Chapter 2: In Her Clutches

The next thing I know, I am in one of the E. R. rooms and they are shaking me violently.  When I glance around the room, it is dark all around me except for the big spotlight that is trained over my face, and it is blinding me.  I hear Tara’s voice in the background, and it sounds like I am underwater. 

She is talking to the police officers while she fills them in on what happened.  As I listen, cold settles in my bones, and when I cough, I breathe in the purified air that feels somehow foreign.

“I just went up to the desk to sign him in and when I came back, he had blacked out.  So, your guess is as good as mine when it comes to it.” 

Hearing Tara's shaky voice as she converses with the officers, I just want to get up and hug her to let her know I’m fine.  Yet, at the same time I find that I am too weak to move and that frightens me.  I have always been physically strong, so this new development is strange to say the least.

“Don’t worry ma’am.  We are on the case now.  As soon as Jason is coherent, we will get his statement and then go from there, then maybe we can figure this all out.”

“Thank you so much.  I don’t know what I would have done if he would have died.”

The one officer glances over at me before returning his gaze to Tara, and states, “He seems to be waking up and the doctors did say that he will make a full recovery, but they need to take some tests to find out what is going on and if the woman used any drugs on him.  That might be why he has been blacking out, but we won’t know till the tests come back, either negative or positive.  Till then, we suggest you stay calm and take care of your brother.  Alright?” 

The officer looks over to me and nods with a weird little smile, when Tara shakes her head to thank them.   As soon as she notices that I am awake, she rushes over to the side of my bed and stares at me.

“Hey, bro.  You scared the shit out of me.  Don’t do that again, O.K.?”

“Yeah, I don’t know what happened.  One minute I was watching you at the counter, the next I blacked out.  The last thing I remember was looking over at a young woman in the waiting room.  She was just sitting there eating strawberries.  It was one of the oddest things, I have ever seen.”

“Jason, you have to quit looking at women.  This is two times now that they have knocked you out.”  She starts laughing at her own joke, desperately trying to take my attention away from the fact that she is worrying about me incessantly.

“Well, you know, I am all male.”  I smirk and sucker punch her in the arm playfully.  “I love you sis.” I say as my voice trails off.

As she leans closer, she says softly, “You’re my little brother and I am supposed to be looking after you.  Mom made me promise before she died, you know that.  If something ever happened to you on my watch, I wouldn’t ever be able to forgive myself.”

We both sit there quietly for a few minutes because I don’t know what to say to that.  I scan the room now that the doctor finally has moved the light from blinding me, and then I return my attention to her and notice that she is looking right at me.  Feeling bad because I made her cry, I notice that her mascara is smeared down her cheeks and her face is a little flushed.  So instantly, I just want to give her a big brotherly hug again. 

Someone walks in while I am not paying attention and when I glance at the nurse taking my blood, chills run down my spine.  Panic starts to set in, and I realize something strange.  The fair, red-headed nurse and the woman from the waiting room are one in the same, except this time when I look into her eyes, I feel nothing.

“Tara, can you have the officers come in now, please?  I’m sure they have plenty of questions for me.” I ask in hopes of alerting them to the situation at hand.

“Oh, ok.” She hurries out of the room to locate the officers without even asking why. 

When I return my attention to the nurse, I find myself in a bit of trouble.  She is staring at me menacingly as she hovers over my I.V., her hand holding a needle filled with a clear fluid of some kind.  Just before she injects it into my drip, I shove her hand aside and force her to drop it.

“Crash”

It shatters all over, the glass shards shine on the hard tile floor.  The watery fluid spreads everywhere and then pool around my bed. 

“What the hell was that for?”  The nurse looks upset as she walks over to the cabinet of medicine and pulls out another syringe. 

Making an awful hiss, she quickly refills it with the medicine from a new vial.  However, I am not quite sure if the hiss was from the medicine vial, the syringe being filled, or she hissed at me with her mouth.  Once again, she tries to fill the I.V. with it, but I move my hand to stop her too late.  She dodges and hits her target with the needle.  Filling the drip, I watch as the fluid slowly slides down into the tube that leads directly to my arm.

I feel helpless, because I am sure that what she just gave me is meant to end my life.  So, I watch her silently, and lay there waiting for the inevitable.  While I do, surprisingly my sister returns with the officers and then the nurse discreetly exits the room before I get to tell anyone.  Looking around as paranoia sets in, I stare at the I.V. in my arm and just hope that I am not about to die right in front of my sister. 

In a last-ditch effort, I rip the tube from my arm before she says sweetly, “Here they are Jason.”  

Placing my arm under the covers, I hide the fact that I have blood dripping out of my arm and reply smiling, “Thanks.” And she gives me a hug before walking over to the side so the detective could ask me the questions.

“Ok, Jason.  I am Detective Larson, and this is my partner Detective Miller.  I heard from your sister that you got mugged last night.  Please tell us the whole story from when you left the birthday party till now.”

I sit up a bit and try not to feel flustered because the officers are staring at me intently.  Hesitating for a moment, I glance around the room to make sure that the nurse is really gone and then I answer, “I was driving home from the party, and I remember looking at the clock, it was around 9 pm.  When I looked up, I saw a young woman walking on the side of the road with wet clothes on.  I didn’t want her to get sick, so I pulled off to give her a ride and I really don't remember too much after that.  That is, except she got in the car and stared at me intensely.  After that, I don’t remember a thing till I woke up in my car several hours later."

Swallowing hard with a dry mouth, I try to clear my throat before I continue, "I woke up later in the middle of the night, realizing I had been out for quite a while.  I didn't even think to check for my wallet or anything at the time because it didn’t seem like she was that kind of girl.  My sister did when I told her the tale, she insisted that I go to the hospital and then file a statement with you all.  After the incident, I went home and apparently blacked out.  I guess I have been out of it since, because Tara said the birthday party was a couple days ago."

Not wanting to mention the nurse, I don’t say a word.  Instead, I pretend I am getting tired and fake a yawn.  When my sister sees that I am drained, she tells them that she will bring me to the station tomorrow, for any further questions.  

Detective Larson walks over to her and asks to talk privately.  Straining, I overhear him say, "Watch him.  If you can, I would stay with him tonight to make sure he's doing alright."  She nods and glances over at me nervously because she didn’t realize that I could be severely hurt or worse.

When they leave, she sits with me for a while and chats about her work and everything else, while waiting for the nurse to finish the paperwork.  We chat about the kids and then finally the nurse comes in and takes out the needle.  She turns to my sister and hands her the paperwork, before giving her specific instructions to follow.

Feeling still out of it, I sit down in the wheelchair while Tara walks behind me, and the nurse pushes me out the door.  While waiting for Tara to grab the car, I just happen to be staring at the entrance and see the red-haired woman walk out.  She glares at me with that eerie smile and then she opens her mouth and I see stained red teeth that look too sharp to be a human’s.

Looking away only for a moment when Tara pulls up in her vehicle, I return my gaze to the place where she stood and notice that she has disappeared into thin air.  

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