I wake up in bed, tucked in nice and cleanly with a nightdress on and a much clearer head; I feel less unwell yet still fragile and bruised with a lingering temperature. That cotton wool head is not as severe, and my throat no longer feels like razor blades are lodged in the passage. I think it must have been a virus and last night it hit its peak with a little help from a New York thunderstorm.
This is what my body does, it gets sick and lingers for days and then WHAM like a flash flood it will spike, knock me for six for an intense twelve hours and flush it out of my system. It’s how I have been my whole life.
I jump when a girl wanders through from the bathroom and smiles at me, catching me completely by surprise as I assumed I was alone. She looks no more than a teenager and I gawp at her with complete suspicion, no idea who she is or why she’s wandering the apartment like some sort of candy-striper.
‘‘Who are you?’’ I blink at her defensively, struggling to sit up and pull the bed clothes up over the nightdress I now seem to be wearing. I don’t stop to question who took my underwear off and put this on instead, and I don’t think I want to know when only two men were here last night.
‘’Hi there. Sorry. Didn’t mean to give you a fright. I’m Rebecca, Mico said I was to take care of you until he gets back.’’ She fidgets awkwardly, and I scan her up and down with open speculation. She’s dressed in jeans, a jumper and trainers, her blond hair up in a ponytail and I just regard her for a long moment.
A youthful looking fresh-faced teen with freckles, dimples and sweet brown eyes. Poster child for wholesome American youth.
‘’Who are you, exactly?’’ I pull myself to sit up and blink at the bright light that catches me from the slats in the blind. Covering my eyes I notice a glass of water on the bedside tray, propped beside an array of supplies from the chemist that Mico left.
‘’I’m Mico’s fiancée’s sister; Mandy was here last night ,but she had to go to work and left me with you. I’m your nurse, sort of, for today.’’ She looks completely normal. Not like a gangster’s sister-in-law to be and wonder what kind of family allows their daughter to date a crazy mobster. This looks like a perky college girl from some cheesy American teen movie and not some second generation Italian who knows the score and turns a blind eye to the underworld activities.
‘‘Why did he make you come here? And Mandy, is she Mico’s fiancée?’’ I blink at her, not getting this at all, I’m sure I could have survived one night without some random girl seeing me butt naked and dressing me in my own negligee. It was just a fever or, some viral infection, and I feel tons better this morning. Alexi overreacted and Mico, well, he just did as he was told and now he’s making sure he doesn’t get yelled at again.
‘’Well you were really sick. Mandy is a nurse, so we helped him get you comfortable as you were out of it all night and yeah Mandy and Mico go way back to kindergarten and fell in love. How are you feeling today?’’
I honestly do not know how to deal with this girl, her concern seems genuine, and she’s annoyingly sweet and almost likeable. It’s weird to know I am missing a chunk of my night while complete strangers took care of my unconscious body. I don’t think I have had anything like that happen outside of a hospital in the many times I dragged myself to one.
‘’Better, weak, but not like I was. What happened to Alexi?’’ It’s out before I can monitor my stupid mouth, heart sinking and knowing I’m just setting myself up for another slap to my pride. He was here, I remember him sort of, I remember something about being in water with his face beside mine, but I think I was dreaming.
‘’Lex was here until after one; until your fever broke and you started to cool. He left when you were calm and stopped thrashing around and talking in your sleep. Wilson his doctor was here, he gave you some injections to help you get better and told us to let you rest.’’
He stayed long enough to know I was pulling through the worst and not running my mouth off probably. Although it doesn’t sound like someone who doesn’t care. He would have missed his entire dinner if he stayed till after midnight and I know how much he hates having to rework plans. He’s anal about never being late for anything, except when he has me waiting on him, then he completely disregards time. I have no idea what to make of that at all. Doesn’t fit the guy who blanked me for two weeks and then threatened to snap my neck.
‘‘Talking in my sleep … what about?’’ I sidestep, trying not to over analyse it, knowing how much of a head fuck he can be. I am, however, completely alarmed at the talking out while high on fever, but the girl just shrugs nonchalantly.
‘’Bad dreams, obviously just nightmares about monsters and pain, random things like calling out not to hurt you. You must have been hallucinating badly as you were making no sense and your dreams must have been something awful. Lex kept trying to keep you calm and still.’’ She flutters and smiles at the mention of his name and I get that creep of heat and try to shake it away, hoping to God he never clicked that I was crying out from memory and that in my dreams I do still see and feel the monsters.