The pain killers were crushed and mixed with thickened fluid that was fed to Stacey by the spoonful. After that, a doctor came to examine her after hearing she was awake. Drowsiness crept over her while the doctor was still talking to her and she found it hard to focus on what he was saying.
"There's been no changes in your brain scan," the doctor told her, "but please try not to bump your head anymore. We don't want you to get worse. We want you to get better so that you can one day return to the stage to dance and sing. We'd love for you to be able to play piano again. Focus on that, ok? Focus on your goal, not where you are right now. It will be a few months but if you work hard, you might be able to get there. If you give up too early on, you might have lasting effects.
"You probably had too much stimulation yesterday and today. We've informed your husband not to push things and to take it slowly. He doesn't seem to be handling all this very well either and is having difficulty accepting your situation. There's a lot of political pressure on him as well as work pressure. So, don't be angry with him. He had a mini breakdown in my office earlier today."
That shameless bastard husband of hers broke down? Huh.
It surprised Stacey.
She had started seeing him as an infallible superman with a bad temper. Now she remembered that he too, was human and probably had a lot more stress and pressure than she did. Not that she pitied him. It was more that she just needed to remember that he wasn't reliable. The only person she could rely on here was herself. For that, she needed to get stronger.
If that bastard broke, she'd really be on her own and then she'd be in trouble. So until she could stand on her own two feet, she had to try not to cause him anymore trouble.
Anyway, she had done most of her venting earlier today and gotten most of the pent up frustration out of her system. She could use the rest of it as energy to fuel her therapy sessions.
It was a quiet day the next day and Stacey felt nervous, waiting for the other shoe to fall. It never did. Thieren never turned up. Perhaps he was getting some rest as well. Maybe.
None of her friends arrived either and Stacey felt disappointed. But then, what did she expect after throwing such a big tantrum yesterday? Although she felt distracted, she put in 110 percent effort and focus into her therapy sessions, literally knocking herself out in the process.
She dreamed of that smirking official preparing to inject her while she had been bound to a cold, stainless steel table, watching the needle prick her skin. The sharp point jiggled around under her skin to find her vein.
He had exposed her body and struck her with his little teaching rod whenever she made a mistake memorising the list of rules he had dictated to her. The pain had spread across her skin and roared like fire through her body. Wherever that pointer had struck had made her cry out. Multiple mistakes had resulted in multiple strikes to her arms, torso and legs. The man had been a lewd pervert, focussing on the sensitive areas like the inside of her elbow, her bared breasts and neck.
Stacey had struggled against the restraints, crying and screaming with every strike. The smarmy official had even molested her by playing with her breasts in front of Thieren who was straining uselessly at his cuffs.
The official had been starting to get more excited and bold, preparing to lower her trousers.
With a small scream, Stacey woke up in sitting and immediately swayed, fighting to find her balance before she fell sideways off the bed. Someone immediately hurried to sit on the bed and hug her tight to support her, while Stacey sobbed and struggled to breathe.
"You're safe. You're safe now. It's ok. It's ok," Telea's voice said.
Stacey buried her head to cry into Telea's shoulder and the woman just held her, rocking and patting her back. A bunch of tissues were pushed into Stacey's hand.
Stacey cried herself dry and then felt her heavy throbbing head weigh her down. Her eyes were almost swollen shut after all the crying. She felt embarrassed and didn't want anyone to see her in this state. Telea didn't insist and only continued patting her back. When she felt Stacey fall asleep again, she helped to lay Stacey back down and tucked her in.
"I'll come visit another day," she kissed Stacey's forehead.
It was night again.
Stacey stared up at the ceiling and felt glad that the IV drip in her arm prevented her from getting too dehydrated after all that crying. She wondered if anyone else was as fed up with her as she was with herself. There were no excuses she could give. Her behaviour was her own fault. She should reflect on herself and try not to trouble other people. She needed to work harder and get better. It didn't matter what situation she found herself in. She shouldn't let it get to her.
Although she didn't know what was going to happen to her and whether she would ever recover or what she might do in the future, she could focus on short term goals. The long term goals could be figured out later. In the meantime, she should make small goals. Like being able to throw and catch a ball while standing still. Being able to stand and walk without support. Being able to talk normally and eat normal food again. Being able to drink water again.
She would think of or care about anything else.
She didn't know how long it had been since she had come into hospital. The time and days had blurred into one another. It didn't matter. Hopefully her delayed participation in therapy wouldn't make too much of a difference in the outcome.
With these thoughts, Stacey felt herself relax. She could do this.
Then she looked around the dimmed room. Anna had fallen asleep in a chair. The Huo guard on duty - she couldn't tell who it was sitting beside Anna, was nodding away. There was someone's head leaning against the bed beside her and she recognised Thieren. His entire body exuded a sense of exhaustion.
She touched his head gently, stroking his hair. It was slightly greasy. He probably hadn't had a shower after work before coming here. He didn't need to come. She didn't care whether he was here or not, but the fact that he had come despite being so weary was somewhat moving. It made her feel warm. Just a little bit.
She wasn't about to start pitying this jerk. Oh no. She just was concerned that if he failed, there'd be no one to protect or pay for her treatment. No one to care about her security and wellbeing. That's right. She was worried that without him, she'd be left to fend for herself in this violent world again where she could be kidnapped by beastmen or Ancients. It was selfish, but in this world where no one was really reliable, she couldn't help but think in this way. If he proved himself trustworthy, then perhaps she would revise these more selfish thoughts.
Come to think of it, she'd never met an Ancient yet. She'd heard stories that they were giants by human reckoning but not as gargantuan as the gods. Apparently, they were all mostly humanoid, but some were extra large sized beastmen. Some were carnivores. Most of them had high libidos and since female Ancients refused to put up with the high drive of their males, they were eager to find replacements to keep their men satiated.
It was horrible to think of.
Perhaps it was a good thing Thieren had forced her to marry him. The Ancients and gods took marriage seriously, because according to their beliefs, Heaven would strike them with lightning for trying to forcefully break another person's marriage up. The beastmen didn't believe or care. Some of the gods and Ancients didn't either, but the majority of them did. However, a marriage wasn't considered complete until husband and wife slept together and completed the deed - or as they said in Tadpole, pound the grains to make bread.
Stacey had mixed feelings about Thieren. He'd been pretty good to her so far, but she definitely didn't love him. She certainly did not want to pound any grains, nor cook bread with him. Just the thought of it made her nervous and queasy.