Tough Love

Chapter Eighty

Dude, she means it. The fire in her eyes and the venom in her voice tell me that she means what she's saying right now. I know it's not the normal Dani speaking, but this person will hurt me if I try to touch her. I back up with my hands raised, to let her know I mean her no harm.

“Ok, ok. I won't touch you. If you promise to stay in the bed then I won't touch you.”

She stops moving, but I know she's not satisfied to stay where she currently is.

“Dani, I need you to focus on my voice. Try to fight through this and listen to me. It's Eli. You know I'm not going to hurt you, you just need to fight through this haze and realize it's me...”

The shivers worsen and she folds over in pain. I don't know what to do. I know I can't make it better. Her body needs to fight through this, that's the only way out. Her heart rate is through the roof and that causes a nurse to appear. Thankfully it's Mandy.

“Lieutenant? What's going on?”

“She's having a moment.”

“A drug moment?”

“Yes ma'am. Is there anything we can do to help her?”

“I need to call the doctor. It'll be Dr. Ross though. Dr. Stone isn't in yet.”

“Has my dad left?”

“Yes sir. It's 5am.”

I nod. I need to go soon, but I need to make sure Dani is settled before I can go.

“Go get the doctor. I'll handle it for now.”

Dani is hissing in pain and cursing in languages I don't even know. If it's this bad now, how much worse will it get? The doctor seems to answer my internal question, because he says, “The next few days will be the worst. By the weekend, she should be through the violent stage.”

I nod, but don't say anything.

“Mandy, when was her last dose of medication?”

“Dr. Stone gave her a small dose of morphine at half 7 last night. It was only 5mg, but we did administer a small dose of sedation at 9pm, just to keep her quiet. That was on Dr. Stone's orders.”

The doctor looks at me and asks, “How did she get clean last time?”

“Cold turkey. I wasn't there, but from her account it wasn't pleasant.”

“No, it wouldn't be. Dani? Can you hear me?”

She growls. She actually growls. “You're talking like I'm not here, why should I listen?”

She'd actually be quite funny, if it weren't such a dire situation. Ash would appreciate the humor if this were any form of normal.

“Dani, I need to you try to relax. Tensing up your muscles will only make the pain worse...”

“Have you ever been through this?! Try it and see if you can relax you piece of scum...”

Dude, the girl is completely out of it. The doctor takes a step toward her and she grinds out, “If you touch me, I will hunt you down and shoot you...”

My eyes widen and I quickly say, “Doc, she doesn't like being touched on a normal day. This is just making it worse. You need to listen to her on this one. I can try to help her, but you need to bear in mind it may not work. What do you want her to do?”

“I need her to try to relax. I know that's not going to be easy, but she needs to at least try. I don't want to give her any medication because it will only prolong the inevitable. I know it's not nice for her or for you to watch, but if we can get her through the worst while she's here, you won't have to worry so much at home. You think you can get her to lay back in the bed?”