Escape!
Shiva awoke in a daze the next morning. Her brain felt as though it was encased in a thick fog. Glancing over at the pill bottles on the table, she remembered why. Danyla nudged Shiva’s feet with her nose, noticing she was awake at last. She stretched her arms over her head as she yawned loudly, nearly knocking over a lamp behind her head. As she blinked away the sleep in her eyes, the memories of the previous night began to flood back to her.
The door to what she assumed was Solas’ room was ajar. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment as she remembered him leading her to the bathroom. After all of his kindness, she had to repay him by being a drugged up asshole. Great.
Her chest felt monumentally better. What was in that health poultice Solas made her drink? Whatever it was, it was clearly helping a lot. She hesitantly took a deep breath in, and noticed there was still a sharp ache in her lung, but she was relieved to know she could breathe comfortably once more. Shiva reached for the pill bottles and swallowed the appropriate amount with the last bit of water in her glass. With only half a mouthful left, she was left to taste the intense bitterness of the pills, and she shuddered. No more recreational drug use, at least not for now.
Shiva moved to stand up, moving the silver blanket off of her. She felt wobbly on her feet, and she moved closer to the wall to steady herself. Each step forward had to be conscious and deliberate. She made her way slowly to the door ahead of her, making sure to tread lightly so as to not wake her dog, who was sleeping on the plush rug contentedly.
“Doctor?” Shiva tested when she reached the outside of the cracked door. Only silence met her as she waited for a response. She tentatively pushed the door open and peeked inside.
There was no Solas to be found past the doorframe, but that didn’t stop Shiva’s curiosity from pushing her further inside. Tall bookshelves lined the walls of the small room filled with thick academic tomes, and there was an expensive looking desk pushed up against a window that overlooked the town below, with an equally expensive looking iMac upon it. She felt uncomfortable trespassing into what was clearly his private work room, but all of her apprehension was lost when she saw the sleek black turntable in the corner of the room.
The turntable had a very classic gramophone design, and Shiva would have mistaken it for an antique if not for its pristine condition. Several record sleeves sat out, and Shiva lifted them to get a taste of his musical sense. Bach. Why was she not surprised? She rolled her eyes as she sifted through more records. The Smiths, Adele, more classical music, and a few Radiohead albums were all she could find sitting out. Depressing.
There was a single twin-sized bed pushed up against the wall. It looked as though no one had ever slept in it with how pristine it was made up. Shiva looked away, as though prolonged eye contact would wrinkle the perfect sheets. Is that where Solas slept? She pushed the thought from her mind, and focused on the desk again. What had caught her attention was a pad of lined paper sitting next to the computer. There was a fountain pen lying on top of it, uncapped and ready.
“A letter...” Shiva pondered aloud. She didn’t want to take advantage of his good graces even further. Rather than continue to annoy the doctor, she’d prefer to treat herself at home. She didn’t know what his motivation was for bringing her here, anyhow. It’s true that the hospital was quite a distance from the curb outside of Isabela’s house that she had been bleeding on, but this still felt very unusual. Though she thought it unlikely that he meant to lock her in a murder-torture dungeon, she would rather be safe than sorry. The thoughts started to muddy in her mind. Ah. That must be the pain medication. Still, she pushed through it to try to maintain coherence. Shiva picked up the pen, and wrote a quick note to thank Solas for everything he had done for her.
At times, she felt her mind straying from her, and she had to find her place in the letter and continue. What should have taken one minute ended up taking twenty, and she looked upon the scribbled paper and cringed. Not her best work, but it’d have to do. She was feeling tired, and she wanted to get home. Signing her name and writing her phone number at the bottom was all she could manage, but she thought it would probably suffice.
“Danyla!” She called to the other room, turning off the light as she exited. The dog perked her ears as Shiva retrieved her bag from the floor and attempted to make the couch look made up once more, as it had likely been before she arrived. She eyed the pill bottles warily, and decided to take the antibiotic with her. The doctor was likely breaking rules already by giving her this medication outside of an official hospital visit. She’d prefer to not get him in any more trouble than necessary.
“Phone, keys, wallet…” Shiva mumbled as she checked her pockets and bag. Ah. She would be late on rent this month, thanks to Isabela. What a nice reminder. She’d have to start planning her revenge soon.
Everything else seemed in order, however, and she beckoned to her dog as she climbed down the stairs to exit the home into the crisp cold air of a winter’s day.