Returning late that evening, Jean went into the kitchen to cook a late dinner, only to realize Lali’s breakfast was where he left it.

Hastily, he walked to the stairs, took them two steps at a time, and swung open his bedroom door. Again, she was still asleep, breathing, but in the same spot he had left her. He checked her head for a high fever, but she felt normal.

“Alright, that’s enough sleeping!”, he exclaimed as he uncovered her.

Lali did not flinch at the sudden change in temperature. Alarmed, Jean lifted her frail body, sat her up, and softly shook her.

“Lali, wake up”, he said as he shook her, “Lali!”.

Jean started to softly pat her bruised cheeks. Her eyes began to move under their lids. He sighed and continued to shake her until she opened her eyes. Once she seemed awake, he sat her on the edge of the bed, where she began to fall back into sleep.

“No! Stay awake. At least until after you’ve eaten”, he ordered.

He sighed as he lifted her back into a proper seated position.

“Hey!”, he shouted.

Her eyes opened wide.

“Are you okay?”, he asked.

She didn’t answer and just stared in his direction; obviously not fully awake.

“I’m going to go get dinner ready. So, in the meantime, you stay awake”, he ordered.

Lali lethargically blinked a few times to clear her vision. She looked around the dimly lit room until a business card on the nightstand drew her attention. At a snail’s pace, she reached out to pick it up and brought it close to her face.

“Doctor Howard Isha…”, she mumbled as she picked up the house phone.

Meanwhile, Jean was rushing around the kitchen trying to prepare dinner before Lali went back into her comatose sleep. He relentlessly sighed throughout the process, grimacing at every thought that passed through his head. His phone rang, breaking him out of his trance.

“Yes, father?”he answered, annoyed.

“Just checking on ya! So, how’s it going?”, he enthused.

“If you mean with Lali, nothing is happening, so there’s no need for you to worry”, he replied.

“That’s ma boy! Still knocking them down a few pegs”, he laughed.

“No, Father. I did nothing. She’s been quiet, but I have to go. I’m cooking dinner.”

“Now come on, son. You have a wife now! Make her do that! And you can spare a few minutes for your old man.”

“Father…”, Jean began as the doorbell rang, “Hold on a second.”

He sighed as he walked out the kitchen to open the front door.

“Doctor Isha?”, he looked perplexed at the bespectacled, gray-haired man.

“Hello Jean, I got a call for an emergency house visit.”

“A-a call?”

“Yes, and I bought my whole team and equipment as requested. But you look fine, so where’s the patient?”

Jean paused for a second to get his bearings. It finally clicked in his head.

“Dad, let me call you back”, he said as he hung up the phone.

“D-dad?!--”, his father exclaimed as he was cut off.

Jean ran up the stairs with the doctor and his nurses following suit while towing their portable hospital equipment behind them. He burst through the door to find Lali sitting on the side of the bed leaning with her head against the headboard. She looked at him, realizing his heavy, alarmed breathing.

“I called your doctor”, she said calmly.

“Yeah, I can see that.”, he replied sharply.

“Oh my god!”, Doctor Isha exclaimed as Lali came into view.

He immediately went into action, commanding his nurses to set up the equipment around the room.

“How did this happen?”, Doctor Isha asked.

“Is it that bad?”, Lali pouted. Everyone in the room nodded simultaneously.

“Jean, I really hope you have nothing to do with this.”, Doctor Isha warned.

“What kind of man do you take me for?”, he snarled at the accusation, “Just do what you need to do. We can talk later.” He briskly exited the room to resume dinner downstairs.

Doctor Isha began examining Lali. He removed the oversized pajamas and commanded his head nurse to record each injury and what treatment should follow.

“Signs of malnutrition. Start on IV Fluids and monitor food intake. Multiple head injuries, order x-ray… CT scan. Large swollen bruises over the ribcage. May be signs of broken ribs and internal bleeding. Multiple deep lacerations in need of stitches and proper treatment. Right fifth and fourth digit broken, in need of realignment and cast. Broken and improper healing of right tibia. Surgical break and reposition necessary…”, Doctor Isha continued.

The list grew longer and longer until the doctor sighed. He ordered a nurse to retrieve Jean. They shortly returned smelling of fresh sautéed garlic and onions.

“We will treat what we can here, but we must move her to the hospital where I am better equipped”, he said, “She has so many injuries I fear I may miss something. So, I would like to admit her and treat her for a few days.”

“I understand”, Jean simply said.

“Would that be alright with you?”, Dr. Isha turned to Lali.

She simply nodded lethargically.

“Ah, besides the visible injuries, has she been acting strangely?”, Dr. Isha inquired.

“Y-yes, this is the first time she’s been awake in over 24 hours. It was very difficult to wake her out of her coma”, Jean stated.

“So, signs of a severe concussion. I don’t think we should be wasting time here then. Would you like me to take her in an ambulance or would you want to bring her to the hospital yourself?”

“I think it’s best you take her. I will meet you there after I’m done here. Just put my social on her record.”

“Ar-are you sure? This could be expensive.”

“You know I’m good for it, Howard. Just do as I say.”

“Of course, you are, but who is she to you, might I ask?”

Jean paused and looked at Lali out of the corner of his eyes.

“My wife”, he said through clenched teeth as he walked out the door rubbing his mouth as though he just said something distasteful.

“Well--”, Dr. Isha breathed, “let’s get you dressed and on a stretcher, shall we.”

“I’m fine. I can walk.”, Lali replied.

“My dear I appreciate your confidence in your situation, but it’d be a miraculous sight to behold to see you walk with those injuries.”, he chuckled nervously.

“I got myself up the stairs and in and out of the shower, so I think I can manage.”

“W-well it’s best for you to stay off your feet for the next few weeks-er, months. I’m your doctor now, so please take my advice.”, he stammered, “Helen, w-would you please get her on the stretcher. Be gentle, please”.

Lali huffed as she was placed on the hard board and flinched uncomfortably at the sound of the straps being tightened around her legs. She was lifted and carried down the steps to the ambulance waiting outside.

“I am still quite interested in hearing your story on how you ended up like this.”, Dr. Isha said as he climbed into the ambulance.

“You have questionable bedside manners, Doctor.”, Lali replied, “Let’s talk when I’m not on this uncomfortable thing.”

“It is my duty to know what happened in order to treat you properly.”, he insisted.

Lali sighed, “I was not denying that fact, but the story may take longer than the treatment.”

“If you insist. I’ll hold off the questioning until we get to the hospital, since you seem sensitive about it.”, Dr. Isha replied.

“It’s not a “sensitivity” per se…”, Lali stated as her jaw tightened.

“Let’s get her on an IV”, Dr. Isha ignored while commanding the nurse beside him.

As they arrived at the hospital, Dr. Isha moved quickly to put in requests for a private hospital room, full body x-ray, and emergency surgeons on standby. Lali was moved to the bed and relieved of her pajamas for hospital gowns. Her vital signs were taken by a poorly RN, who seemed displeased at the new admission. Dr. Isha quickly returned with a transporter.

“I managed to get you in as the next patient down in radiology in about 10 minutes”, he said, “In that time I need you to, now, tell me what has happened aside from the obvious. And don’t protect anyone, if there are names, name them.”

Lali just looked at him, obviously uninterested in recanting the events that brought her here, but relented.

“In short,”, she began, “I was taken to a camp and, there, there was a “certain” way that the generals and their soldiers preferred to run the camp, but I refused to play their games. So, since my color affords me no rights under the eyes of this government and its laws on war, even though I am a citizen of this nation, I was beaten, whipped, tortured, chained, starved, and locked in a dog kennel.”, she said plainly.

The RN and the transporter shifted uncomfortably. Lali saw this and spoke directly to them.

’’You look as though you’ve heard something shocking. You should have known what would happen when the government ordered “misguided” peoples to be put in “etiquette” camps, which are nothing more than concentration camps for those deemed undesirable. Or did you sleep through history class?”, she jabbed.

Dr. Isha swallowed heavily, “I-I see. L-let’s get you to x-ray and we can continue this afterwards.”

Lali chuckled darkly, “Because the truth is uncomfortable. But this is the world so many of you wanted.” Lali’s eyes grew dark, her jaw locked shut, and the air seemed to grow cold and thin as the transporter uneasily moved to roll her bed to radiology.

While Lali was in x-ray, Jean arrived with a lunchbox. He asked the nurse, whom he knew by first name, where Dr. Isha and the patient he arrived with, was.

“Maxwell-Jean Minami-Evanston, aren’t you a sight for weary eyes!”, the nurse beamed.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t address me by my full name, Evelyn”, he scowled.

Evelyn rolled her eyes, “your uncle was in room 155 with that patient he brought in. If not, try his office, sourpuss.”

Jean ignored her and made his way to the room. When he arrived, he found it empty aside from his pajamas balled up in a clear hospital bag. He knowingly made his way to Dr. Isha’s office and opened the door without so much as a knock. Dr. Isha sighed at the sight of him.

“Come in, sit down. Obviously, you don’t need an invitation.”, he said sarcastically.

“Forgive me. I mean no ill-will towards you uncle. It’s just been a rough few days”, Jean softly replied.

“Close the door and come over here.”, Dr. Isha commanded.

Jean sat in the chair across from him. The two men momentarily stared at each other, each with a question brewing at the tip of their tongue. Dr. Isha finally, having to respect the protocols as a doctor, broke the silence between them.

“Before I say anything, how much do you know?”, he sternly asked.

“Only that she was at one of the reeducation camps and supposedly a troublemaker. As a person who witnessed a taste of her ill treatment in my home and as an ex-secret operative, I can easily deduce what sort of events followed suit during her time in captivity.”

“She told me she refused to go along with the way the camp was run and thus they viciously beat, chained, and locked her in a dog kennel.”, Dr. Isha recanted, “but, by the look of her injuries, this was on more than one occasion.”

Jean looked unfazed at the revelation, “What I am curious about, is what is this “certain” way she speaks of.”

“I rather not be curious.”, Dr. Isha nervously said, “the current administration is not the type people like us should be curious about.”

“Did she give any names or have you not asked her for further details as of yet?”, Jean inquired.

“You do know what sort of predicament this puts me in, don’t you?”, he wiped sweat from his brow with a handkerchief, “You’re her husband. Perhaps it’s best for you to ask.”

“Are you being a coward, Howard Isha?”, he jabbed.

“I am protecting my family, including your mother, and this hospital I have to run”, he snapped, “If she gives you names, I don’t want to hear it. I will treat her with only the necessary knowledge on hand.”

“Well where is she so that I may ask for details?”, Jean grumbled.

“She’s in x-ray right now. She should be out soon, so you can wait in her room.”

Jean angrily got up to walk back to the ward.

“Last thing, how long have you had her in your care? How long have you been married, I mean”, Dr. Isha asked.

“Since yesterday”, he stated and walked out the door.

Jean returned to Lali’s hospital room to wait for her to return, but she did not return as soon as he hoped. He began to get comfortable in the reclining chair next to her bed as the hours wore on well after midnight.

“Jean”, a voice said.

Jean looked up to see Evelyn.

“It seems as though no one has come to inform you yet.”, she said.

“Of what?”, he pressed.

“After her scans, she needed to be rushed into surgery. They found multiple foreign bodies, mostly large shards of glass embedded in her skull and deep lacerations.”, Evelyn informed, “Also, in order to avoid putting her under multiple times, they’ll perform all necessary procedures at once, so it may be a while, Jean.”

Jean pinched his lips together and released a heavy breath from his nose. Evelyn looked at him in pity and simply patted his shoulder, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He sat there waiting, but soon sleep crept up on him.