Chapter 41. Long-Suffering

The first few days were filled with humiliation and mind games; what took place afterward was no game. During those early days, the Torturer made a game out of everything: the chance to relieve himself, food, lighting.

Carlos knew that he’d lost control of his bladder or bowels at least once or twice because he would wake up and find himself dressed in a new hospital gown, glaringly different from the one he had last been awake to see. Knowing that this happened while he was asleep and being made to soil himself while conscious and laughed at was worse than he’d ever thought.

When the Torturer moved on to more physical torment, Carlos was almost begging for the humiliation of the early days.

He passed out from pain so many times. He had six fingernails and three teeth pulled, had something tattooed on his back with a Swiss knife—something he suspected would be crude from the man’s behavior. He had holes drilled into his arms at close intervals in a pattern that mi