‘Loopy, what makes you say that?’

‘The anaesthetic hasn’t fully worn off yet. Give it a few more minutes.’

‘Huh? Where am I? What’s the light? Why’s the light so bright?’

‘It’s just a ceiling light, and like I said, you’re still not fully awake yet. Just stay lying down for a bit.’

‘But I am lying down.’ The man chuckled weakly.

‘Okay, okay…’

The light was too bright. The man tried to look away. He rolled over on his side.

‘No! No. You need to stay upright. We can’t risk anything happening to Tommy.’ The nurse rolled him supine.

‘Tommy… yeah, my name’s Tommy…’

‘No, it isn’t. Or maybe it is – I haven’t a fucking clue what your name is. I don’t give a shit who you are. Tommy is my baby.’

‘Tommy… baby Tommy… where’s baby Tommy?’

The nurse pointed under the man’s line of sight.

He tipped his head down. She was pointing at his abdomen. His blurry eyes made it hard to see, but there seemed to be wires stringing from him. There was blood all over him, and what looked like his intestines were spilling out, with plastic tubes spilling in. His skin was patched over the opening crudely.

‘My baby Tommy is growing in your belly.’

‘Oh my god…’

‘Don’t move now. The restraints don’t hurt now but I can easily tighten them. I said don’t move. Stop— stop wriggling so much. Ah— there, now you can’t move at all. Was all that shaking worth it?’

‘Let me go! Let me go you psycho bitch!’

‘You know, how is it that they always turn to aggression first?’

‘Fucking – let me go!’

‘You’re the vulnerable one here, not me. I’m not tied tightly to the table, am I?’

‘Argh!’

‘And yet you yell, you insult, you—’

‘I’ll fucking kill you!’

‘You threaten, when you seriously are in no position to be doing any of those things, not only because of your weakened state, but also because—’

‘Let me go— argh!’

‘Yes, and they can get tighter still if you keep interrupting me. Understood?’

‘Uh— mhm.’

‘Good. And I won’t be letting you go any time soon, so stop begging. You’re my surrogate, and you’ll be raising little

Tommy until he’s big enough for me to raise him. Now keep quiet; I have other shit to be doing and you’ve wasted enough of my time already. I’ll check in with you later to give you some food: Tommy needs nutrients. I’ll turn the lights off to stop them hurting your eyes.’

‘Wait! I can’t breath! Loo– loosen the restraints, please!’

The nurse left the basement and switched off the lights.

22.XII.22