The sound of shuffling startle me awake and I gently hit the bed twice. Keeping my eyes shut, I just listen. Nothing happens. I open my eyes and realize I'm still in the hospital. I look over my shoulder to see if Tan is still there.
"Good morning."
Sitting up, my ribs and shoulder blade protest with pain. I hold my breath and fully sit up.
"Are you ok?"
Grabbing my IV pole, I stand up. My vision goes black and my balance falters. I grab the bed rail and focus on staying standing. My vision starts coming back and a hand touches my arm. I smack it. My vision fully returns and I look at Tan. He looks back at me concerned.
Breaking eye contact and I walk over to the window. He walks up behind me and stares out the window with me. I glance at the watch on his wrist but can't tell the time because it's not facing me. There are no other clocks in the room, so I have no idea what time it is.
It's been bugging me not knowing what time it is. I start brainstorming ideas of what I could do because I don't want to talk. I don't remember what my voice sounds like. Do I even remember how to talk? I take a deep breath and poke his arm.
He looks at me surprised. Then he smiles.
"Do you need something?"
I point at his wrist and he looks down at it.
"You want the time?"
I give him a small smile and he shows me his wrist.
8:44
I smile at him and look back out the window. There are fewer people out today compared to yesterday.
"I'll be back in a few minutes."
He smiles at me and then walks out of the room. I look back out the window. People watching is weird. The people down below don't realize that I'm watching them go about their business. I don't remember a time when I noticed someone just people watching and not being creepy about it. Do I seem creepy when I people watch?
What's the difference between people watching and watching people?
I don't want to get sucked down this rabbit hole. It seems too complicated. I turn around and walk to the doorway. I'm probably supposed to stay put, but I don't want to.
I want to walk. Poking my head out of the doorway. I don't see anyone that I recognize. Looking down at my feet, I realize I'm still barefoot. Do hospitals have shoes? I know they have socks.
Where are the socks? I look around in the cupboards but don't find any.
"What are you looking for?"
I jump as Tan walks back into the room.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
He's very quiet on his feet.
"Want some jello?"
He offers me a cup and I walk over and take it. It's orange again.
"Shoot, I forgot the spoons. I'll be right back."
He walks out the door. I continue my hunt for socks and finish looking, without any luck, before he gets back.
A sharp pain stabs the side of my rib and I flinch.
"Whoa, you good?"
I sit down on the side of the bed and put my hand over the side of my ribs. He walks towards me and my body tenses up.
"I'll stay right here, but I need to know if you need the doctor to come in?"
I barely shake my head. If he hadn't been looking for it, he would have missed it.
"Ok, why don't you lie down and rest for a little while?"
I pull myself into bed and sit back. Chris walks through the door with a huge smile and stuff in her hands.
"I brought food and hopefully, clothes that fit you."
Tan smiles.
"Finally, breakfast!"
A small table slides over the bed and Chris puts a container in front of me. She opens it, revealing pancakes.
"Ta-da!"
It's been years since I've had pancakes. She hands a container to Tan, and they sit on the chairs and start eating.
"You can eat."
I look at Chris, confused. They never let us eat without them leaving the room first. I pick up the fork and hesitantly take a bite. The flavor explodes in my mouth.
"Hondo made them."
We sit in silence and eat our breakfast. After a few bites, my stomach feels weird, but I keep eating. I haven't had good food in a while. I finished my food and, for the first time in a while I feel full.
"I see you liked it."
My stomach growls and they both look at me. I feel sick.
"Grab the garbage."
Chris jumps up and grabs the tiny can and rushes over to me. Right as she gets to me I puke. I feel someone pull my hair out of the way and it takes everything I have to not start crying.
Tan hands me some napkins and I wipe my face off.
"You ok?"
I feel hollow inside and hungry but also sick. I haven't eaten real food in a while. The food they have been giving me is like crackers, bread, and other minimal stuff.
"Hey?"
I look at Chris and they just look at me concerned. I'm tired and my body's in pain. I'm still hungry but if I eat anything it will probably just come back up. How did I keep the jello down?
"Hey?"
Chris waves her hand in front of my face and I look at her again.
"Tan got you some water."
I look at Tan and he hands me a cup of water. I rinse my mouth out and then drink some.
"Me and Tan will be back in a few minutes, you stay here and rest."
I sit back and watch them leave the room. Waiting for a few seconds, I climb out of bed and speed walk over to the doorway to see where they are going.
"Any luck with her mom?" (Tan)
"Yes and no. We found her mom but found out that she put her up for adoption at birth and it was a closed adoption, so now we are trying to get that information." (Luca)
"How's she doing?" (Hondo)
"Well, we gave her the pancakes you made and she puked them back up." (Chris)
"Who doesn't like Hondo's pancakes?" (Luca)
"I think she liked them, but they just didn't sit well." (Tan)
"Oh, I talked to a buddy of mine to find out why she was at the house and he told me that they were suspected to be part of a drug or sex trafficking ring. So now we have even more reason to suspect both." (Luca)
"Trafficking would make sense with what we saw in that room. The only thing that doesn't make sense is why was she the only one there?" (Tan)
"With her behavior, there's no way that she is new to that environment. The doctors said that the only injuries that looked new were the lacerations. So maybe they were transporting her to a different location." (Hondo)
They were waiting for new girls. They always bring one. 'The broken one' that's what they would call the one they brought. It would either be a girl they haven't broken but thought they would break with having them see the new girls come in scared, or they would bring one that was already broken for an example to the new girls.
Everyone broke eventually. 6 girls to a room, 8 rooms that I knew of. They weren't always full, but the max they would put in was 6. The youngest I would say that I saw was 12, but I wouldn't know for sure. She never broke any rules. They called her Abby, but that's not her name. She was their favorite until she wasn't. Then I never saw her again.
"Kid,-"
I jump back. Hondo is standing in front of me.
"What are you doing?"