No Sick Leave

He bent over double in pain. It hurt. Man it hurt. His stomach that is. Whatever he had eaten was not doing him any good. He crumbled to the ground, flexing his fingers in and out to try and distract him from that pain. It wasn't working. He moaned, crawling over to the bathtub. If he could just have some panadol, or nerofen, or asprin, or any kind of drug really... but he knew that wouldn't happen.

He struggled to turn the taps on. They were stiff and unused, but he needed that bath. Anything to numb the pain even in the slighest. And not just the stomach pains. The painful memories over the last few weeks. He needed a way of relaxing. The taps sprang on, dumping out the litres of hot water. Before he could even turn the taps off, his head was underwater. He panicked for breath, having not heard or noticed the man creep up behind him and force him forwards to the water. He tried to scream, but all that came out were bubbles. The water filled his mouth before he was thrown backwards onto the cement. He coughed up the water, his lungs now hurting as well as his stomach. He blinked the water out of his eyes as he tried to focus on the person standing above him.

"If you fail, you know what to expect," they growled, before bending down and pulling the plug, "You've got work to do. So do it."

He stared, stunned. He wasn't even sure who was who anymore. He coughed a few more times, unmoving. The water. That nice warm water. He just needed to bathe for half hour. Just to temporarily rid the pains in his stomach. Ten minutes. That was all he was asking for... but he was forced to his feet and shoved forwards.

"NOW!"

[311 words]