Delectable Benefits

Fifteen

The heavy sound of her breathing coupled with the beeping sounds of the monitors were the only things that could be heard throughout Anya's hospital room. She had been asleep after being rescued from the hands of the cult.

Nick helplessly sat next to her bed his face buried on his hands. He felt like a failure, he wasn't there to protect her. They had become too comfortable and had left everything up to the authorities when they learned she wasn't the target anymore. It was bad luck when their informant made the mistake of being found out and falling under the spell of one of the drugs they used.

Mary, the target whose name Nick couldn't remember, Anya and their asset were all in the hospital. Mary was suffering from blunt forced trauma to the head, Anya and the other woman were still under observation and examination. He was the one who had rescued Anya from the cult and was the one who found her stark naked tied to posts on some sort of altar. Her body was covered in fluids and what Nick could only surmised were ejaculations.

He couldn't shake off the image when he saw Anya's empty stare as he rescued her and removed her from her shackles after he, Ryan and Paul almost killed all of cult members with their bare hands. Each time he remembered, he wanted to hurt them all again.

"Nick?" a raspy voice spoke.

He looked up at Anya's direction and saw Anya looking at him. He rose from his seat and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Why are you crying?" She asked softly.

He looked up at her with his red rimmed eyes. He saw her tender gaze her eyes were clear but there was sorrow and sadness in them. "You're awake," he whispered and buried his face on the crook of her neck and he joined her on the bed.

"You shouldn't join me here, against hospital rules," she whispered.

He ignored her and placed his ear on her chest to hear her heartbeat. A long while later, the doctor arrived and looked at the two of them. Nick had Anya wrapped protectively in his arms and the woman had her hand over his heart. The doctor rolled his eyes and tapped Nick on the shoulder. The man gasped and prepared himself to strike when Nick saw the doctor, he took a deep breath and looked down at Anya. She was asleep.

"Has she woken up?" the doctor asked.

"She did,  but she quickly went back to sleep. Are the results out?" He asked the doctor and held his breath.

The doctor nodded, "But I think she needs to hear this awake."

Nick frowned and got off the bed and woke Anya. Nick adjusted her bed and wished he could shield Anya from the news the doctor was going to tell her. Anya blinked and looked at the Doctor. "How are you feeling, Anya?"

"I'm fine, a little weak, woozy, I can still feel pain, but I'm fine." Anya said weakly and forced herself not to look at her injuries.

"Good," the doctor said and looked at his clip board and sighed deeply. "You received a lot of bruises from the beating you took. That is the extent of your injuries, especially the rope burns on your wrists. You will heal. There are no signs of penetration, unlike the usual rape victims."

Nick frowned, "That's the worst of it, right?"

"I wish it was," the doctor said and looked at Anya. "The drugs they injected you with scrambled her reproductive system. It's the more potent version of the date rape drug. She will never have children."

Anya closed her eyes and blocked everything else out. She was and forever will be damaged.

Half a woman.

A long while later, Anya opened her eyes and realized she had fallen asleep. She looked around her room and saw she was alone. She took the dextrose with her and went to her  ensuite bath. She braced herself for the impact of her image. She looked up and what she saw terrified her. One eye was swollen shut it was black and blue. There were bruises on her cheeks and at the left corner of her mouth. She traced each bruise and then began to remember each blow on her face and body.