcome. She was young, maybe around my age but with a very intimidating and mature look. I had a feeling that with different clothes she could have passed as young and innocent, but the dark jacket and smokey eyes made me wonder if she was one of Alessio's employees.

Her grin, however, was surprisingly comforting. She seemed genuinely relieved that I was awake, stopping at the foot of my bed, "I brought you some new clothes, I thought you might like a fresh set. I know Alessio brought some from your apartment, but they were mostly nicer clothes you might wear to work. I thought you might like the options of leggings and a t-shirt?"

I breathed a sigh of relief, "That would be amazing, my only clean clothes were probably all in the laundry. I wonder if I'm allowed to shower with these stitches."

"It's been a few days, and if you're comfortable with it, I could help."

I opened my mouth to tell her that I didn't want to inconvenience her, but there was nothing that I wanted more than to be clean. I gave her an apologetic look, "If you have a few minutes, I would be grateful."

"Of course, it's just nice to have another girl around here. I'm Lucia, by the way."

"Eliana. Are these your clothes that I'm wearing right now?"

"Yeah," She chuckled. "They had no idea what to dress you in after the doctor stitched you up, I had a feeling that you wouldn't want to be wearing a hospital gown forever."

"Bless you," I sighed playfully.

She offered me her arm as I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and I was extremely grateful. I didn't expect to feel as dizzy as I was, but I knew it was from everything my body had gone through lately. She helped me to the connected bathroom, then aided me in getting my clothes off without pulling my stitches. Somehow she managed to get me settled into the tub while playfully covering her eyes with her other hand, making me giggle.

"It's fine, I'm not offended. I've been in situations before where clothes aren't as mandatory."

She laughed and lowered her hand, but still avoided looking towards me, opting instead to rifle through a cabinet for something. "How do you mean?"

"I used to do ballet and it wasn't uncommon to have to change in front of each other in a hurry. In the last few years I also ended up in some living situations with other girls in tight quarters. There weren't always enough bathrooms, so privacy wasn't guaranteed."