Saving Anna Karenina
Part 25
Start with Part 1, and read a short synopsis of the original book.
THE NIGHT VISITOR HAD A CINCH around her arm again, clenching and loosening to a beeping sound, when she woke up.
“I read about you,” he said quietly. “You’re the time traveler, right?”
Anna nodded. He was a man with glasses and a gentle expression, not a nurse, but in his own clothes.
“You need to drink water. You’re dehydrated. You’ve been asleep since yesterday afternoon. I’ve been taking your blood pressure all night. I don’t know what the nurses are doing here.”
He left and she dozed off again. He woke her a few minutes later; first he whispered her name, and then he put his hand on her shoulder. He held a large cup of water. Anna tried to sit up in bed but her sight went black and she fell back.
“You’re really feeling rough, huh?” he whispered.
She sat up again, with his hand at her back for support, and drank deeply.
“You’re going to breakfast, right? That will help. My name is Richard. I work Monday through Thursday, night shift.”
Anna nodded. “Thank you, dear,” she whispered, her voice cracking.
Patti walked in as Richard left. She was full of energy, with a towel wrapped around her head and an apple in her hand.
“Damn Anna! I was really worried about you yesterday! How are you feeling?You were pukin’ and shit! They’re supposed to give you a shot for the nausea. I told them!”
Anna got out of bed, which caused everything to turn black again. The light came slowly as she crept in the direction of the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, and then she sat on the bed and told Patti about her problem getting pills from the nurse.
“Well I keep askin’ them to give me my liquid prozac,” she said. “I don’t know what they’re waiting for. I’m coming off crack and they aren’t giving me antidepressants. So I’m feeling pretty bad myself.”
They walked to breakfast together. The pale girl was still pacing the hall, now she was laughing to herself. From inside one of the rooms Anna heard a man chanting. As they passed the nurse’s office, a hairy man in pyjamas was asking for his clothes.
“Not right now, I have urine in my hands,” a nurse said. She looked out the window at Anna and Patti as one would watch foes from other side of a war trench.
