“SO HOW DID this happen again?” Andrea positioned the imaging camera above Ashe, as he shifted to follow her orders. “Hold still, Ashe. I can’t get this to line up with you wiggling.” Being exposed with his skin bared under a blinding light wasn’t the problem. Andrea’s inquisitive gaze darting over the source of his discomfort was making him a little more uncomfortable than usual.

He bit back a grimace as her fingers feathered over the bony points of his shoulder blades. “Easy, lady. It’s kind of sore back there.”

“Oh sorry. I’m a little surprised is all. I don’t see any swelling or bruising. You’re not one to complain of pain unless it’s a broken bone or something. Usually by the time you come to me, it worse than it looks. But I’m not seeing anything abnormal here.”

“Aren’t the purpose of X-rays to see the unseen?”

“Don’t be a smart-ass. Are you going to tell me what happened or do we have to play the twenty questions game?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Cocking his brow at her, he didn’t miss the sarcastic look Andrea was shooting back at him.

“Try me.”

“What if I told you I was kidnapped and held prisoner in a cell and beaten to shite for a few days?”

“I’d ask you what the hell kind of drugs you took.”

He shouldn’t have been surprised or irritated by her response. To any rational person, it did sound like a load of horseshit. The problem was he was tired of no one believing him. He wasn’t a story teller, yet the few times he had opened up about the events of his childhood, he had been ridiculed and berated, labeled a liar. The stigma haunted him, following him around like a disease. The truth was unbelievable, sure. He knew it. The older he got, the more he realized a lie was easier for people to accept, and digest. Sucking in a ragged breath, he gave Andrea something she could believe.

“I fell out of bed. Hit the floor pretty hard, I guess.”

“Sounds reasonable.” Yeah, it did to those who had never seen the face of evil. Felt its breath hot on your skin, or the sting of its icy clawed hands crushing your windpipe for the fun of it. “Okay, take a deep breath and hold still. Be right back.”

With a groan, Ashe did as she said, and sucked in breath and closed his eyes as he waited out the shot. The light above him made his skin itch as if it were burning from a good dose of UV rays, the longer he stayed beneath it. A few more moments passed and the whirring of the computer processing the images echoed in the chilly room. Tapping his fingers against the table, he grew anxious waiting for Andrea to return with the results.

“So what’s the verdict, anything broken?”

“Hang on, I’m checking it out now. What the hell?”

“What’s the problem?”

“I need to redo the photo, there’s a weird blur in the picture. I told you to hold still. Don’t move a muscle.”

“I swear to you, I didn’t.”

Popping her head around the corner, she cast him a sardonic glare and motioned for him to lie back down. “Let me reset the machine, and then I’ll check the alignment out there.”

His stomach growled, as if it were reading what was going through his head. He hadn’t eaten much since he returned from his run earlier, and his body was craving substance. “Can we hurry this up?”

“Why, do you have a hot date or something?”

“Oh yeah, you know it, darling. The cafeteria lady has been looking especially fetching lately.” He cocked a smile, as Andrea coughed out a laugh, shaking her head at him.

“You’re so weird, Ashe.”

“It’s all part of my charm.” The aroma of lilies struck his nostrils the closer Andrea stepped toward him. An odd numbing vibration ran through his head and down his spine, and every sense he had somehow heightened within seconds. Oh shite … I’m probably about to have an aneurism, with my feckin luck!

“Ashe, hey are you okay?” Her warm hand cupped his shoulder, and the awareness of her pulse thrumming beneath the thin layer of skin made his mouth water.

“Yeah, a bit of a head rush, is all. Can we get this over with? I’m starving.”

He hadn’t meant it to come out rudely. Even to his ears, it sounded as such. Although, Andrea didn’t seem to notice, she rolled back up to reset the imaging machine.

“You get a little cranky when you’re hungry, don’tcha?” she teased, and sidled around to face him. Bollix, now don’t I feel like an arse. “Now hold still. I can’t keep taking pictures of you all night.”

“I know. Hey look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be impolite.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve dealt with worse than a hungry, cranky guy before.” She chuckled and slid behind her portioned wall. “Hold your breath. This will be over in a second.”

Again, he did as she asked, and waited for the moment to be over. The clicking sound echoed in the air, as another round of whirring fired to life. “You can breathe now.”

Blowing out a harsh exhale, Ashe slid off the table and reached for his scrub top. The cool air nipped at his heated skin, as he tugged on his shirt. “Did it come out all right this time?”

When she didn’t respond, Ashe walked over to the technician area, and found Andrea studying the image closely. Her brows furrowed deeply as she rotated the image around. “What’s wrong? What did you find?”

“I’m … not exactly sure. This image is obscure for some reason. I don’t exactly see anything broken, but look … here.” Pointing to the hazy spot around his shoulder blades, Andrea showed him what appeared to be faint extra bones. “I can’t get a good image. Crap, I think I have to call for a tech to come in and adjust the machine. Dammit.”

“What do you mean? What about those? This can’t be normal, right?”

“What about what? All I see are fuzzy spots. Odd though, since your spine shows up clearly. I wonder if maybe there are smudges on the machine. Hang on a minute. Let me check.”

Ashe stood there, his eyes fixated on the odd formations of bones. Reaching around to palpate his back, he prayed he wasn’t seeing things. Touching the area brought about ripe curse, as his hand jerked away. “That’s strange. There’s nothing on lens.”

“Are you sure it’s a malfunction? I mean, what if it’s swelling or something? And what about these.” Pointing to the tiny bones again, he studied Andrea’s face as she squinted her eyes to focus on what he was showing her. “Those look like bones to me.”

“Well duh. You have two hundred and six bones in your body. Listen, let me get the tech down here to check out the machine. If your back is still bothering you in a couple of days, we’ll run the scans again.”

Why couldn’t she see it? It was there, clear as day. Well maybe not clear, but he knew what he was seeing. For whatever reason Andrea didn’t, and arguing with her about it wasn’t helping. Reluctantly, he gave in. Nodding to her, Ashe agreed to play by her rules as he quirked a small smile. “All right. Thanks, Andrea. I appreciate it.”

“Try alternating between heat and ice, and take Motrin every six hours. Sorry I couldn’t help you more.”

“Spoken like a true doctor.” He cut out a laugh, and thanked her again. His stomach rumbled louder this time. Patting his noisemaker, he decided he wasn’t in disagreement with his body’s request.

“Better feed the beast before you devour everything in sight!”

“Right. Catch you on the flip side, darling.” He waved, taking his leave. The images fresh in his mind left him wondering if he did in fact smack his head hard enough to make him see things. It didn’t make logical sense what he saw. Was it possible he had hit his head and didn’t remember. What the feck is happening to me? I’m losing my ever-loving mind here.

 

 

BLINKING BACK THE sting of fluorescent lights glinting off the stainless steel counters, Ashe glanced around to find he was standing in the cafeteria. Had he been so lost in thought he couldn’t remember walking across the hospital and down two flights? Guess my autopilot kicked in. Cool. The scents of different food wafted through the air, as the clatter of metal against metal ricocheted out of the kitchen. Reaching for a tray, his stomach grumbled louder, demanding food.

“What’ll it be, sugar … soy burger or spaghetti tonight?” His mouth watered, but it wasn’t for either of those choices. His eyes darted to the leftover prime rib cuts, sitting in a pool of greasy blood.

“Prime rib please, Linda. And make it extra juicy.”

Her brows shot up, as she stared back at him with a confused look on her withered face. “You’re joking, right, honey? Since when do you eat meat?”

“Well, not in five or so years.” Why am I ordering it then? His gut twisted with desire to sink his teeth into warm flesh. “Smells delicious.”

“So mister vegetarian wants a slab of beef, huh? How many times have you lectured me about the dangers of eating meat? I had to special order those soy burgers for you.”

“And it is much appreciated. Can I have a slab of meat now, and some potatoes, too? Please, milady.” His grin lifted at the corner as he winked at her, hoping she’d stop with the derisive glare.

“Oh, I’m a milady now. All right then, pick your piece, honey. I ain’t got all night.”

“The middle piece right there.” His eyes stabbed the meat before her fork did. Licking his lips, his blood simmered in his veins as he anticipated sinking his teeth into the beef. “Yeah, that one … Thanks, Linda.”

“You’re welcome, honey. Is this going to be a new thing with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Eatin’ like a normal person?” When she slapped a big scoop of dried out mashed potatoes onto his plate, the aroma of stale cigarette smoke hit his nose, rolling his stomach. The wrinkles around her lips appeared to deepen before his eyes, as she peeled them back to reveal stained yellow teeth.

“Maybe.” The fine little hairs on her chin stood out against her haggard skin. Why was he noticing these things now? Every detail came to view with stark clarity. His senses were more than alive; they were taking over completely, and leaving him overwhelmed. “Thanks again.” He pulled the tray back, and went for a bottle of water before paying for him meal.

The cafeteria was relatively empty, as he slid down into a booth. The few stragglers of staff members stayed with their teams, hunched over their food and carrying on random and mostly uninteresting conversations. His ears noticed the different pitches of the voices, discerning without looking who was male or female, older or a young intern. This was getting a little weird, as he tried to shut out the voices. The dull aching in his head began to pound more. His gut demanded food, as he searched for an empty table.

Licking his lips again, his tongue greedily awaited the first bite. The first taste of the salted, bloody meat hit him like a wrecking ball, and he slowly rolled it around in his mouth. Savoring the flavor and groaning as it slid down his throat. Oh, God that’s good. So … good.

The next mouthful brought the same response, as he carved into piece after piece. More … I need more. His gums ached as though his teeth were trying to stretch out as he bit down into the next piece. A surge of gluttonous need to taste more, swallow down the warm liquid from tender flesh lit his blood on fire. Without thinking, Ashe jerked out of his seat and strode back to Linda’s serving station.

“Another piece please.” His voice was dark, edging on snarl as his eyes picked out the next slab.

“I take it you liked it then?” With a tight nod, he leveled a commanding stare on her and watched her hand slightly shake, doing as he asked. “Here you go, honey.”

His mouth salivated, ready to tear into the beef. Ashe nodded once more to Linda and walked away. ‘Jesus, I thought he was going to eat me alive, with the way he was staring at me.’

Tilting his chin over his shoulder, Linda stood there, dumbfounded, gaping at him. Did I seriously hear what she’s thinking? No way … I can’t read minds. For the love of mother Mary, what the hell is happening to me? He cocked a small smile back at her, and carried on.

Sliding down into the booth, his mind shut down as hunger kicked in. This wasn’t going to be the last time he ate meat, but figuring out what spurred this, was going to bug the shit out of him. He bit down into the first bite of the rare cooked beef, savoring the rawness, when the hair on the back of his neck stood straight up. The erring feeling of someone watching him, made his internal alerting system jump off the hook. Ashe craned his head from left to right, searching for a pair of eyes focusing on him. Everyone left in the cafeteria were involved in their conversations, all ignoring the other tables. Linda and the few remaining midnight workers were causing a flurry of action in the back kitchen. Paranoia crept in. Did he believe someone was there purposely spying on him? The truth was, he had no frigging clue. Except why was the hair on the back of his neck standing on end? And why was there a strange humming vibration singing down his spine? Too many questions, mate. Eat up, and leave.

The delicate aroma of water lilies breezed by him as his eyes darted over the direction the scent came from. A niggling sense that he had smelled it before pricked at his mind, as he glanced around the edge of the booth. “I know you’re there.” He wasn’t entirely convinced he wasn’t losing his mind. A small gasp caught his attention, and he spun around to find where it came from. Nothing. A crease tightened on his forehead, as he swiveled back around. I know I heard something. I must be losing my mind. He wanted to brush it off as a familiar scent from his youth, since his mother always loved water lilies surrounding their house. But Ashe hadn’t smelled the fragrance since he left his parents’ home nine years earlier. So why was it striking him now?

Eat! His stomach rumbled a disapproving sound, as he leaned over his food, and carved out another piece. If things kept going the way there were, the next doctor he would need an appointment with would be the hospital shrink.