Rotten Rules by Ellen Chain

Author:Ellen Chain [Chain, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-23T16:00:00+00:00

16 – The Plan

In the night he felt the delicate hand caressing his head again. David saw a black silhouette sitting on his bed, which was again wearing a slightly too large uniform. But James said nothing. He simply stroked David's head and held his other hand. So David said nothing as well and just pressed James’ loving fingers as best he could. He didn't ask why he had taken the men's feet off. He didn't ask where the feet were either. What would it achieve? James would only defend himself again and David wouldn’t change his point of view. It just didn't matter anymore.

At some point he fell asleep again and wished James had been with him the next morning. But of course he wasn't. Only the plump nurse who brought him breakfast again.

Dr. Novak came back to him in the morning. She looked very tired again. Worn off. Somehow off track.

"How are you, David?" she asked at the highest professional level, although the question would have been better directed at her.

"Thank you, a little bit better," he replied just as professionally. “The cream helps very well. However, the pain is still very uncomfortable.”

“You have a broken nose and a sprained leg. It will take time. But I'll take a closer look at your wounds.”

While she was doing this, she said nothing. Instead, she seemed to be completely focused on her work to avoid another topic. David's abrasions on the neck and joints receded. The stab wound had to remain sutured until the end of the week. But she was already pulling the threads in his mouth.

As she changed the bandage on his foot, he wondered why she was doing it and not one of the nurses. Why was she the only doctor he had ever seen and cared for anyway?

When the silence became unbearable, David whispered as quietly as he could: "How do you know James?"

Of course, she froze. Startled, she looked up and looked into David's eyes. She opened and closed her mouth as if she didn't know how to react to it, while her previous non-verbal reaction showed everything David needed to know: that they knew each other indeed. And apparently well.

“He is ... a prisoner. I treated him once,” Dr. Novak replied as casually as possible. "Why?"

"He told me about you," David admitted quietly, hoping no one was listening. If Hook found out who James was, everything would end. But James was probably smart enough to cover up the connection if necessary.

"He did?" Dr. Novak breathed, as if a bomb had just been dropped and she was waiting for the detonation. She ended the bandage quite quickly and finally got up as if stung by a bee. Again she exchanged nervous looks between David and his wounds until she finally picked up the garbage and said goodbye with a polite nod.

David just lay there. And wondered in what context Dr. Novak was with James.

David was allowed to leave in the afternoon. With the little plush

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