“Enzo, you need to sit up and drink this,” a voice said, their voice severe.
“Mom?” I croaked.
“No,” the voice replied. “Enzo, this is Nurse Barnes. Now, sit up and take a drink of this broth.”
My eyes shot open. Suddenly, I was no longer at my old home, the South Side of Chicago. I was in the hospital, and my body was aching, and everything started coming back to me in a hectic rush.
“Enzo, please,” the nurse said, her tone only getting crosser. “I don’t have all day. I have other patients too, you know.” She held out a spoon overflowing with a thin, yellowish broth.
I leaned forward and tried to take the spoon from her hand. She was a slender, older woman in pink scrubs and she yanked her hand away from mine, spilling lukewarm broth all over the sheets.
“Now look what you made me do,” the nurse said in the same cross voice. “Now I’m going to have to change your sheets,” she added. “Can’t you have some of this?” She held the spoon up again.
I sighed. Realizing that she wasn’t even going to let me feed myself, I leaned forward and opened my mouth.
The broth tasted bland. It wasn’t as salty as I’d thought, and I wrinkled my nose and swallowed it down. “I need to get out of the hospital,” I said as soon as I’d swallowed. “I need to go. I need to leave right now.”
Nurse Barnes shook her head. “You’re not going anywhere.” She pointed to an illegible chart at the end of my bed. “You’re crazy if you think I’d let you leave, Enzo,” she added. “You have a severe concussion, and you’ve been unconscious for almost thirteen hours. Now, that doesn’t sound like someone who’s fine.”
“But I woke up, I feel better now,” I insisted, trying to sit up in the bed. My body was incredibly weak. I winced as I glanced down—even though it had only been a few days since I’d hit the gym, I could tell my muscle tone was starting to fade. “I promise, I feel totally fine.” I grinned at her, trying for an ounce of that old Enzo charm. “I’m totally fine to leave. Just get the doctor, and I’ll clear it with him.”
Nurse Barnes rolled her eyes. “They said you were a workaholic,” she said absentmindedly as she deftly rolled me off the bed and onto a gurney. “And they weren’t lying. Enzo, your business isn’t going to collapse after just one day of not going to work. Tell me that you understand that at least.”
I frowned at her. I knew, deep down, there was another reason why I had to leave the hospital. There was something really important and really dangerous. Why couldn’t I remember? Every time I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate, I felt like something was punching me in the head.
“I have to leave because…” I trailed off, looking down. Nurse Barnes was busy changing the sheets of the hospital bed. The gurney was stiff, and when I realized how high I was off the ground, I felt dizzy. “I have to leave because I have something to do,” I said, trying to make my voice strong and confident. “I have something to do, and I know it’s important.”
“But you can’t even remember what it is?” Nurse Barnes looked at me and clucked her tongue. “Enzo, you’re too sick to leave the hospital,” she repeated firmly.
I sighed. This wasn’t going to work. “I have to talk to a doctor.” I pointed to my arm. There was an IV in the crook of my elbow, and when I moved, it felt like I was being pinched. “My arm hurts,” I said suddenly. “My arm’s going numb.”
“That’s because you’re moving around too much with that damn IV in,” Nurse Barnes said. Her face was red from the effort of moving me from and back to the bed. “You need to stay put. You’re never going to recover if you don’t take care of yourself, Enzo.”
“Come on,” I insisted. “It’s serious! It’s going numb!” I waved my arm wildly in the air. “Come on, nurse, don’t you realize I’m in trouble?”
She glared at me. “The only trouble you’re going to be in is the trouble that happens when I tell the doctor how much you’re misbehaving.” She shook her head and sucked her teeth, indicating disdain. “Now you need to stay put, mister. I’m going to get you your medicine, and then you’ll take it and settle down for another nap. We’ll come check on you later.”
“No!” I shouted. “No, no, that’s not going to work. I need to see a doctor now.” My heart was racing in my chest, and suddenly I was filled with fear that I wouldn’t even be able to break out of the hospital. “It’s urgent,” I said, pointing to my chest. “See, I’m hurting here, too.”
Nurse Barnes rolled her eyes as she stepped away from the bed. “Enzo, no more funny business!” She wagged a finger at me. “I know you’re lying, and I won’t stand for that.” She looked at me, and suddenly I was reminded of every female authority figure I’d ever hated. “Now you should feel lucky because I’m the nice nurse on your shift,” she hissed out, leaning down and staring me in the face. “Enzo, you behave while I get your medicine, okay?”
I sank down on the hot, starchy pillows and nodded, feeling defeated. If I couldn’t even remember why I had to leave the hospital, what the fuck was going to happen? I closed my eyes and tried to remember. I was fine. I was not at work for some reason. Why wasn’t I at work? What was I doing in a car in the middle of the day? Was I going to a meeting? Were any new clients trying to get in touch with me? What was going on?
By the time Nurse Barnes came back with a cup of pills and a clear plastic bottle of water, I was feeling more dismal and panicked than ever. She had a calm expression on her face, and I knew that I had to try one more time.
“Nurse, please,” I said in my most suave, humble voice. “I really don’t need to be here.” I laughed. “I’m fine, and I’m not even in pain. I was just lying because I wanted to see the doctor. But I really need to leave the hospital,” I added hopefully. “I don’t actually have insurance right now, and—”
“Enzo,” Nurse Barnes said sharply. “Stop lying to me, I don’t appreciate that. Your condition is not fit to leave the hospital, and you know that. Why just five minutes ago you were complaining about how weak you felt!”
“I was just frustrated.” Panic rose in my throat, and I struggled to stay calm. “I don’t need those pills either.” Nurse Barnes was offering them to me, and I cringed—three giant white pills and two smaller yellow ones were in her palm. If I took them, I was afraid I’d pass out again, and then I’d really be helpless.
“Enzo, I’m warning you, if you can’t take them on your own, I’m going to have to call in one of the other nurses.” Nurse Barnes stood with her hands on her slim hips. For a moment, I wondered about her life outside of work. Did she have friends? Family?
Family. My mind clung to the word, and I shook my head a few times, hoping to jolt myself into remembering whatever I’d forgotten.
“I’ll take them,” I said, grabbing the pills from her palm. Afterwards, she had me open my mouth. The pills were tucked under my tongue, and I had my fingers crossed under the scratchy hospital sheets so that she couldn’t see them.
“Good,” Nurse Barnes said. “I’ll see you in a few hours.” She walked out of the room, working her arms from one side to the other as though she were exercising vigorously.
When she was gone, I spat the pills into my hand and shoved them between the hospital bedframe and the mattress. I sat up quickly and was hit by a massive dizzy spell. I had to lean over and rest my face in my hands before I started to feel more awake. I have to get out of here, I have to get out of here, I have to get out of here.
Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed made me feel dizzy, too, but I kept going. Finally, I managed to stand up. My stomach growled, and suddenly I wished that I’d eaten the broth the nurse had brought me. I couldn’t remember when I’d eaten last, and I felt weak as a newborn kitten.
As casually as I could, I walked outside into the hallway. Outside of my room was a bustle of activity. Nurses rushed back and forth, all in different scrubs but with the same harried facial expression. I stepped back as a crowd of young doctors in green scrubs and white gowns rushed by, all craning their necks to see a clipboard held in one of their hands.
The nurses’ station was right down the hall. I tried to smile my best smarmy Enzo Lennox smile and strolled casually towards it. Inside, my body was aching. I felt like I was going to pass out at any minute, but I knew that I had to appear awake and feeling normal.
“Hi,” the nurse sitting at the desk chirped. “Can I help you? Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine,” I replied with a chuckle. Her face relaxed, and I got my first real burst of pride that day. Good, just keep going. Make her laugh. “I was just wondering about something.”
“Sure,” the nurse said in the same perky voice. “What can I help you with?”
“I was in a car accident,” I said, grinning and flashing my white teeth at the nurse. I watched a slight flush rise to her cheeks. “And I was wondering, who were the people working the night I was brought in?”
“What’s your name?”
“Enzo Lennox,” I said, leaning down over the counter. The nurse looked positively flushed and excited by my presence. Yes. You can do this. You’ve conned women hundreds of times before. That’s who you are. You’re Enzo, you got this.
“Alright, Enzo, just give me one moment while I run a search.” The nurse flashed me a smile, and I returned it. The nurse was older than I was and heavily overweight. Based on her reactions alone I could tell that not very many men paid attention to her.
“That’s fine,” I said, glancing behind me. No sign of Nurse Barnes. Good.
“Enzo, it looks like Dr. Mendel and Nurse Connor were taking care of you that night,” the nurse said. It was cold in the atrium, but her face was red and perspiring. As I watched, she stuck her pink tongue out of her mouth and licked her cracked lips.
“Audrey,” I said. My heart started to slam against my chest. “Audrey!”
“What?” The nurse frowned. “I’m sorry, Enzo, are you talking about someone? Nurse Connor’s first name is Sarah, not Audrey.”
I have to find Audrey. I have to find her. I have to go!
“Never mind,” I said, my voice no longer polite, pushing away from the nurses’ station and flinging myself down the hallway. Suddenly, I remembered everything perfectly. I’d been in a car accident. I’d been in the car with Audrey, and some new asshole chauffeur deliberately got in a crash.
The next details were fuzzier. I remembered being brought into the hospital, and I remembered asking about Audrey. So why hadn’t I remembered her when I’d come out of that sleep?
The image of the white pills flashed into my mind. “Fuck!” I howled. Whatever they’d given me to help me sleep must have completely erased my memories of the previous events. God fucking dammit. If I don’t find Audrey soon, I don’t even want to think about what’s going to happen to her. And how much time has it been already? That bitch nurse said that I’d been asleep for almost half a day. So how much time did I waste in that stupid hospital bed?
My heart was pounding, and my head was aching, but I knew that no matter what, I had to find a way out of the hospital. I had to get to Audrey, I had to warn her somehow that she was in grave danger. That we were both in grave danger unless I acted quickly.
“Sir, are you okay?” A nurse stepped forward. “You look like you’re not feeling well. Can I help you back to your room?”
“No!” I shouted. “I’m sorry,” I added quickly. Sweat beaded on my forehead and I stepped back. “I’m fine, thanks.” I turned on my heel and ran down the hallway.
Getting out of the hospital was a nightmare. Every corner brought nurses, doctors, and techs who were all desperate to see me get back to my room. Plus, the place was like a goddamn maze. No matter which way I turned, I still felt like I was lost.
Finally, I found a set of elevators. Just as I pressed the button, Nurse Barnes rounded the corner. When she saw me, her face went white with shock.
“Enzo! What are you doing out of bed?”
“Leaving,” I replied as I hurled myself into the waiting elevator and jammed my thumb against the Doors Close button. Nurse Barnes stepped closer and closer but finally, the elevator doors crunched together, and I felt myself being carried down, away from her, and out of the clutches of the hospital.