Episode 17: "House Guest."

Sitting on her bed for minutes, those minutes turning to hours expecting his return--it was now going for two in the morning--Alicia attempted to sleep. It proved difficult due to her cheek being swollen, so she with reluctance looked in the mirror at herself, saw the red, darkened bruise, and went into the kitchen to get some ice from Christian's automatic ice dispencer. Doing some searching she found small plastic sandwich bags and placed a few ice cubes inside those. Applying pressure to her cheek she winced and walked back to bed. She figured some ibuprofen would help with the pain, but she didn't find anything stocked in her cabinet and didn't want to go into Christian's room for nothing.

Her eyes watered again as she weighed her pain against her pride.

Her pain won out. She wondered and worried if something was fractured but she couldn't go anywhere anyway. She wondered if Christian was thinking about any of this. Was thinking of her at all other than his apology to her?

Stepping over the broken pieces of wood, she walked into his bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. Nothing. He had nothing in there.

She guessed he dealt with his pain in a different way than the rest. She thought of anyone she knew at her new job but didn't have their numbers she realized and once again, doubted if Christian would want anyone stepping foot on his property without his permission. That'd probably earn her another swipe to the head she thought with disgust.

With warm tears falling down her cheeks, she managed to fall asleep. Her body was too tired to protest.

***

When Alicia awoke her cheek was in more pain than the night before. It was bright and sunny in her room, but she immediately switched on the waterworks. She needed to see a doctor! Get some kind of pain relief! She picked up her phone. It was a little passed nine o' clock in the morning. And she had three missed calls and one voicemail.

Heart racing she quickly entered her code and tapped on the voicemail.

"Hey Alicia! It's me Ricky! Listen, Christian informed of an...incident that happened between you two last night. He's sending me over to check on you, all right? Call me back as soon as possible!"

Tears of joy running down her face she quickly called her number back.

She answered on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Ricky!" Alicia said.

"Oh! Alicia! Honey are you all right? I'm on my way there now!"

"I'm okay..." Alicia held back the lump in her throat and took a deep breath. "I'm okay...but I'm in a lot of pain, Ricky. My jaw, my whole left side is completely swollen..."

"Oh my gosh! What did he do to you!"

"It doesn't matter--look! I need to go to the doctor, okay? I need to see if anything is fractured and I need some pain reliever pills too...my cheek is on fire."

"Okay. I bought some over the counter pain relief with me just in case you would need it."

"Oh thank you! I need it!"

"Okay, just sit tight okay? We'll go to the doctor as soon as I get there--we'll go to the ER, okay? Just be ready, all right?"

Alicia nodded. "Okay, thank you so much, Ricky."

"No problem." she said.

"Oh! Do you need a code or something to get in?"

"Christian gave me everything I needed."

"Where is he by the way! Does he know what he's done to me!" Alicia yelled, her anger getting to her.

"Alicia...I really couldn't tell you right now. Christian, he, well, I wouldn't know as he sent me everything through a text message, but judging by how he is as a person, I know he's feeling really, really bad right now. Especially since it's you. You hardly know each other and something--whatever happened--happened."

"Yeah, I know..." Alicia said. "But I'm going to let you go so I can get ready...where are you by the way?"

"I'm just passing highway 6."

"Oh then you're really close."

"Yeah, I know. But let me go, okay? I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?"

"Okay." Alicia said. "Thank you so much, Ricky."

"You're welcome." She said.

"Okay, bye." Alicia said.

"Bye."

All that talking seemed to only intensify her pain and she tasted blood in her mouth. She shot out of bed.

***

"It seems your jaw is slightly fractured..."

"What--ow!" she cried.

"Yes, Miss June. Tell me, what happened again?"

"My face just got in the way of a heavy blow..." she said, trying to be as honest as possible. "I was attempting to move past the object when it still managed to nik me right in the face."

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"Hm, and what kind of object was this?"

"It moved too fast for me to see it properly."

The doctor looked her over. He had seen more than his fair share of abusive relationships. As always, the girl tried protecting their abuser--excuse him--lover. "Well, all right. Whatever hit you caused quite a blow but the good news is that it's completely healable."

"Really?"

"Yes. But you will have to let it rest and then follow up with a physical therapist. Your insurance? It's under your parents, right?"

Shoot! She had forgotten all about her parents! She didn't want them to know about this!

"Yes, but I am no longer...with them..." she flinched some.

"Oh?" He said.

"Yes, I recently moved out...I'll um, I'll pay for everything in cash."

He rose his eyebrows. "You are aware of how expensive medical bills are, right? Just this visit alone is quite expensive."

"I...assure you...doctor...I can...afford it..." It's the least that man can do for leaving me like this! I'll take it right out of his checkbook!

"Well, all right then. I'll print out the instructions for your recovery and recommend some physical therapists. Do you have a main doctor you see so you can do a follow up?"

"Uh, yes, I do. I'll be sure to make an appointment."

"Okay. I'll also prescribe a higher dosage of pain relief."

"Please do."

"You are small. I'd say 400mg should be enough every 4 to 6 hours the pain persists."

Alicia nodded.

"Okay then." He said. "You are one of the lucky ones."

"Hm?"

The doctor shook his head. "Usually when a woman comes in here her jaw is anything but fractured. It's completely broken from some unfortunate event or another."

"Ohh..." she said. "That's...really sad..." Her mouth was inflamed. "Um doctor, what about the blood from my mouth? Is that normal from a fracture?"

"Rarely. Bleeding usually comes from a broken jaw, but blood does every now and then come from a fractured jaw. It depends on it's position. Plus you are small and have more bone than tissue in some places, so it's to be expected that a little blood comes through."

"Oh." She said. "Because I don't want an infection."

"Oh no. You are fine. There is no infection, but just to be safe, I'll prescribe an antibiotic to take along with your pain medication. Stay away from any bitter fruits and certain medication while your on it, okay Grapefruits and such?"

She nodded.

"I'll print out a list of fruits and medicine you can take while you heal. And also a soft diet that is recommended okay, Miss June?"

She tried her best to smile. "Yes, doctor."

"Okay." he held out his hand for her to shake and she shook it. "You can walk out to the front."

"Okay." She said. Walking out from behind him there was Ricky waiting for her.

"You hear everything?" Alicia whispered to her.

She nodded. "Let's get everything you need, okay?"

Alicia nodded.

***

2 weeks later...

"Okay, let's get some food in you!" Ricky said having hauled in some fresh produce.

Alicia still wore the splint for her face. The pain had gotten much better in the last fourteen days. It was a surprise to her that Christian had assigned Ricky to watch over her. However he had yet to be seen.

"Yeah..." Alicia said. "When do you think the man is coming back!" It was a little easier for her to yell now, but she still had to take it easy.

"It's hard to say, Alicia." Ricky said, cutting into some lettuce.

"You think he feels guilty at all?!"

"Do you see him here at all?" Ricky said, cutting away. "He can't face you right now, which means he feels really guilty. Trust me. Christian isn't going to just show up and act like everything is fine."

"Well everything isn't."

"And he knows that." Ricky said, looking up at her. Her hair was tied up in a bun with a few curly strands coming down either side of her face. "If I know Christian, he's, he's trying to find the most plausible way to say he's sorry."

"He already did."

"But that's not enough, is it?"

Alicia thought over her words.

"I mean it can be. But this situation is highly sensitive. He fractured your jaw. You'll forever remember this. He'll forever remember this. Knowing that, it's not going to be easy for him to face you. For you guys to face each other really."

"Oh?"

"I'm sure you'll tense up greatly once he returns, Alicia. Which should be soon. He has a special dinner with his family coming up in a couple weeks. He has to be back by then."

"Special dinner?" Alicia asked. "Am I invited?" She chuckled.

Ricky did to. "I doubt it. Despite the circumstances, Christian has been checking in on you through me."

"What! When?" she said.

"Well, he asked how you were doing earlier this morning. If you were any pain."

"Yeah, I am."

Ricky smiled some. "He wants me to continue to monitor you."

"I hope someone does. I can't do anything by myself much without a license. And this is not my house so it's not like I can go wondering around." Her mouth was beginning to hurt.

"Yes, well, that's why I'm here." She smiled at her. "Hopefully I'm good company to keep."

Alica smiled as best she could. "You are more than good."

Ricky beamed.

"Now if only you were any good at cooking." Alicia rolled her eyes.

"What! You don't like my cooking!"

She began to laugh. "I'm only kidding--ow!" She placed a hand on her cheek. She knew how much pride Ricky took in her cooking.

"Serves you right!" Ricky said.

"I said I was kidding!" Alicia said.

"I know." She said, her eyes softening. "Do you need any medicine?"

"No...I just took some this morning...about two hours ago. I have to wait until later."

"Okay, well, do your cold and hot compresses."

"I think I will." Alicia got off the stool and went over to the freezer. She pulled out a heat pack and placed it in the microwave. "Let that heat up." She turned to Ricky. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Okay." She said.

Ricky watched her go and then looked down at the salad she was preparing. Her eyes dimmed. Alicia didn't deserve to be caught up in this life. None of the women Christian crossed paths with deserved to be.

Pulling out her cellphone she texted Christian, asking when he planned on returning home.

A few moments later her phone vibrated. She heard Alica flush the toilet and the microwave ding behind her as she read the text, becoming alarmed.

"Don't know."

What did he mean he didn't know?!

"Whoo! You know when you really have to go and it feels good to just let it all out?" Alicia said sitting back down at the island.

"Yeah." Ricky smoothly put up a face of coolness. "So, let's discuss your menu for the day, Alicia June!"

"Please, please can I please have some gummy worms! I'm craving them!"

"Nope. And your heat pack stopped."

"Oh right!" She said attempting to get off the stool.

"I got it." Ricky said turning away. She furrowed her brows. She had a sinking feeling about a certain plan or plans of action that were about to take place, but what could she do? Having known Christian for as long as she had, she was loyal to him. But that didn't mean she agreed with everything he did. This may end up being one of those things. She smiled and handed Alicia her heat packet.

Depending on how Alicia would take it that is.