Charles regained consciousness in the WBIS’s infirmary. He was on his stomach, and he groaned, not from the burning pain in his ass, which had probably been numbed to get repaired, but from the throbbing pain in his head.
“Ah. You’re with us once more.”
For a second, his heart leaped, but then he realized two things. One, he didn’t recognize the voice, and two, the speaker was a woman.
“Do you want something for the pain?”
“I want to go home,” he said sullenly. He was still too fuzzy from the remnants of anesthesia to even wonder how he’d wound up in the WBIS infirmary.
He must have said something, because the doctor sighed. “No, I didn’t give you anesthesia, not with a possible concussion.”
“Shit.” That was all he needed on top of everything else. Would they—
“We have to keep you o
