Sick (short story)

I could hear a beeping sound coming from the adjacent room which sounded like a microwave that finished cooking and was now in 30 second alert mode. I tried to turn my head in that direction, but found it to be impossibly painful. I wasn't sure if my neck was broken or my head was tied down, since the rest of my body was forcefully inactive too. I tried to move my legs, nothing... my arms, nothing. There were dozens of localized points of pain all over my body, the worst being around my chest and waist area. It felt as though parts of me were on fire, but not fully engulfed in flames.

The only motion I could muster was a slight tilt forward with my head, just enough to see several crochet-sized silver needles protruding from my chest, rising and falling with each labored breath I took. I dropped my head back and as I tried to remember what happened and how I got here, foot steps approached from my left. A small woman appeared next to me and placed her hand on my shoulder as she looked down at my face, smiling. She was an elderly lady of Asian descent with blackened teeth and horrible breath, and she made a clucking sound as she breathed. She didn't say anything, she just stared at me and continued smiling while the beeping sound continued in the other room.

I tried to speak, but found myself searching for the words or the ability to summon them. She leaned in close and started to lick me on the cheek. Her tongue lingered for a few seconds before gradually sliding up toward my eye and across my forehead. She did this several times as I tried squirming away in opposition. As she straightened back up, a strand of spittle connected her face to mine, and I watched in horror as a spider exited her mouth and began descending down the saliva string toward my face. She was still smiling as the spider climbed down, closer.. and closer.. the beeping sound invading my ears, louder and louder.

I managed to scream and the sudden sound was enough to startle her and send her sprawling backwards. The spit strand broke away and the spider fell harmlessly to the floor. She quickly returned and held her wrinkled fist shakily above my face. Grasped inside were several more needles, just like the ones stuck into my chest. One by one she took them and slammed them down into my body. Instantly I could feel new fires erupt where they found their mark: my right shoulder, my collar bone, all along my throat. Tears welled up and my eyes began to leak as the pain burned through my body. Why was she doing this to me? How had I gotten here? What the fuck was going on?

After she exhausted her supply of needles she disappeared into the room where the beeping originated. A light flickered on, there were sounds of a skirmish, then the murmur of a man's voice followed by screams. I wasn't sure if the screams were my own. The beeping stopped and the light went off, I closed my eyes and pretended I was somewhere else. Anywhere else. I just wanted all of this to stop. I closed my eyes and tried whistling. I kept trying and eventually got my lips to come together properly and find a tune. I lay there with needles stabbing my body, crying and whistling, when suddenly my right arm flung straight up and my entire body lurched.

I opened my eyes and suddenly it was daylight and a man stood over me yanking and pulling on my arm. I was able to move now and as I tried to upright myself I looked down and saw his boot kicking away the rats that were chewing and gnawing at my body. There were no needles, just dozens of rats scurrying away in every direction as he shooed them away with his foot, simultaneously pulling me through the wet grass and screaming. I wasn't sure if he was screaming at me or the rats, but I was glad to be in his grasp instead of that of the old Asian lady's. He seemed to be helping me, rescuing me even. From what, I wasn't sure.

As he continued to drag me I heard a beeping sound rush by my head. I looked over and saw a metal detector lying sideways in the grass, it's needle bouncing on the left side of the screen, beeping like a microwave oven as I passed by it. A dilapidated building loomed behind me, quickly disappearing as he pulled me further and further away. I saw my grocery cart still sitting where I had left it, in the grass near the sidewalk on Liberty Street, filled with my only belongings: a tattered camouflage blanket, a bag of rope and shoe laces, scraps of food waste found in dumpsters, two books, a flashlight with dead batteries, and a pair of gloves and pants. I was amazed it was still there. I remember abandoning it days ago when I was too sick to push it any further. I remember crawling through the grass to find a spot where I could rest until I felt better. I remember falling asleep and waking up with an Asian lady looming over me, smiling, and needles burning my body.