Ground Down

Chapter 70

Pain flashed through her wrist, she tugged on it trying to amend that, made it worse and tried easing it forwards instead. The whole misadventure ended in a badly suppressed whimper that sure woke her up alright because the whole sensation had something of the joint actively tearing itself in half with the fingers pulsing like a bass drum had come to life inside it. Next to a screaming drill set to work on the main nerve and generally submerged in boiling water. 

Gaia ripped her eyes open, got nothing but blurry pointless input of vague shapes in vaguer dark and flexed her shoulders trying to escape the cold. It hurt in her wrists. It hurt, it hurt, it burnt. She threw her head to the side trying to find the edge of the backrest digging into her spine without ripping her hands off, tried to press her calves to the legs of the chair to take the strain off her ankles without wearing the flesh down further, but wherever the wood had gone, she didn't reach. Hands came out of nowhere instead, touch around her arm and she bent her body out of the way as much as the restraints consuming her skin allowed. 

"Breik ai au [Let me go] !" She bared her teeth into the heat of worsening pain up into her elbows. "Ai nou gaf in dula em op noumou, ai's odon [I don't want to do it anymore, I'm done] !" 

She yanked on her upper body, the grip around her forearms clenched tight into her flesh, she bared her teeth, tossed her head to the other side trying to get her leg free to kick up, use the knee, force him off, force him to react. 

"Gaia!" Weight settled on her body, too much weight, too much weight to breathe properly. Too much weight for a sitting position, gravity got far too involved. "You're okay, you're okay. It's me-" the weight lessened as soon as her struggling ceased, she blinked into the dim light around her, tugged her head out of the way from touch reaching for her cheek- "you're okay. Try not to hurt yourself, my darling, please." 

She knew that voice. Her subconscious knew that voice before her brain actively connected it to her father's face becoming clear above her. Gaia unclenched, moaned about the pain in her wrists, and let her head roll against his palm. His thumb caressed her cheek. 

"Okay?" he made sure. 

She nodded into the touch. 

"My hands hurt." She exhaled through her teeth, allowed herself another moan as if that would help any. "Really hurt." 

"I know-" he smoothed down her hair, tried to smooth down her skin when she squeezed her eyes shut- "I know, come here-" his arms came under her back, he held her wrists secure to her abdomen while he lifted her up against his chest and apologised for touching the wounds zig-zagging her back by removing his arm- "you turned in your sleep, moved your hands over the edge of the bed."

Yeah, fuck gravity. She knocked her head against his collarbone with an acknowledging groan and let him rub her shoulder until she could blink along his shirt and focus on his heartbeat. Gravity could go fucking screw itself, she could've turned the other way, she could've just slept on her damn back. Her fucking sleeping self could've kept it together. With an ounce of self-preservation. 

"I am sorry I spooked you," he pulled her out of breathing through gritted teeth. "If I am too close-"

"No." She leaned into his arm as much as her back allowed. "No. I wasn't talking to you, I just... I thought I was somewhere else."

"Who were you talking to?" 

"Nothing, nobody." She tried shifting and gave up on that because it hurt. "I probably wasn't awake yet. Is O still here?" 

"No, she left." He gave her shoulder a little squeeze, she nodded into it. "Your mother went for a run, Anya took Ontari and Aden training. It is you, Raven-" he indicated forwards- "and me."