Sixty-eight: Drugged

Kiran was carrying me to bed when I woke up and his soldiers were all fighting over the rest of the little paper animals. I didn't see what made them so excited about paper creatures. When I was too drowsy to eat properly or talk, he did not look pleased. He even seemed a little concerned. Dr Eisor came with another cup of that awful drink which he watched me drink. Then I was out like a light.

"They're little good luck charms," I heard someone talking to Kiran. "Are you sure she's never learnt Bosky lore? Because she made all our emblems and even those of the lesser tribes. None of us have been hurt since, we've made good progress and we're gaining so much ground. Maybe you were right to insist on keeping her."

"But I'm worried," Kiran said and I felt his big warm hand, stroking my back. "She's barely woken up since she made them and that rumour of her infusing her spirit with those things has got to be nonsense. She's not a witch. She only wakes up to eat a little bit, go to the toilet and then falls asleep again. Something must be wrong, but Dr Eisor says he can't find anything wrong."

"She probably just needs the rest," Dr Eisor's voice said and I smelt hot food. "Wake her up, Kiran."

"Jean, Jean," Kiran shook me by the shoulders and pulled me up into sitting so that I could lean against him. "Wake up. It's dinner time."

With effort, I pried open my bleary eyed with my fingers, making Kiran laugh at me. I leant against him, still feeling sleepy and wanting to sleep.

"No, don't go back to sleep," Kiran said. A hand cupped my chin and forced my mouth open. I was fed in this way like a baby, Kiran blowing on every spoonful before putting the mushy food into my mouth. "Stay awake and eat properly."

A cup was put to my lips, but when I tasted that foul liquid, I spat it back out. That woke me up.

"I'll eat the food," I managed to say, "but I won't drink that anymore."

Fingers pinched my cheek.

"Darling," said the doctor, with a warning in his voice, "remember how I told you that you have to face the music? You're gaining so much more weight and you're on the mend. You just have to keep following my orders."

"You," I said and then spluttered when the drink was poured into my mouth and I choked.

"Swallow," the doctor ordered and I swallowed in between choking coughs.

"Doc, you don't need to be so rough with her," Kiran complained. "I'd have made her drink it eventually."

"You're too soft on her, Kiran," the doctor said. "You'll spoil her. I'll come back later when she's finished eating."

When the doctor was gone, I pulled Kiran's ear down to my mouth, struggling against the sleepy tide again.

"It's drugged," I whispered. "He's keeping me asleep on purpose."

"What?" Kiran said. "I can't hear you."

I tried again. The doctor may have been increasing the doses. It was hard to tell if I was dreaming now or still awake. Still, I tried.

~~~

When next I woke up, my head spun and felt heavy. My eyes were dry and blurry. My mouth tasted sour and there was a line in my arm.

Brown eyes glared at me.

"You told on me," they accused.

"You deserved it," I spoke around my slow tongue and swallowed, feeling nauseous. "You were trying to kill me with sleep."

"He's making me detox you, that's why you feel sick, in case you're wondering," Dr Eisor snapped at me. "You're going through some withdrawal. I was eliminating a threat, but no, you had to wreck my plans. You are filling out quite nicely though," he patted my cheek gently, in a complete non sequitur. "You'll have your figure back soon. Maybe I'll push for that route instead. Once you're pregnant, you're unlikely to want to go anywhere."

"I don't understand," I said in my lumbering voice. My tongue felt too fat and heavy.

"Oh, but you do," Dr Eisor said, patting my tummy this time and I flinched. "You're a smart girl, Jean. Smarter than even Kiran realises. Too smart for your own good. If I let you have your way, you'll escape with Alistair, who hasn't really turned to our side. I have to give you praise where praise is due, though. At least you're both loyal. To a fault, in your case. Even when your own people nearly killed you."

"Your people have too," I retorted.

"Kiran's better off without you, my girl," Dr Eisor said. "He's too distracted with you around. Can't concentrate on his job properly. At least when you're asleep, he'll know you'll still be safe back here. Now he's mad with me and who's fault is that? Yours. He made some bad calls and we lost almost as much ground as we gained. We haven't worked this hard over the past hundreds of years only for the existence of one small girl to undo all our hard work. So I apologise if I am harsh, but if you hamper our progress again, I will make you regret it. Tell on me again, and you will seriously regret it. I'll do the surgery on you whether he wants it or not and bind you to him as a slave. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Seriously, why did everyone just assume I was in love with my Bosky soldier. He was in love with me. Not the other way around. If using and abusing someone was what you called love. The threat though sounded serious and scary enough that I was giving my escape plans a second thought.

"As it is, I'll have to resort to the cruder plan of making him drunk enough to make you pregnant. If that doesn't work, I can always use the other soldiers to help you along until you are."

"I don't like the sound of it."

My stomach heaved at the thought.

"Only when you're better, of course, "Dr Eisor said with a distant smile, "and I've found a way to maim you so that you'd never be able to escape. What a pity I let your feet heal before I thought things through properly, although," he picked up my feet turning it this way and that way, "I might just still have a way around it."

With a serene smile, he sailed out of the room, leaving me to shudder at the thoughts of his plans for me. I had to get out of here before he could enact his plan.