Beep
Beep
Beep
...the beeping was constant. Steady.
"Jen, can you hear me?" A voice cut through the beeping. She fluttered her eyes open to see her doctors face staring intently at her, she nods, staring back.
Yes she could hear him. She looked back at him.
He nodded and stood, already familiar with her being mute. "You are going to feel groggy, that is to be expected. But everything went as planned. There will be some incision pain, but it shouldn't get too bad. If you have any problems, come back in. I want to see you back in 2 weeks regardless. I have pain killers for you..." He hands her a paper.
She shakes her head and refuses the paper. She wouldn't need them. A wendigo had once tore her side open, and didn't need any pain medication then. Why should she need some now. She laughed silently to herself. She was tougher than she looked.
The doctor shrugged his shoulders. "As soon as you can stand and urinate, you may go."
Jen nods and carefully climbs out of the bed. She hates hospitals. The last time she was in one, child protective services tried to take her. They said with her dad gone, and her adult brother gone, they had to place her in a halfway house for teens. She ran.
After seeing to the bathroom business, she changed and gathered her things and signed out. She was crossing the large entry lobby of the hospital towards the exit, when she was suddenly grabbed roughly and shoved to the ground. She looked up quickly, ready to react in defense, when she saw one of the large rectangular light fixtures had fallen from the ceiling. It would have killed her! She looked up into concerned hazel eyes.
"Sammy lets go!"
The stranger stared a moment longer, then left to join the other man who was also leaving the building.
Jen stood, looked around at the crowd gathering. She rushed out the door. Hoping to see which way they went, she did not look before stepping into the street. A horn blared in her ear, and she was again gripped and jerked, this time out of the path of a blue Honda speeding through the parking lot.
"What gives lady? You tryin' to kill yourself?" She turned away from the view of the car passing by, this time met by harsher, green eyes. She could see compassion in those eyes, but they were steeled, behind pain.
"Well?" He was impatient.
"Dean go easy" Jen turned to see the man who had tackled her earlier.
The man, Dean, released her arm and she stood still, watching them watching her.