Wicked Games

Lying in the hospital almost lifeless, an empty battered shell of nothingness; Kathryn no longer wanted to live. The pain was agonizing, excruciating she wanted nothing more than for someone to cut her life support. What did she have to live for? Her daughter! She had to live for her if not for herself. She had to live for her precious, precocious three-year-old daughter. Tears ran down her bruised and battered face as her brain raced to remember what happened. It slowly began to come back to her. She had been in the Yukon with her husband. Her husband; she forgot about him. Was he all right, where was he? She thought some more; she remembered talking to her mother who had been in a panic about them being late for Christmas Eve dinner. “Mom we’re on our way…. No…I know…. I love you, too…. Yes, we have left…. We should be there in the next fifteen minutes.” Kathryn had remembered talking to Diane. She remembered how agitated her mother sounded making her think how she always hated, but at the same time loved, living close to her parents. If she ever needed anything they were minutes away, but then again her mother always expected she would come to see them at the drop of a hat. It was hard on Kathryn and her family, especially Nathan. He didn’t understand the dynamic between them; it wasn’t the same in his family. He never dropped his life for them like she seemed to always do. It frustrated him to the core. She was brought back from her reverie when a shooting pain made her scream and cry out. She cried to the nurses—her doctor—for someone. No one came—no one helped. Suddenly, she felt someone there, pleading to them to help her. She felt a hand grasp hers. It was familiar. The feeling of the warm hand helped her calm a little when a second surge of pain ripped through her body, making her release another agonizing scream. “Please, nurse we need help in here.” She heard a voice pleading. It was so familiar somehow. “What’s happening? She was fine. I left you with her for ten minutes. Now she’s crying and screaming.” Kathryn heard another voice. “You need to leave. I never should have listened to them. I never should have let you come. I—I should have known you would only upset her!” That same voice yelled. Kathryn wanted to comfort the people in the room, but she couldn’t, as the pain was only getting worse. All she could do was cling to the hand that was slowly slipping away. “You need to take this outside; this is not good for her,” the nurse stated as she ran into the room with a syringe in hand; ready to administer. “I need to stay with her, please. I promise I will sit with her quietly.” Kathryn heard the second voice plead with the nurse. “Fine, but sir, I think you need to leave,” the nurse informed the person holding Kathryn’s hand as she administered the syringe into her IV. She felt the hand release hers. It was unsettling to her not holding the hand anymore. She tried to reach for it. It was useless; the medicine was taking affect. It made her whole body feel heavy. All she felt before giving into the dark abyss was a small kiss on her forehead. She gave in, slowly slipping back into her slumber. The memories of how she ended up in the hospital played visibly in her mind.