Unforeseen¹

Chapter 21- Old routines

That night held hand in hand with hell.

After the punishment, Doctor Terries shoved her into another cell. Her jumper was flung after her before he locked the door with an echoing click. It took a while, but she eventually found the strength to haul herself up from her stomach onto her elbows to tug on her white sweater. Then she made the painful journey to lug herself over to the thin mattress in the corner.

Her body curled up and remained that way for the rest of the night. A ratty blanket lay at her feet, but she didn't pull it over, even while she shivered. Everything hurt, but nothing more than her back throbbing in time with her heartbeats.

Trapped in a painful limbo, there was no way of telling by how much time had passed. Sleep evaded her, and all she could focus on was the pain. Always the pain. Pulling the jumper on had been a mistake, as the blood on her back dried, sticking like bricks on cement. She didn't touch it, however, fearing that any attempt to remove the sweater would tear the healing injuries and worsen her affliction.

Her eyes drifted to her pulsing wrists, which were decorated with large splodges of plum and obsidian. She licked her cracked lips and grimaced as the faint taste of blood assaulted her tongue.

Her mind went to home, wondering what they were up to, daydreaming that they were on their way. She hoped it would come to pass, but she couldn't count on it. Life wasn't magical. You were either lucky, or you weren't, and if her past was any indicator, Jayden was always the latter.

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The tormented night finally ended as the tapping of Doctor Terries's shoes invaded the room. He took her to the medical room and had the guards remove the bloodstained jumper to treat her wounds. The series of events was bewildering. More so when a meal of a sandwich and an apple paired with a glass of water was brought to her. Terries pushed her to eat when she only dubiously stared and injected her with something he said would help with the pain.

After she forced her food down, she was brought to a room for schooling. There, he taught and tested her on varying subjects, including maths, science, and Hydra history. Throughout, she was careful not to do anything that would warrant another punishment.

She was given pasta and another dose of medication a few hours later, and while she didn't complain, she was growing more suspicious. In the lab, food like this would be an impossibility. It was like her medicine. What changed?

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The following four days were gruelling, and dragged with a repetition of bandages, breakfast, schooling, dinner, and sleep. On the fifth afternoon, Doctor Terries made her practice duelling techniques. He was quick to anger when she struggled and brought her extensive shocks and burns to help with his frustrations. Despite her efforts, she muttered a couple of remarks in relation, earning her more punishment. She went to bed in pain that day.

The sixth was not a good day, as she warranted another flogging. She was rather frustrated with the lack of salvation, as almost a week had gone by and there wasn't even a peek of it. Brash and thoughtless, she refused to do any of her academic work, and to Doctor Terries's credit, he gave her three warnings before he hauled her away. Giving her six lashes, he reopened most of what had healed, forcing the slow process back to square one.

Unlike previously, he didn't take her to the cell for the night. Instead, he dressed the wounds and forced her into the training room. The workout was arguably worse than the whipping, as everything she did pulled at the tears, but Doctor Terries was unforgiving and trained her as he would any other day. He even dared to give her several sharp shocks when she messed up her punches.