Infection Runs Deep

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: CATHARSIS

I was a mess. A brutal, ruined mess. Bloody cheeks, covered in bruises, a broken ankle, and a shattered mind. I just wanted to lie on the pavement and never get back up. But I couldn't. I had fought too hard to give up now.

I hauled myself to my feet. Just get inside, I promised myself, then you can rest. One staggering step after another, but I made it to the door, leaning on it too heavily before swinging it open.

Leo stood up at the ring of the front bell. "Dr. Michaels," he said with his back still to me as he pulled on his lab coat. "How can I help you?" He turned, getting a full glimpse of my bloodied face before I collapsed onto a chair. "Elizabeth. What happened?"

I shook my head. He got the message: I don't want to talk about it. He nodded stiffly, but confusion still brewed in his eyes.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." He helped me to my feet, guiding me into an empty exam room. His gloves snapped in the silence, the tearing of stiffened paper coatings louder than an avalanche. His hand came close to my face and I flinched away. "I'm just going to clean the wound." His voice was soft as if not to startle me. "Can I touch your face?"

I held out my hand for the gauze and he pressed it into my palm wordlessly. As I held pressure on my wound, he set out a suture kit and a bag of ice. Leo set two pills next to me on the instrument tray. Red and chalky. Ibuprofen. I swallowed them dry, the motion jarring my cut.

"Okay, Elizabeth. I have to check out the wound." Leo carefully covered my hand with his and withdrew it from my face. Without touching me further, he checked out the wound with a penlight. He exhaled a sigh of relief. "You don't need stitches, just a butterfly bandage."

I wiped the blood from my face with clean gauze and warm water from a cup on the instrument tray next to the exam table. Plastic packaging crinkled, the adhesive sticking to his nitrile gloves. After a few fumbling attempts, Leo managed to unstick himself. With the faintest touch, he applied three butterfly bandages to my split cheek. I covered it with the ice, savoring the chill it brought to my inflamed skin.

"Want to talk about it?" Leo asked hesitantly. I shook my head. "Want me to call someone for you?"

Luke. But I didn't say that. I just wanted to get away from Oliver, to be somewhere safe.

The radio at the desk made a garbled blare from the other room. "Hold on a sec," Leo said, exiting the exam room to answer the radio. Leo jogged back with the radio in hand, turning up the volume to make the speech more decipherable.

"This is Dr. Michaels at the clinic," Leo said, throwing raised eyebrows in my direction.

"Leo," the voice started. "It's Warner. Have you seen Elizabeth?"

Leo cast me a wary look. "She's here at the clinic."

"Oh," he sounded surprised, "I thought that she was off tonight."

"She is," Leo said. I wondered if he was purposely being vague or if he just didn't understand what Warner was truly asking.

"Does she need someone to come get her? The golf cart is here at the Woods and I know she can't walk back." He paused for a moment. "Besides, we have some serious stuff to tell her."

Leo looked to me, asking my permission. I nodded in concession. They were going to find out one way or another. Might as well have it be on my own terms. I extended my hand for the radio.

"Yeah, that'd be great, Warner." I bit my lip for a second, a minute pause before my soft whisper. "Thank you."

"That wasn't very snarky. Are you sure that it's you, Elizabeth?"