“Miss.  Can you tell me your name?”

My name.  I almost answered but then remembered why I couldn’t.  Penny.  I had to stay hidden.  I touched his will.  Suspicion, worry, and impatience lay there.  I soothed them away and replaced them.  The girl looks tired.  Poor thing.  She should be resting, not trying to speak.

I barely shook my head to answer his spoken question.  The man sighed and patted my hand.

“I understand.  Your throat must hurt.  I’ll try back later.”

I nodded ever so slightly and watched him turn to leave.

“Are you able to speak, miss?” the doctor asked, eyeing me with concern.  “The bites weren’t too deep, and missed your—”

“I can speak,” I said slowly.  “But everything is spinning.”

He nodded.  “You lost quite a bit of blood.  Nothing that should require a transfusion, but your blood pressure is low, and we’re keeping an eye on it.  I made the stitches as small as possible.  Between that and your age, the scars will hopefully fade into nothing with time.”

I didn’t care about scars.  “Can I leave?”

“We’d like to see your blood pressure improve before we send you home.”

He left, and I dozed again.  When the nurse came to check on me, I woke and asked for another drink.  She returned with a full cup of water then took my blood pressure.

“Your blood pressure is holding steady.  I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake again.  I’m sure there are a few people who need to speak with you if you’re up for it.”

Her will was too cloudy to read.  So I grabbed it.  “Tell me what you mean.”

“Administration will want to talk to you.  We’ll need your social insurance number to submit your stay for reimbursement.  And the Mountie is waiting.”

I knew what the Mountie wanted.  I also knew I couldn’t afford to stay any longer.

“I need a few things so I can leave,” I said.  “Medicine if this becomes infected, bandages, creams, salves, or whatever else you think might help.  Please get everything and bring it back here as fast as you can.”  I could feel her resistance as she nodded slowly.  “After you give them to me, you will forget me entirely.  If anyone questions why you can’t remember, you work a lot and need a break.”

I held firm until she gave in.

*    *    *    *

With a small paper bag filled with supplies, I slowly made my way out of the room I’d occupied.  Lightheaded, I had to keep a hand on the wall so it didn’t feel like the room was spinning so much.  Any staff member who moved to question me, I turned away.  The effort and the constant struggle of wills exhausted me more than walking.

When I made it down the hallway, I came to a set of double doors and peered through the small windows into the waiting area.  Winifred and Mary tensely sat on the couches near the entrance.  Across the room, the Mountie was having a friendly chat with one of the staff.  I lightly touched everyone’s wills to gauge the situation.

The Mountie wanted to speak with me again.  A woman behind the reception desk wanted to question Winifred about who I was.  I delved deeper and understood that Winifred had claimed to find me on the road and had given everyone a false name.  I influenced the woman to forget Winifred and Mary’s association with me and did the same with the Mountie.  No one else in the room really cared about us.

Winifred spotted me and stood as I pushed open the door.  My knees wobbled unsteadily with each step, and I felt cold and dizzy.  I kept my focus on the exit and the people around us.  Winifred hovered beside me.  Mary wrapped her arm through mine and let me lean on her.  It helped.  But I hoped they would catch me and run if I passed out.

No one paid us any attention as we crossed the room.  They wouldn’t remember us leaving.

Outside, the sun hung low in the sky.  I’d lost another day to another bite.  I was as mad as I was annoyed.

Mary led me to the truck, and I carefully climbed in.  The numbing medicine the doctor had put on my neck was starting to wear off, or maybe it was the pill the nurse had me swallow.  Either way, the pain crept in; and the ride back home was rough.

Home.  What a funny word with so many meanings.  Home wasn’t a place I liked.  It wasn’t where the people who loved me lived.  Home was the place I slept.  Nothing more.  Should I really call it home then?  What would I call it if not home?  It was so much closer to a prison with wardens who liked to bite me.

My thoughts drifted as the truck bumped its way along the road.  Mary had her arm around me, and I rested my head against her shoulder to help against the jarring.

The driveway to the buildings was the worst, even with Winifred going so slow.

“Stop,” I finally said.  “I need to walk.”  If I stayed in the truck, I would throw up.

Winifred eased the truck to a stop.  Mary and I got out.  The waist high grass was no longer untouched.  Two paths, from Winifred’s visits, marked the way.  I thought it might make walking easier, but my feet tangled in the matted grass and I tripped often.

“I can carry you,” Mary said as she walked along beside me.  I didn’t doubt she could.

“Thank you, but I think it would be better if I walked.  Maybe I could hold your arm, though,” I said when I almost fell again.  I wrapped my fingers around her upper arm and moved forward.  Having her as an anchor did help steady the spinning.  The fresh air and slow pace settled my stomach, too.

Winifred followed us with the truck.  My shuffling pace forced her to stop frequently, but neither she nor Mary said anything about our progress.  I kept my eyes on the ground until I noted a patch of grass ahead where the shade gave way to sun.  We’d almost reached the clearing.

I looked up.  The men must have heard the approach of the truck because they all stood silently waiting.  For what, I didn’t know.  But as long as I had their attention, I would use it.

I stopped walking and turned to Mary.  Behind us, the truck’s engine quieted.

“Can you help me take the bandages off?”

She glanced at the truck then back at me before she reached forward and gently peeled the tape back from my skin.  I held myself still through each tender tug and watched her face.  Worry pinched her brow when she saw the stitched wounds for the first time.  I hadn’t yet seen them for myself and doubted I would here, not unless I used one of the mirrors on the truck.  Based on her reaction, I might be better off if I didn’t look.  However, I wanted everyone else to see.

Once she had the bandages in her hand, I started forward again.  This time without her support.  I slowly wove my way through the men, more concerned with my pain than their intense attention.  When I stood in the center, I carefully turned and let my gaze sweep them.

“Biting hurts,” I said, enunciating each word as if I spoke to toddlers.  “Stop biting.”  When I found Thomas and Gregory in the crowd, I stopped moving.  “Kindness and consideration are not games.”

Thomas gave a barely perceivable nod.  Satisfied, my gaze passed over the men surrounding me.  Their expressions no longer held aggression or eagerness.  Each held a mixture of guilt and concern.

“I need a week.  Please, leave me alone.  I just want to sleep.”

Most of the men around me had the grace to look away.  I should have felt triumphant, but the pain in my neck robbed me of my victory.

I trudged to the door, and everyone parted to make way for me.  It was odd to see the group so still and silent.  Even the ones on four legs.

Mary moved ahead and opened the door for me, but Winifred remained behind.  Inside, the table was set, and a rabbit was on the fire.

I ignored the food, went to the pump, and dug in the bag for the pills the nurse gave me.  I shook out a painkiller, ignored the antibiotics, and reached for the pump handle.

“Let me do that for you,” Mary said.