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I give him the keys.

He drives me to the hospital.

They start with a head CT.

I don’t wince at the small prick in my arm where they inject contrast dye. It’s nothing in comparison to the pain in my head or the humbling that is being wheeled bare-ass through the hospital in a fucking gown.

“You might feel a warm sensation in your body, or a sensation like you’re passing urine.” The CT tech says with a smile. “Don’t worry, you’re not.”

“Comforting,” I mutter. I’m not in the best mood. The anger is still there, hovering at the edge of my mind.

But front and center, impossible to ignore, is the fear.

I’m terrified.

“The CT is going to spin around your head, and it will click. It’s quick and painless.” She smiles again.

I say nothing and she pats my arm gently. “Be sure to stay very still.”

I say nothing.

“I’m going to be just behind the glass there should you need me for anything.”

This time, I manage, “Thank you.”

The scan feels like something out of this world, but it’s quick, like she said it would be.

I complete another humbling ride in the wheelchair, pushed along by a tatted porter who makes the experience even more humbling. He moves quickly through the halls, and I find myself feeling jealous. Jealous of his health…

“We made it,” he says as we wheel up to the fabric walls of my room where Tanner waits in the single chair that sits in the small space. “Do you need help into your bed?”

“No.” I stand from the chair on my own two legs. “Thanks.”

The dude nods, pulls the curtain closed, and continues on with his day. I sink onto the bed, covering my eyes as I lay back against the pillow.

Quietly, cautiously, Tanner asks, “How was it?”

“Quick.”

“It didn’t feel quick from here.”

I grunt. “Hopefully the results are quick, too, so I can go home.”

It’s Tanner’s turn to grunt.

We sit in silence for a while, but it’s broken when the same woman who took my blood upon arriving shuffles in with her cart of torture. “Hello again.” She flashes a kind smile, because she knows that what she does is not kind. “The Doc has ordered an IV.”

“For what?”

“Well, he wants some fluid put into you, but mainly so we don’t have to keep pricking you as we need blood.”

“You need more blood?”

She pinches thumb and finger together. “Just a bit more.”

I nod and hold out my arm. “Whatever the doctor needs.”

“The workday is almost done,” Tanner tells me what I already know. “Faye is going to expect you home soon.”