Control

Jason

It was the day I woke up in the hospital after my father shot me. Everyone had left for the night, so I decided to get some sleep when I had this dream. I can't even say it was a dream. It was dark, and I heard voices. A girl's voice.

"You're not safe, Jay. Open your eyes."

I thought I opened my eyes but it was nothing but darkness.

"Open your eyes, Jay."

I open them. And through my sleepy vision, there's a man in a hospital gown, standing by the foot of my bed. He's staring at me. His face is bruised and battered. I guess my eyes looked like they were closed still because he just kept staring without saying a word. A nurse in pink scrubs comes in.

"Emil, come on. Not now." She whispers.

"Then when can I?" He whispers back.

"Not here."

"Why can't you? You have the power to."

"Because he's not my patient. I don't have access to this floor. I'll keep my eyes on him. Let's go before we get caught."

"He needs to die, Kathy."

"And he will, darling. I'll make sure of it."

"I want to have control over his death."

Control.

"No. Let's go."

She takes him by the arm and guides him out. I start breathing hard and I wait a few more minutes to ensure he doesn't come back in here. It took me a while to fall back asleep.

Mom and Nikki are staring at me. Their eyes are wide. The heart monitor picks up my sudden change of rhythm. I look up at it, watching the lines move, hearing the machine beep faster.

"I need to get out of here." I say.

"And go where?" Nikki asked.

"Home, another fucking hospital. Anywhere but here. I need to get out of here."

"Jason, you need to calm down first." Nikki warns.

I shake my head. "I can't, Nikki! I fucking can't! I'm not strong enough to fight back right now. I need to go."

A nurse power walks into the room. Her badge says her name is Brenda.

"Is everything okay? I got an alert about your sudden heart rate increase." She asks.

She pressed a button on the monitor and looked at the previous reports.

"Jeez. What happened?"

"I need to leave." I say.

"The doctor wants you to stay a few more nights." She says.

"I don't have a few more nights!" I yell.

Brenda takes a step back.

"I'm not safe here. Just please, somebody listen to me!"

"Jason, you are safe." She says calmly.

"I'm not fucking safe. My dad is here. His fucking nurse girlfriend was here. My dad is the one that put me in here. I'm not fucking safe."

Nikki and mom back up off the bedside and stand by the wall. Brenda tries to get me back into bed, but I fight her. She puts the blanket back over me but I take it off, repeating my dad is around. Brenda presses the nurses button as I keep repeating that I'm not safe.

"Do you need assistance?"

"I got a patient having a psychotic episode."

My eyes widened. "What the fuck? No! I'm telling the truth!"