#chokingtw

Georgia didn’t remember how she had gotten to the small, closet sized room.

She didn’t remember much of anything from the previous night.

At least, she thought it was the previous night. The room had no windows, no clock, no anything. Except for bricks.

She started to count the next wall.

The door opened before she reached 20. It was hard to make out the figure standing in the doorway, with the backlight from the hall and her still-blurry vision. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust before Alexei’s smirking face came into view.

Why was he smirking? He was supposed to be helping her. He had picked her up last night, rescued her from her parents, and then…

Trying to remember made her head hurt. She stopped trying.

Alexei leaned on the doorframe casually. “Feeling any better?”

“I-I… I d-don’t know-w-what-t’s-”

“Yeah, she’s still feverish,” Alexei said to someone outside the door. “You think it’s a reaction to the-”

“Obviously it's a reaction to the drugs, Alexei.” A woman with close-cropped hair and a sneer walked through the doorway, kneeling a foot in front of Georgia. “Either you gave her too much or she was drunk already. Or you’re just really unlucky and she’s allergic or something.”

Georgia looked between Alexei and the woman in confusion. Gave her too much what?

The woman reached into a leather bag slung around her shoulder and pulled out a thermometer. “Open up,” she commanded, scooting closer and holding it up to Georgia’s lips.

She shook her head, pushing back further into the wall. “I d-don’t… what’s g-going on?”

The woman rolled her eyes. “I always forget how hard it is to deal with the untrained ones.” She grabbed Georgia's chin, hard, and forced her head up. Georgia gasped, trying in vain to wiggle away. She felt the cold mettle tip of the thermometer push into her mouth, and she clamped it shut to try to stop it.

The woman released her chin and moved her hand to wrap tightly around Georgia’s throat, restricting her air and sparking a fear so strong she didn’t know what to do with it. She thrashed about, trying to push away this stranger, but there was no hope of her winning such a struggle.

“Come on, sweet, under your tongue.”

She opened her mouth, just a little, and the thermometer settled into place. The hand around her throat loosened its grip, and she took in a shuddering breath, which quickly turned into a sob.

“Aww, crying already? We haven’t even done anything yet. Now close your mouth for me, that’s a good girl.” Georgia did as she was told and after a minute the women took the thermometer out, looking at the number displayed on the screen. “103.2. Not great, but not life threatening. Give her some tylenol and a few hours rest, she’ll probably be fine.”

“Sounds good,” Alexei said with a grin. He stood the woman’s hand once she had stood up. “Thank you, Lee. I’ll let you know when I need you again.”

“You always do,” she chuckled. “With the way you work, I’ll probably see you again tomorrow.” She left without another word and Georgia and Alexei were alone.

She didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what question to ask that would make things make sense. She didn’t want to understand, though, not really. She just wanted…

“I want to go home.”

He scoffed. “What home? Home to your parents? They don’t care about you, do they? And you ran away. You don’t have a home to go to.”

“I t-thought you-”

“You thought I was going to save you? That we’d drive away and everything would be fine again? Life doesn’t work like that, Georgie.”

She sat for a moment in silence, realization washing over her.

This man wasn’t her friend. The person who knew all her deepest secrets, who had comforted her in her lowest times, didn’t…

“You don’t care.”