Fallen For My Kidnapper (COMPLETED)

Chapter 9 - The Theins

The first thing that came to me was the smell of lemon. It reminded me of the dusting spray my mother had used as a kid until she started making me do all of the cleaning. I swallowed, cotton seeming to go down instead of spit, so I did it again before opening my eyes. The room around me was white and filled with a couple of beds, but nothing like what I was expecting. No monitors, but I did have an IV and the pain that had been surrounding my ribs for the last day was finally down to a throb.

I looked to my right to see a woman sitting at a desk near the double oak doors. She was dressed nicely; in a fitted dress and her hair in a neat bun. I opened my mouth but the words I wanted to say couldn't come out. Just then, the doors opened and I saw a familiar face. Marcus met my eyes and slammed the door shut, walking down the beds until met mine.

"Mr. Thein, I'm surprised to see you. It's only been an hour," the woman I had seen before said, getting up quickly from her desk and following behind him.

"When did she wake up? Why didn't you tell anyone?" he demanded. I could see the woman trying to fumble for an answer, and since I had yet to be able to get the cotton out of my throat, I couldn't defend her. Instead, I did my favorite thing and glared at Marcus.

"I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again," the woman answered. She wasn't going to defend herself to Mr. Asshole? I coughed until I could feel sound coming out again and tried to speak, though it came out rough and harsh.

"She didn't know, asshole. I just woke up," I got out. I wanted to laugh as the woman's eyes went wide behind Marcus. He himself was also not very happy, the muscles in his shoulders and his jaw tensing and relaxing. Finally, he brought a hand to his forehead and rubbed his temple.

"I'm sorry, Luis." If the woman's eye could have popped out of their head on command, I was sure she would be holding them at the moment.

"No, oh, uh, yes, thank you, Mr. Thein," she stumbled over her words as she stood up straighter. I surmised that she needed to do something normal because the apology made her extremely uncomfortable. "While you were asleep-"

"Which was how long?" I asked quietly. She gave me a soft smile.

"Four hours. While you were asleep, I was able to gather some data, but I need to do a couple more things now that you're awake," Luis said, carefully stepping around Marcus and pulling out a flashlight. I knew the drill and followed the light with my eyes. "As I suspected. You have a concussion, not the worst one you could have gotten but it will take some time. You need to rest, and not try to think about anything that will use too much brain power.

"Your ribs on the other hand, it's the best news we could hope for. I am not sure what you went through at the Newmans..." Luis said slowly, "but knowing their reputation I was expecting worse. You have a fractured rib, but thankfully it isn't sharp enough to have punctured your lungs or anything else. I gave you some pain meds, and you should be back every six hours, and if it gets to be too bad, you can come back every four.

"To heal, you're going to have to take it easy. You can walk if you must, but try to keep to your bed-"

"What can I not do?" I asked.

"Well, um. Don't wear anything too tight around your abdomen. I know it is going to hurt, but every once in a while you need to take deep breaths to avoid pneumonia. Don't run if you can help it." She took a moment, thinking to herself before continuing.

"Now, with all that said, I know these men and I know you won't be able to help yourself. You're going to get in trouble, so just listen to your body. If it gets to painful, if you lost your vision, get out of whatever is happening. We need to keep your head from getting another trauma, and your ribs need at least a week if not two in order to heal."