“How are you feeling?” She asks me.
“Better.” I honestly reply.
Natasha and Elise return, and while the door is open I get a glimpse of Grim standing right outside. Elise turns around and gives me a smile when she sees who I’m looking at. “That’s Grim, our vice president. He wanted to see if you were ok because you kind of fainted on him.”
Oh shit, I forgot about that!
Grim pokes his head into the room, and gives me a small smile. “You can come in.” Elise tells him but he shakes his head.
“No, it’s ok.” He looks to me. “I just wanted to check in on you.”
“I’m ok.” I answer him. Grim looks me over, probably checking to see if I have any major injuries I’m lying about.
“Good. If you need anything, just ask. You’re in the care of The Kings now.” Those words somehow give me goose bumps and once he is satisfied, he gives me a quick nod and leaves us to it.
As soon as I feel good enough, I decide that I need a shower. I would love a bath, but because of my injuries I’m told not to soak for too long, which is a pity because soaking in a hot bubble bath is what I am craving. I’m offered shampoos, conditioners and shower gel of all sorts by the many women here and as I lather my hair in the shampoo I actually groan out loud. I massage my scalp, scratching and digging my fingers through my hair. When I look at some of the bubbles in my hand, I see they’re brown instead of white. I’m disgusted by the dirt hidden in my hair and wash repeat until the water runs clear. I use as much conditioner as I possibly can, needing my hair to feel as smooth as it used to before all this shit started. After I’ve taken care of my hair, I carefully wash myself and I even take down the shower head and angle it between my legs. I need to feel clean, I need to feel fresh and not feel Demon or Strike there anymore.
Once I’ve finished, I regrettably get out of the shower and wrap myself in the towel that was provided. Elise has laid out some jeans and a plain shirt for me from her own bag of clothes she originally brought out here when she came to visit with her dad. Usually, I’d imagine Elise’s clothes would be too small but that’s not a problem for me now due to the amount of weight I have lost.
Once dressed I feel so weird! My legs are covered and the shirt isn’t sexual in any way. I look at myself in the mirror and see how much I have changed, both inside and out. I dry my own hair, which I haven’t done for a while because that was either Tony’s or Chatter’s job. When I’ve finished I’m left in shock, my hair looks amazing. It’s smooth, glossy and falls down my back the way it always used to. Not in ugly knots or feeling rough from using only water. I can’t stop running my hands through my long black locks and when I go to lie down, I continue to play with my hair as I drift off to sleep.
Chapter 23
I hear the door open and I see Elise walking in. “Sorry I woke you up.” She looks me over and grins. “You look great.”
“No it’s fine, I need to get up.” I’ve been doing far too much sleeping since I got here.
“No you need the rest. What Demon put you through, your body needs it.” Elise comes to sit on the edge of my bed. “Natasha’s making us a drink, and then my dad would like a chat, if that’s ok?”
I sit up, with my back to the wall. “That’s fine. I need to thank him anyway.”
“You don’t need to do that, Lauren. Everyone knows how grateful we are.” She takes a deep breath. “I just can’t stop reliving that last part.”
I know what she’s talking about and I’m the same. I can’t stop seeing Chatter’s face. The way she looked so scared and the terrible way she died. Chatter didn’t deserve to die like that.
There’s a knock, and in walks Natasha followed by Elise’s dad and Grim.
“Well don’t you look better?” Natasha places my drink on the table and sits on my other side.
“Thanks.” I smile back at her. “It’s amazing what water and shampoo can do.”
“Glad to see you awake.” Brace, Elise’s dad, greets me and even though Elise has told me that these are good men and they won’t hurt me, it feels weird to have them in this room.
“Thank you for all your help.” I thank him and he shakes his head.
“No need. You helped my daughter, so I’m helping you.” He smiles a great big smile and I relax just a little. I see tears appear in his eyes. “Elise told me how much you protected her. You put yourselves in their path for the sake of looking after my girl when I couldn’t.”