Physically very fucking bad.
“I’m so sorry,” I blurted, my right hand rising shakily to cover my eyes. “I have such a bad migraine right now. I can’t…”
I swallowed bile and swayed.
“Let’s get her inside,” said the warden, his voice efficient and authoritative. A small arm linked through my left one – Tasha’s. She said a few words of thanks to Jo, and Warden Tenn said, “I’ve got the bag.”
Even though my eyes were shut, I kept my hand over them as Tasha gently led me from the shuttle. Even the small amount of light passing through my eyelids required extra blocking out.
“Stairs here,” Tasha murmured at my side, guiding me up a couple of steps. There was the creak of a door opening, then the click of it closing behind us.
“Hi, Rivven,” Tasha said. “This is Shiloh. She’s not feeling well right now. Do you have somewhere she could lie down?”
“Take my bed,” said a new, deep voice at once. I tried to crack my eyes open to see who it was, but immediately regretted it and closed them again. We were inside a building, but light blazed in through the windows.
“The bedding’s clean,” the new voice added quickly.
Even in my current state, I decided that I liked this voice. It was gruff and masculine, but I thought I detected a hint of awkward sheepishness in the comment about the cleanliness of the bedding. Like he was worried about me judging his sheets.Cute.
And that voice was offering me somewhere to lie down, with fresh blankies to boot. Sounded like a miracle right about now.
“Thank you,” I managed weakly, aware that I was taking somebody’s bed. At least it wasn’t night time here. Hopefully its owner – Rivven? – wouldn’t need to use it anytime soon.
“Of course,” he said, a soft rasp from very near to me, on my right. Then, he spoke a little louder, from ahead. “This way. Through the kitchen.”
Another door. Another set of stairs – many more of them this time, leading me to a second floor.
One more door.
And a bed. A merciful, wonderful bed.
I didn’t notice anything else about the room besides the fact that it also had a window, which meant I couldn’t keep my eyes open for long.
“We need to cover that up,” said Tasha, still holding my arm and supporting me. “Have you got an opaque tarp, or another blanket, Rivven? Something to block out the light.”
Tasha released my arm then, taking my jacket when I shucked it off. I gingerly nudged my feet out of my boots. I would have liked to have removed my pants and bra, but I doubted I had the energy for that right now. And I still wasn’t even sure how many people were in the room with me. There were at leasttwo Zabrian men present, I was fairly certain about that. So I kept all my clothes on for now.
Tasha pulled back the soft covers, and I kneeled on the mattress before carefully manoeuvring my body into a horizontal position. My head felt heavy and swollen when I laid it down upon the pillow. I was about to pull the blankets up and over my face when everything went blissfully dark.
“Thank you,” I said again, barely able to whisper it now. I hoped whoever had covered the window heard it. I really meant it.
“Do you need anything else?” Tasha asked. “We’ll make sure there’s water on the bedside table for you.”
My stomach roiled.
“Maybe a bucket,” I groaned.
The last thing I heard before they all left the room was that deep voice I liked saying, “Got plenty of buckets. She can have her pick.”
5
RIVVEN
In the end, Tasha decided that we would not subject Shiloh to choosing a bucket. So I chose for her, handing Tasha my best, cleanest, sturdiest one. It was my favourite. I typically used it in the kitchen, unlike some of my older, dented pails that I used for chores outside.
I probably wouldn’t use this bucket in the kitchen again after this. Since I was fairly certain the beautiful woman in my bed meant to piss in it.
“I can also help her to the outhouse if needed,” I said. Tasha had insisted on bringing the bucket and glass of water to the bedroom herself, but I found myself following her up the stairs anyway. “I can carry her.”
