Kathryn reached behind him and cut the zip tie, handed him the stew, and backed out of the very small space. The rest of the women retreated to the hallway before Annie slammed the steel door shut. The sound of the keys made him shudder. The fact that his pants were still wet was not helping.

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

London

Marcus’s legs twitched as his vision went from darkness to fog. He couldn’t focus. He tried to speak, but nothing but spittle and slurred speech came from his mouth. He felt a small tube in his hand. It was the call button for the nurse. He pressed it several times. Within minutes, two very imposing nurses stood before him. One was a very large black man who looked like he spent most of his free hours in a gym. His arms were solid muscle. At least that was what they looked like to Marcus. The other looked like Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest—mean, cold, heartless.

“What is it, Dr. Marcus?” she growled.

He had questions, but he couldn’t form words.

“Dr. Marcus, we can’t have you pushing that button all willy-nilly. What do you want?” she demanded.

The large black nurse was a bit kinder. “Dr. Marcus, do you know where you are?”

Marcus tried to find a body part that was functioning besides the thumb that seemed to be stuck to the call button. He squinted through his swollen eyes. His lids were the size of golf balls.

“Dr. Marcus, you are in the Royal London Hospital. You were found by a delivery chap in an alley outside your office. You’ve suffered very severe injuries. You have a broken leg. Shattered, actually, as is your left elbow. Your jaw and both eye sockets are fractured. You have a collapsed lung, a concussion, and a number of hematomas.” Marcus closed his eyes as the large black nurse rattled off more medical conditions. “You are a very lucky man, Dr. Marcus. Try to get some rest.”

Lucky? Marcus thought to himself. By the sound of what he had been told, he thought he would probably never walk again. Maybe not even talk. The upside was maybe he wouldn’t see Norma again. Now, that would be lucky. Through the slits in his eyes, he could barely make out the figure of the constable sitting outside his door. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing as he drifted off into the other place in which he had been spending the past few days. La-la land.

* * *