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The only reason we know days have gone by is the lack of food and water.Did you know that the human body can live more than three weeks without the substance of food, but without water, it rapidly diminishes?I estimate we took our last rationed sip of slimy water three days ago.
Since then, neither of us has had a single drop of hydration. My body feels so tired, and my mind circles with thoughts that make no sense. My parched mouth is so dry that my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. We are slowly dying here, and I have no idea how to save us.
When I fall into the oblivion of unconsciousness, my mind brings me vivid images of Mia. Mia calling to me, Mia looking for me. I can never reach her in any of my dreams. In my lucid hours, if you can even call them that, my mind is on the fragile girl I hold in my arms on a dirty floor. Her body is clammy and feverish in my arms. Her chest started making wheezing sounds at least a day ago, and now her breaths are coming out in ragged pants.
“Please, June, hold on. Please don’t leave me.” I whisper into her hairline while I use my trembling hands to rub across her limbs, trying to keep her warm. Even though she’s clammy, this room is chilly, and the lack of clothing between us isn’t helping.
She doesn’t respond; she hasn’t opened her eyes in a while. I don’t even know if she can hear me, but I keep whispering to her anyway and begging her not to leave me here alone without her. To fight so that we can escape together, even though I know the likelihood that will ever happen is slim to none. I’ve given up hope; we are never getting out of here. Vincent has left us to die, and I don’t know whether he’s managed to get his hands on Mia or Theo, and that’s why he no longer requires us.
June gasps a rough rattle in her chest, making her whole body lock up in my hold and shake.Fuck, is she having a seizure? Is she dying on me? NO! I refuse to let her go.If she’s going to leave this miserable world, she and I need to go together. I cannot continue to survive here, not without her. I gather her further in my lap, my weak limbs barely able to hold her slight weight.
She’s lost so much weight since the first time I saw her; she’s just skin and bones now. Although her skin is clammy and fevered, she’s so pale that I can trace the veins under her skin, like some macabre highway traveling through her body. The endless pattern of bruises that won’t seem to heal makes her skin appear to be painted in different shades of red, purple, and green.
I close my eyes and once again beg whatever entity is up there to save us, not to let us die in this hell.No one is coming to save you.They will never find you, even when you’re long gone and your bones have turned to dust. They have forgotten you. They have moved on. You will die here a pitiful, weak creature, in death much like you were in life, unremarkable and unwanted.
I try to shut the thoughts out that won’t cease circling my mind. Have they honestly forgotten me? Would my fellow kings give up the search for me? Would Mia stop looking for me? My heart tells me no, but my mind insists that we are delusional and filled with a self-worth that is haughty and disingenuous. I didn’t matter in life to anyone, not my parents, not my fellow kings, and not to a reigning queen that came with a vengeance to destroy us.
“June…June, if you leave me…I will be right behind you.” Oblivion calls to me once more, and I go willingly into its welcome arms.
“Get her up; the doctor says she’s dying and needs to be moved into another room.” The harsh voice penetrates the darkness that I wallow in. I try to ignore it, but something is wrong. Something is dragging me away from my visions of Mia and pulling me back to a state of consciousness. I’m stunned at his words. He’s going to try to help us escape this death trap. He’s right, though; I need to be stronger to be able to protect June. I no longer give a shit if I make it out of here and back to the kings. My only goal is to keep June safe and get her away from these monsters.What about Mia?My mind questions with snark. I shake my head to clear my thoughts. Mia is not here; Mia is in the past, hopefully, safe from Vincent’s hateful presence. June is the here and now, and she’s who I have to protect.
I crack open my gritty, sore eyes just as a weight is removed from my grasp. I come awake suddenly and grapple onto June’s limp body that someone is trying to remove from my grasp. “No…” I call out through a dry, swollen mouth. I’m shoved hard backward, and I fall onto my side as they take my lifeline away from me. June, my current reason for living. I can’t let them take her. I try to pull myself back up and get a grip on her arm, pulling her back down to me and away from whoever is trying to take her. My vision is so blurry that all I see are dark shapes surrounding us like monsters from a nightmare.
“Let go fucker; doc says she’s dying and needs meds.” Another harsh shove against my chest has me gasping and falling back again, and June is ripped from my arms. “Please…” I beg like the pathetic fool I am.
“Fuck it, she stinks, and I don’t want to carry her anywhere. Throw her on the bed. The doctor can treat her in here. If she dies, she fucking dies. Sloan, get rid of those nasty fucking buckets. It smells like shit and piss in here.”
I rub my shaking hand across my eyes, trying to focus my eyesight. The voices are familiar. The demons are back to hurt us some more. Am I dreaming, or is this real? They said the doctor is going to treat June, that she’s dying. Did my prayers get answered?Be careful what you wish for, my mind whispers,you never know what new horrors will await.
“Oh my lord, the state of this young woman. What have you done to her?”
“Shut it, doc, just fucking fix her or end her; we don’t have all day.”
“She’s raging with an infection. Her body is shutting down on her. She’s dehydrated and starving. You left them with no food!” The soft tones of the doctor’s admonishments fill the room.
“She’s a whore doc, not a fucking prized princess.”
“Even whores desire to live, Sloan. You can’t have treated her this way, left her in this condition, and expected her to survive. When Vincent finds out you left these two here to die for five days, he’s going to kill you both.” I watch as the doctor pulls different contraptions off a metal cart and starts moving over June’s prone body, lying there unresponsive.
“Make yourselves useful, get me something to bathe her with, and bring the boy food and water unless you want him to deteriorate further and suffer Vincent’s wrath.”
I watch as Sloan and Francis trail out of the room with a look over their shoulders and fear across their features. Huh, they left us here to die without Vincent knowing. We’ve been here alone for five days, locked in this room with no food or water. June’s been feverish for most of that time.
“Alright, my dear, let’s see if I can keep you alive, although it would be a small mercy I would be doing you if I just let you die.” The doctor mumbles to himself, and I watch as he examines June’s body. As he moves towards June’s crotch, he gets a horrid, disgusted look on his face.
“Of course, they gave you a sexually transmitted disease, the barbarians. Oh, I’m sorry for all you have suffered, my dear. I wish I could have saved you. But you see, they have my son imprisoned somewhere else and are forcing me to help them in exchange for his life.” Doc mutters to himself while connecting June to a portable blood pressure cuff.
Sloan walks back into the room carrying buckets of water and a dingy white towel across his shoulders. “Here, bathe the whore.” He slams the buckets down on the ground, and the water sloshes over the sides and onto the ground. My mouth opens and closes in desperate thirst, willing me to find the strength to crawl to the buckets.
“You’ve given this poor girl a sexually transmitted disease, most likely Gonorrhea, based on all the discharge from her cavities. You will all need to be treated to keep from passing it back and forth.”
“Well, shit, doc, I guess that’s why my balls have been hurting me for days, and that gooey stuff is coming out of my penis.”
“Damn savages.” The doctor whispers under his breath and turns away from Sloan. I watch as he clenches his hand in anger; he doesn’t want to be here. He’s as much a prisoner as we are. If Vincent has his son, he will do whatever he can to try to save him. Whata good father would do, huh? Yours handed you over to the devil.The voice in my head plagues me with truths I can’t avoid. My father never loved me; he was never a true parent to me. He was willing to give me over to a monster to protect himself and his filthy secret dealings.
The doctor spends the next little while hooking June up to an intravenous and washing her body clean. He comes towards me once he’s done and checks me over, grimacing at the smell coming off my body and proclaiming what a mess I am and why they had him save me if they were going to let me starve to death anyway. I don’t bother to reply, getting the feeling that he doesn’t really want my opinion on the matter and is just venting while he can.
“Will she survive?” I whisper to him as he’s listening to my heart with his stethoscope. He straightens slightly, his dark beady eyes meeting mine, and then a harsh scowl crosses his face. I don’t think he’ll answer me for a moment, but then he nods and looks at June over his shoulder. “Neither of you will survive if you don’t get out of here.”
