Chapter 11

Mila blinked groggily against the sedatives weighing her down. There was a zaftig nurse standing over her readjusting the IV bag. She looked down and seemed startled to see Mila staring back at her.

“So you’re awake, are you?” It was friendly enough, if a little gruff, so Mila nodded weakly.

“I’m Nurse Palomo; I’m the day nurse,” the woman went on, “I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake. Would you like some juice?”

Again Mila nodded.

This time the nurse smiled at her. “I’ll be right back.”

She disappeared and returned again a moment later with a paper cup. Her short, dark curls were beginning to gray, and as she looked at the woman’s oversized, meaty hands holding out the juice cup, Mila felt safe.

“You had quite a sleep,” the nurse told her. “Going on three days now. The doctor was concerned you’d starve. I told him a little thing like you couldn’t handle the sedatives. All that morphine was keeping you under.”

Mila drank the apple juice and stared at the woman in wonder. Nurse Palomo kept on talking, “You look a heck of a lot better, and I’ve got to tell you, I’ve been rooting for you.”

She finished the juice and gave the woman a curious look as she handed back the empty cup. “Rooting for me?”

“Sure, sure,” Nurse Palomo said. “We’ve all been wondering just what happened in order to bring you to us like this.”

“Like what?” Mila asked simply.

“Well...” the nurse looked confused for a moment, then her expression changed and she said, “how much do you remember from your accident?”

“Not much,” Mila admitted. “It all happened so fast. It was kind of a blur. A very painful blur.”

“I’ll bet,” Palomo said with a rueful smile. “Well... Oh, here’s Dr. Kragger now.”

The portly man in the white coat was back. Mila remembered him vaguely from before, something about a form to sign.

“Good morning,” he said, looking at the chart instead of at her. “Now then, we’ve gotten you all patched up. I’m afraid we had to remove a fair portion of your intestinal tract where the accident shrapnel penetrated you. You’ll be all right in no time, but for the next few weeks, I’d like to keep you on a bland diet. You’ll also need these prescriptions. We’ll have one of our physical therapists check you out, and then, best I can tell, young man, we can release you. Now, let’s have a quick look at the stitches, shall we?”

Mila was at a loss for words in the face of all this new information. She felt suddenly sick and thought she might vomit, but that passed as Dr. Kragger laid her back and lifted up her hospital gown. After a few moments of prodding, he announced, “Everything looks good; Nurse Palomo, if you’d just change this dressing.”

“Of course.” She efficiently collected the necessary supplies from the cabinet and set herself to her task.

“I’ll see you again tomorrow after PT gives you the okay,” Kragger said over his shoulder as he wandered out.

Mila considered waving, but decided against it. The nurse stripped off the rest of her bandaging in one quick yet painful swoop and began applying the new set.

“You’re lucky you pulled Dr. Kragger,” the woman told her. “He’s the best surgeon on staff.”

“Oh,” was all Mila could think to say.

“Well, will you be glad to be going home?” the nurse asked when she clipped the last of her tape.

Mila shook her head. “I don’t want to go home.”

“Well,” Palomo laughed, “it can’t be that good here!”

Mila couldn’t find it in her to smile. Just the thought of going back to her mother’s house made her wish she had been killed back on that highway. “I don’t ever want to go back.”

The older woman studied her carefully for a moment, then deduced, “You were running away, weren’t you? That’s why you weren’t looking where you were going. That’s how you ended up on the highway.”

Mila hung her head. “Everything’s just so confusing.”

“It can’t be that bad. Maybe you have a relative who’d take you in instead, so you wouldn’t have to go back to your parents,” the nurse offered kindly.

“No, I don’t,” Mila said flatly. “No known living relatives. No friends. No acquaintances. Nobody."

“Oh, it can’t be all that bad!” the woman said, but her eyes betrayed her cheery sentiment.

Mila said nothing. How could she even begin to explain to this woman how bad things truly were?

“Well, you’ll work it out, I’m sure,” Palomo said finally. She regarded Mila openly for a moment, then said, “Um... do you mind if I ask...why your hair is like that?”

“What do you mean?” Mila asked, looking up innocently.

“Look, honey, I’m not going to beat around the bush here,” Palomo said. “I was here the night they brought you in; I was working a double shift. I saw the clothes you were wearing. They were pretty mangled and bloody, but they were definitely girls’ clothes. And your hair is so... but I guess it’s none of my business.”

“What’s none of your business?” Mila asked, utterly bewildered.

“Well... were you coming from a party of some kind?”

“No.”

“And your name... you signed it funny... Of course, your birth certificate was found among your things, but just to be sure... Can you tell me what your name is?”

“Mila Thorne,” Mila replied promptly.

The nurse nodded. “Mila.”

“Yes.”

“Did you choose that name for yourself?”

“No.” Mila furrowed her brow, befuddled by this line of questioning.

“I see...” The nurse frowned down at her, but gave her a pleasant smile a moment later. “You know, I think I’ll talk to the doctor for you, Mila. See if we can’t keep you here a few days longer. Would you like that?”

Mila’s relief rushed to evidence on her face. “Oh, yes, please! Thank you!”

“All right. You just sit back and relax. The orderly will bring you some soup in a few minutes. My shift is almost over, but I’m going to go talk to Dr. Kragger right now, and don’t you worry. I’m sure we can find a way to keep you here.”

“Oh, thank you so much!” Mila said gratefully. “Thank you.”

Nurse Palomo gave her a smile and left the room. She passed the orderly with the soup on her way out, and was just able to catch up to the doctor in the hallway.

“Excuse me! Dr. Kragger!” Palomo called, jogging to catch up to the man. “Could I have a word, please?”

“Yes?” He turned and gave her his full attention.

“Do you think it’s wise to release that patient so soon?” the nurse fretted. “I’m afraid he’s got some deep psychological problems. We can’t overlook the fact that this may not have been an accident.”

Dr. Kragger wore a look of concern as he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, for one thing, he thinks he’s a girl.”

“What?”

“Just now, I asked him, and he told me his name is Mila, not Milo,” the nurse insisted, “and not only that, but you saw how he signed his form.”

“Well, that could have been the excruciating pain he was in...”

“I don’t think so,” she shook her head. “Just now, he seemed to have absolutely no idea that he was a boy.”

Now it was the doctor’s turn to look puzzled. “And you think it’s some sort of psychotic break? A schizophrenia of sorts?”

“I don’t know, doctor,” Palomo said. “But if he is suffering from a psychosis, his accident could very well have been an attempted suicide.”

The doctor sighed heavily. “Yes, I see what you mean. Well, under the circumstances, I can’t release him in good conscience. Please get the forms I’ll need to have him transferred to the psych ward for observation.”

“I’ll put them in your box,” she said at once.

“Thank you. And I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She gave him a little wave as he walked down the hall toward the elevators, then she turned and went to find the forms necessary to keep the confused young man in the corner room out of harm’s reach.