Draft version - Russian Roulette - Family secrets

Ch. 45: Mind giving us some privacy?

Why would that annoying beep sound not stop?

Mackenzie fluttered her eyelids against the sharp light. The sound of the beeping drove her crazy. Even as she slept the sound invaded her mind, it was louder than any voices she had heard, the ones talking to her and the ones talking away from her. She had a vague memory of Gareth saying something about a doctor but everything after that was a blur.

It took her a while to open her eyes and get used to the brightness in the room. Which was not bright at all. The lights were off, and the only light was the sunlight coming into the room from the half-closed blinds.

She surveyed the room which resembled a hospital room. White walls, linoleum floors in a boring greyish color, white blinds and white curtains. It was sterile and smelled like that too. She found herself in a narrow bed with a metal footboard covered with pale blue and white striped linen.

All logic went towards her being in the hospital.

She turned her head slowly towards the beeping sound. A large machine with a display was doing the monotonous beeping while displaying numbers and graphs on the screen, chords led from the machine to her body and tubes led from her body to an IV stand with bags of unknown liquids.

Mackenzie's eyes rested on the figure sitting uncomfortably in a chair beside the bed.

Gareth.

He looked so peaceful as he slept there leaning over the bed with his head on the mattress next to her and his hands clamped tightly around hers. The deep furrows of his forehead were there while he slept, but he was breathing in an even pattern.

Mackenzie could not imagine the backpain he would have when he woke up. Sitting there must have been so uncomfortable. His neck would probably be killing him for days at the angle his head was positioned.

"Gareth," she whispered to not startle him, the sound from her dry throat came out as a croaking sound that probably startled him more than if she had spoken normally.

Gareth's head flew up. His eyes were bloodshot, the bags under his eyes had bags of their own, he had day old stubble on his beautiful jaw and his normally neatly combed hair was disheveled. His shirt was unbuttoned and wrinkled.

He looked a mess.

"Malyshka?" He choked up and had sank a few times.

He was looking at her trying to ascertain if she was actually awake or if it was a figment of his imagination. All the hopes, prayers and wishes from the last days playing tricks on his mind. His worried look faded slowly as realization set in.

"You're awake." he stated rather pointlessly.

His hands held hers tighter and he stood up on wobbly legs and began looking at her closely to examine her condition. "Are you ok? Are you in any pain?"

The worry in his voice and the urgency of his need for answers knocked her back. If she had needed more proof that Gareth cared, she had gotten it.

"Thirsty."
"Of course, dolly."

Gareth poured some water from a jug on the nightstand into a glass with a straw and held it up for her to drink.

"How long?" Mackenzie asked when she was done drinking. She was sure Gareth would not look like a hobo overnight.

He grumbled and sat back down drained of energy relieved that she was awake. Aggressively he ran his fingers through his hair and over his stubble.

"Four days."

He clicked the button that called the medical team.

Four days?

She had been out for four days and from the looks of it Gareth had not left her side. She could not even be mad at him for smelling pungent and not taking care of himself, he had been there.

The door slammed open and doctors and nurses rushed in. A friendly looking man in a lab coat with nice brown eyes and light brown hair with a stethoscope around his neck came over to her and took her hand checking her pulse.

He had the look and moves of every doctor ever seen in movies down to a tee.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, miss Saint. How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been run over by a truck and it came back to finish the job."

He chuckled. "I can imagine. You gave us quite a scare." He turned to Gareth. "Mind giving us some privacy?"
"No, no."

Gareth got up and released Mackenzie's hand he had taken in his after having pushed the button. He had learned his lesson. The doctors did great work and he would be in the way. He was not going to argue.

"I'll be outside, malyshka," he said with a small smile and leaned in to kiss her pale cheek before walking to the door.

"Gareth?"
"Da?"
"Go get some food, and take a bath, you stink." Mackenzie winked at him telling him she was joking though her words were true.

Blushing with embarrassment at her words and the low laughter from the people in the room he sent her a smoldering look. She was still infuriating, he would take that any day over seeing her wither in a hospital bed.

"As you wish, dolly dear."

The doctor waited for Gareth to leave before he turned his attention to Mackenzie. "I'm Gerson, one of Adjenkov's medical staff. I've been in charge of your recovery."
"Mackenzie," she said. "Pleased to meet you. How bad is it?"

Gerson shone a light in her eyes checking her responses and looked at the monitor with the beeping while he spoke.

"Well, your blood work came back clean, you do need some vitamins that I'll prescribe for you. We had some trouble keeping you hydrated, and you did sleep for four days without medical aid. My best estimate is you suffered from stress."
"I see." She looked down at her hands and then up at Gerson. "How much does he know?"

Gerson ushered the nurses out before answering her. "If you're talking about..." He gestured at her body. "Then nothing. I've only told him what pertained to this case. Natalya came to me the moment she heard you had been admitted here and told me to keep quiet. And I have."
"Thank you. Both of you."
"Natalya is the one who've been cleaning you. She rather forcefully threw Adjenkov out."

His light chuckle and wide smile told it had been funny to watch Natalya boss Gareth around.

"I appreciate it."

He sat down in the chair Gareth had been sitting in. "Now, can you tell me what happened? When did you start to feel sick and how did it present itself?"

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