Chapter 25
Edward’s unconscious body was taken back to the room. After several hours in hiding, the staff had disposed of Frank’s body. All that was needed was a cover story to account for his death. After all, his family had to be told something. He was lifted onto the bed as the administrator looked on.
“I want him in four-point leather restraints before one stitch of clothing is cut off,” he ordered. “Get an IV back in him and put him on a succinylcholine drip.”
“Sir,” a nurse inquired. “That’s just going to paralyze him. Don’t you want him to be unconscious?”
The administrator marched up to the foot of the bed and pointed at the nurse.
“You do what I tell you to do,” he replied. “And from now on, this one is to be considered a flight risk.”
He pointed over to the nurse sitting behind the desk. She still concealed the syringe filled with the sedative she had prepared earlier.
“Nurse, take us out of lockdown and get security down here. I want a guard on him around the clock.”
He looked back at Edward while the last of the restraints were being applied.
“Edward,” he began. “You are never getting away from me again.”
He knew that Edward couldn’t hear him, but saying those words gave the administrator a great sense of pleasure. He now seemed to be gloating in his victory over Edward. He loved to play the game and he preferred to win at any cost.
Edward was intubated as his clothes were being cut off. Two nurses inserted an IV into each arm. One would be used for fluids and drugs while the other would be used in the event the first failed. A dialysis line was placed in a large vein near his collarbone. This would be used when his kidneys were removed. The medical staff swarmed over him with tubes, wires, and needles. Together, they acted as a single unit and carried out their skills with swift efficiency. When they left the room, Edward had been reduced to nothing more than a biological extension of technology. His body lay in a drug-induced limbo devoid of feelings and will while the administrator stood in the doorway calmly gloating. He looked back at the staff.
“Nurse,” he began. “Is the paralytic running?”
“Yes, sir,” the nurse answered.
She was busy writing in Edward’s chart which only a string of numbers. The administrator simply nodded his head in satisfaction and walked away.
“I’ll be back in two hours,” he said. Turning back around, he pointed at the staff accusingly.
“And don’t fuck this up! I want him at least semi-conscious when I get back!”
The administrator returned a little more than two hours later.
“Alright, someone give me an update,” he demanded.
A nurse stepped forward with the numbered chart in her hand.
“His airway is stable. His blood oxygen is at ninety-nine percent. His pressure and heart rate have gone up a bit within the last hour, but his EKG is normal.”
The administrator walked into the room, pulled up a chair and made himself comfortable.
“Pressure and heart rate are up, huh,” he noted coldly.
He leaned over towards Edward’s face.
“That means the sedative has worn off. And that means that you can hear me. Doesn’t it, Edward?” Edward was unable to move. The effect of the drug left him without the ability to even move his eyes. But the administrator knew Edward was conscious. As he continued taunting him, Edward’s face would flush with anger. The administrator took great pleasure in witnessing this response.
“I should mention that we gave you a little something in your IV to make you a bit less of a problem. That would be why you can’t move. Don’t worry though. We have a machine breathing for you.”
He leaned back over into Edward’s face.
“It must be very uncomfortable not to be able to blink your eyes -- something so simple. We take it for granted without a single thought, until we can’t do it anymore. It must change your outlook on things just a bit.”
Edward’s face became flushed again.
“Yeah, ya see what I mean?” he asked tauntingly. “So, what now? Well, you’re about to make a series of important contributions. In fact, you’ve already been scheduled for surgery tomorrow. It seems that you’ve been good enough to donate a kidney. Now, we have kind of an unwritten rule here. We can’t donate your brain or your penis. I mean…that wouldn’t be fair to anyone. Would it?”
The administrator quietly laughed at Edward’s expense who again flushed with anger.
“But, really Edward,” he continued. “All kidding aside, I really don’t see why you tried to escape. In fact, it seems to me that I’m doing you a favor here. Edward, the weight of the world is off your shoulders. I’m sure you’ve seen the news – it sucks out there. Water shortages, jobs, the economy -- all that bullshit with the Chinese. Seriously Edward, who wants to deal with all that anyway? Now, you -- the world can go on being fucked up without you. You’ve been redeemed, Edward, you should be thanking me.”
The administrator briefly held out his hands as if offering a blessing. Letting his hands drop over the side rail he looked at Edward and quietly giggled to himself.
“Ya know, Edward. Sometimes I get so excited I just start babbling. So, I’m gonna go and let you get some rest,” he said. “So, I guess I’ll see you in the morning before your surgery. Okay?”
Before leaving, he looked down at the restraints that held Edward’s wrists and ankles to the bed.
“Ya know, Edward,” he continued. “We don’t need these anymore. I mean, it’s not like you’re going anywhere, right?” He ordered the nurse to remove the restraints while grinning sarcastically.
“Yeah, let’s just get those off for you.”
The nurse removed the restraints as he got up from the chair and started toward the doorway.
“Well, see ya in the morning, Edward.”
The administrator paused for a moment and turned back for one more jab.
“Oh, one more thing Edward. Don’t go getting up without the nurses help. Got it?”
He pointed at Edward and gave him a sarcastic wink. Turning away, he left the unit at a casual pace while giving the nurse one last order, Edward was to be monitored every thirty minutes until morning.
Unable to move, the vulnerability he was experiencing was the single most terrifying event of his life. Nothing else he had ever been through could begin to compare with being this out of control. The fear that ran rampant around in his mind would not let him sleep. Even the idea of sleep seemed like a fantasy, while the nightmare that held him captive was now all too real.