Here Come the Gremlins

Thump... Slap!.... BANG!

"What are you doing?!" Neffydd asked Warder Sullens as he slapped at the hospital tray table in front of him, jostling his food and drink. He glanced at her quickly with wild eyes then went back to his pursuit.

"I have to catch it or it will keep running around; scares the children." He glanced off to the side and swiped at the empty air in front of him.

"Baby..." Neffydd caught his hand, careful not to jostle the I.V., but he jerked it away. "Hun, there's nothing there." Warder looked at her again with more attention this time.

"What?" He was startled, his eyes wide with fear. "There's a thing on the table... it looks like just a head... and another climbing the cupboard!" He pointed to the cupboard behind her. She dutifully looked at the empty cupboard. There was nothing.

"No baby, there's nothing there..." She looked at her life-mate with concern. This was not a good sign. The surgery had gone well and he was recovering rapidly; but suddenly she wasn't sure he was doing so well at all.

She left to find a nurse, the nurse quickly evaluated him and set in motion a series of evaluations by a string of people that took hours to complete. Finally a doctor from Neurosurgery evaluated him and decided to detox Sullens from all of the narcotic pain relievers, leaving him on acetaminophen and low dose of Fentanyl.

The nurses and Neffydd worked on a solution for better pain relief but could only come up with the use of ice packs to help reduce the swelling on the surgery site.

Neffydd worried, but his recovery wasn't over yet. There was still a lot of time for improvement.

Torture

Searing pain shoots through ever nerve in Neffydd's body, stiffening every swollen joint... an icy breeze scrapes it razor edge along her exposed flesh...

The minions are dancing and screaming in shrill voices somewhere too close.

Warder Sullens brings a small bottle of pressed tablets and the rattling noise is akin to marbles bouncing off her skull. He opens the bottle and hands her a giant tab. She grabs the mug at her side, places the tab between her teeth and flips it back to her throat while she takes a long swig of the sickly-sweet dark liquid. She grimaces at the tepid temperature and grainy texture but the stimulant should help.

She leans back into the cushions of her bed and closes her eyes, just for a moment...