Mariah heard the door close behind her and a wave of relief washed over her. She immediately collapsed onto the bed, kicking her shoes off and lifting her injured ankle up onto the bedspread. The short walk from the dining hall had her foot throbbing all the way to her knee. She"d hoped after resting it while she ate, it would be better but from the nearly overwhelming amount of pain she felt now, it was a worse injury than she"d feared.
A quick check of the clock told her she had a couple hours until dinner. At very least she needed to change clothes, but after traveling all day a hot shower would be nice. Swinging her feet off the edge of the bed sent another bolt of pain up her right leg and she decided in that moment that as nice as a shower would be, a hot bath would be even better.
