Excerpt from "Call Her Sabine"

She gripped her head with both hands to stop the world from spinning and waited for the bloom of pain to subside. The darkness pressed in, and although without visual cues, she sensed that she was in an enclosed space. A muffled whisper broke the deadness a moment before cool air licked at her right cheek and bare shoulders, bringing with it the pungent odor of new carpeting. Pulling up the sheet as a shield, she tried to remember.

A car wreck? Maybe I’ve been in a coma or something.

She shook her head.

A mistake! She gasped at the ferocity of the pain. An involuntary moan painted the silence.

Nothing else hurts. It has to be a concussion. I got dinged—that’s it.
But if this is a hospital, where’s all the noise?

Heedless of the expected pain, she slid her feet from the bed and stood gingerly as the room regained its spin. Nausea flooded through her, but if she heaved, the top of her head would come off. She gritted her teeth and fought it back.

Alcohol poisoning. I acted like a fool again.

Her breathing echoed harshly, amplified by hard surfaces. The sheet slid from her shoulders to the carpeted floor. Suddenly, she lost her equilibrium, took a step to the right, caught her balance, and sat heavily back on the bed. Squeezing her eyes shut to fight the ache behind them, she tried to concentrate, to force an explanation from her woozy brain. It wouldn’t come. She clutched at the bedding in frustration and felt something of a different texture than the sheets. She pulled it toward her in curiosity.

Pajamas—thin cotton pajamas! Or scrubs?

Despite the dark and the overwhelming feeling that she was utterly alone, she manipulated the two pieces of cloth until she had them separated, oriented the top properly, and then pulled it over her head. The effort exhausted her. She sat huddled on the edge of the bed, searching for a shred of memory to bring some sense to it.

How did I get here? In the dark, cold and alone, and naked.
Naked?

Not a hospital! No, whatever this is, it’s not a hospital.

Call Her Sabine