Detox
1303 Words
Dawn found me in the bathroom huddled in a blanket, lying on the floor. Luca had pulled all the blankets and pillows from the bed to the bathroom. I assured him he didn't need to stay with me all night, but he insisted.
"I'm not letting you out of my site in this condition. With everything you've been through, I'd have to be a complete ass to let you go through this alone."
After the first round of vomiting, he braided my hair, wiped my face with a cool towel, and put slippers on my feet. He was so attentive, but I felt so horrible that I couldn't let him know how grateful I was. I'd finally stopped throwing up long enough to get a little sleep. When I woke up, I was in Luca's spot on the floor covered in his blankets. Danielle was perched on the edge of a bath that was big enough for three people. She was writing in a small book when I lifted my head, squinting away from the bright window.
"Hey, Scissera." Danielle whispered. "Luca went to get you some toast. He asked me to come watch over you while he was gone."
I simply nodded, even though I wanted to question why I needed a chaperon for a quick trip to the kitchen. I was thankful to not have woken up alone though, so I kept my mouth closed.
"How are you feeling?" She asked.
"I'm okay." I said.
"There's no need for that." She smiled. "You need to be as strong as possible to help the other girls, right? Please just be honest so we know how to help you best. Lily has all the company, help and safety she could ever ask for. You don't have to pretend to be okay right now."
"Okay, okay..."
I held my hand up to stop her talking. I wasn't trying to be rude, but every sound, from her talking, to the birds outside the annoyingly bright window, was piercing my ears, and it was all I could do not to physically shudder away from it.
"My head hurts really bad. My stomach hurts, my body hurts. I think I rebroke a rib throwing up. I'm also really really cold."
Danielle nodded as she flipped a page in her book and wrote some more. "Thank you for telling me." She said. "I'll call Sam and consult him on what we can do to make you a little more comfortable until he's ready to treat you. In the mean time, I'll have a heating blanket brought up."
Just then, Luca came in with a full tray of food. The smell had me bent over the toilet again, and Danielle ordered him out.
"It's gone." She said, trying to soothe me. She rubbed small circles on my back and handed me a cup of water to rinse my mouth out when I was done.
I groaned and curled up in a ball under the blankets after flushing the toilet. I had to cover my ears from the sound. Once she was satisfied that I was done for the moment, she stepped out of the bathroom to give Luca an update. She told him the food would have to stay out of the room for now. She didn't think I was ready for food yet. I agreed. She also told him she would need to look at my ribs and that he would need to help hold me up carefully.
Having heard them, I was already trying to lift myself back up when they came in. Luca sat flush against my back and pulled me gently up against him. It was quite an effort on my part. My muscles resisted my command to move in any way which resulted in me huffing and puffing.
"Easy, now." Danielle said as she lifted up the side of my shirt. "Which side hurts worse?" She asked me.
"Left." I panted.
She paid extra attention to that side, lightly touching her fingers to my skin. They were freezing and I winced. "I'm sorry, I have to feel the area. I'll try to be quick." She promised.
After a few minutes, she said, "Well, either it's healed already, or it's only sore from sleeping on the floor. Hopefully that heating blanket will help relax your muscles." She pulled my shirt back down and she and Luca helped me lay back down. Luca walked her to the bedroom door, thanking her for coming so early and promising to meet her to go over renovation plans for the medical suite once he was able to get me settled. She told him to call her if anything changed, and that if she didn't hear from him, she would check on me around noon.
He came back into the bathroom and I had my head hidden under the blanket, trying to block out the light. I heard a lot of rustling around before he peeked in the edge of the blankets and whispered, "Hey, sleepy girl. I'm sorry about the food. I went a little overboard."
I nodded. "I'm sorry it's going to be wasted."
"Nonsense. The girls will eat it, I'm sure."
I looked at the edge of the blanket where he sat looking at me. It was blissfully dark. I pulled the blanket down to just under my chin. He'd closed the shutters on the offending window and set his bedside lamp on the counter behind me. The light was dim and orange and wasn't nearly as bad as the window. I smiled and a moment later, there was a knock on the door. Luca went to answer it and came back with a large bundle of fabric.
"I'm sorry, Princess, but I'm going to have to take your blankets." I must have looked panicked because he added, "Just for a moment. I'll give them right back."
When he pulled them back, I curled further into myself and shivered. He replaced them with a slightly heavier one and put the others on top. After a second of fiddling with a little box at the bottom corner of the blanket, a gentle warmth spread over my body and I relaxed.
I was so relieved to not be shaking that I let out a small moan.
"Better? he asked.
"Much. Does it go higher?"
He smiled. "It does." He messed with the little box again and I let out a deep sigh of relief as the warmth penetrated my sore muscles. After leaving a third time, Luca returned with large pillows and began tucking them all around me. "Lets try to get you a little more comfortable, okay?"
"I'm sorry I'm so useless right now." I said.
"Scissera none of this is your fault." He said. "And you are far from useless."
"You say that, but you don't know what I'm capable of or what I'm used to doing every day. I've never stopped, not once. I don't like this."
"I'm so sorry, Princess. Don't worry, this won't last forever. In no time at all you'll be up and learning about your home and your pack and your land. We'll plan our invasion, rescue your girls, and free Shadow Pack. You'll never be bored."
"You assume the treatment Sam comes up with will work."
"Of course. My heart cannot accept any other outcome. You will be okay. I know it."
"You're sweet." I mumbled, feeling a second nap start to claim me. "Tell me a story?"
Luca sat with his back against the counter beside me and pulled me so that my head rested in his lap. He sighed deeply.
"Let's see." He said as he began running his fingers through my hair.
I don't know what story he ended up telling me. I was asleep again in seconds.
- Writer
