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“Thanks for coming so late,” Jason’s voice.
Then a woman had replied and I could not make out what she said. The bedroom door slowly creaked open. “Hi, Gemma, I’m Dr. Mead. Jason has asked me to check you over. I’m going to be real gentle.” A pleasant voice I could trust.
With cool, confident fingers she examined me. My face first, checking the cheekbone and telling me softly my face would be a bit bruised but otherwise there was no damage to my bone. She shone a light in my eyes. The torch’s shaft of light was too bright and I had shut my eyes. She then took my pulse and blood pressure. I was rolled on to my side, which was when I noticed Jason sitting cross-legged on the bed next to me. He looked at me reassuringly as Dr. Mead inspected my wound.
“Um. It is small but a little deeper than I like. It will need a couple of stitches to close it properly or else it could get infected.” She replaced the wad.
“Can you do that here? Gemma doesn’t want to go to hospital. I don’t want her in an A&E department on a Saturday night.” Jason was persuasive.
“I can do the procedure here. I have suture kit and lidocaine. What concerns me is she is in shock and she needs to rest. She’s not going to keep still in this state.”
I was shaking so badly, my heartbeat would not calm down and my head throbbed. All I could hear was screaming and I did not know if the sound stuck in my head was Libby’s manic shriek or mine.
“I can give her a mild tranquiliser to get her to go to sleep. I can put the sutures in while she sleeps.”
“Do it,” Jason spoke with that calm authority again.
I looked at Jason and he held my hand as the needle slipped into my arm. Then the lights gradually went dim and the screaming faded.
Sunday proceeded to wash away in a haze. I stayed in bed all day while Jason watched me like a hawk. He insisted I had soup and juice to combat my nausea. I then swallowed the tablets he gave me and lay there floating in a dream like trance, never fully awake or deeply asleep. I suspected the tablets were valium or something similar. Occasionally I would hear his voice on the phone or his fingers tapping on the keyboard of his laptop, perched on his knee next to me in bed.
The Sunday ended with the winter frost forming on the sash window. I slept an unnaturally deep dreamless sleep.
***
Monday morning I felt better and I was sitting up sipping the sweet tea Jason had left for me. My head was clear and my thoughts rational. No calming tablet was necessary and I was waiting for Dr. Mead to return to check up on me. Jason had left instructions for Mr Brooks to let her in to see me. The doorbell rang and I heard her greet Mr Brooks below in the hallway. There was a knock on the bedroom door and without waiting, she came in, medical bag in hand.
“Hi, Gemma. Oh, you’re looking so much better this morning. The colour is back in your cheeks. Good.”
She placed the bag on the end of the bed and propped herself on the edge next to me. She was in a smart grey trouser suit with her hair tied back behind her head. I did not recollect what she had worn in the middle of Saturday night. A very attractive woman and probably in her mid-thirties. She took my pulse and flashed a light in my eyes. Then she inspected my knife wound, removing the dressing careful so I barely noticed her do it.
“That’s healing nicely. You won’t need a dressing anymore and you can shower or bathe, the water won’t do it any harm. Any pus, blood or a fever and you will need to seek medical help. Understand?”
I nodded, hoping none of what she said would be necessary.
“I’ve brought you more antibiotics, a short course as a precaution against infection. When was your last tetanus booster? Less than ten years ago?”
I thought hard and recollected one at the end of my last year of university. “I’m pretty sure I’m covered at the moment, thank you, Dr. Mead.”
She smiled at my politeness. “Well I best be off. You’re free to get back to normal activities.” She paused looking at me carefully. “If you need counselling I am sure Jason can arrange it for you. Don’t let things get bottled up inside, it is dangerous for your health.” She patted my hand and started to pack her bag leaving the tablets on my bedside table.
I could not help notice that she called him Jason. She also came out in the middle of the night without any fuss. I was curious about her; I needed to know why she came. Was I jealous of her?
“It is very kind of you to come out in the night, are you an on call doctor?” I sat up a bit more in bed. She shut her bag and smiled at me in an oh-here-we-go sort of way.
“No. I’m a hospital registrar. I wasn’t on duty at the weekend. I’m back on shift this afternoon. No. I owe Jason a favour and we’re old friends. We go back to university. We met when he was an undergraduate and I was finishing off my PhD. I then went on to start practising medicine.”
Oh! The penny dropped. I knew precisely who she was. We held each other’s gaze for a minute, as if acknowledging the significance of her statement.
She hesitated, then as if as an afterthought she added. “I studied medicine with someone you know. I believe she helped you recently, a few months back. I remember her concern over what had happened to you. I hope these unfortunate incidences don’t mar your happiness, Gemma.”
Nothing more needed to be said. She said goodbye and good luck to me before heading downstairs. At last, I knew how Jason had been given my name as a potential submissive for him. The chain of people has been connected together.
I smiled. He had kept that quiet!
I heard more voices downstairs. Jason was back. There was a brief conversation with Dr. Mead and then she was gone. I carefully climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom. I was desperate for a shower, fresh clothes and something more substantial to eat. Jason would be pleased with me.
***
