Jada woke in the morning with a throbbing headache, unable to feel her face. She also couldn't feel part of her ribs. The sunlight piercing in through her lacy, gauzy white curtains stabbed past her eyelids, made her cry out with the agony, curling into a fetal position. Why did she hurt so badly? For the life of her, she couldn't remember... she pushed off of her bed, crying out; she had to have a bruised rib.
She moved for the curtains first. Her bare feet made dull noises against the carpet as she dragged them tiredly. It was too hard to pick them up. She drew the heavier drapes across her window, sighing in relief when the sunlight was blocked. Drawing the silk robe closed, she resumed her stumbling gait to head for the bathroom.
A noise was made, low in her throat, when the light was flipped on. It hurt almost as badly as the sunlight from outside had. As the woman opened her eyes to peer critically into the mirror, she gave a startled shriek.
s**t, s**t, s**t! Jada's hand raised in panic, rubbing at the mirror for a second before she realized the mirror wasn't dying her face that color.
The mirror wasn't the cause of that busted cheek.
The mirror wasn't the cause of her black eye.
With a curse, she remembered what was. Garden Gnomes. Youma. Europa. Ice Cream.
At least one good thing had come from the night before. She gave a sniff, reaching up to her own face and gingerly placing her hand against the puffed flesh. The touch of her fingers on her numb face made her frown. She probed the lump visible under the hair; the lump was tender under slim fingers and she pulled her hands away from her hair.
She couldn't go to class like this. She looked like an abused woman. And she might be concussed. She groaned, sitting on the edge of the bathtub and allowing it to run. Her favorite bath salts, a green tea mix, were dumped into the water liberally. She pushed off the side of the porcelain tub, let the robe fall from her shoulders and pulled off her nightgown. Stared at her bare body in the mirror, eyes growing darker with every bruise spotting her midriff. Her ribs were a sickly green, and she was spotted and scraped down the entire right side of her body.
Jada drew her fingers over the pattern, pressing to see if she could feel anything broken. Thank goodness, none of the strokes made her shriek in pain; she was most likely only badly bruised. She pulled open the medicine cabinet, pulling out a bottle of acetaminophen; aspirin would make her blood thin, and with the bruises she had she wasn't sure she wanted that. She popped them into her mouth and swallowed without water, wincing slightly at the bitter taste as the pills slid down her throat.
Ugh.
Slowly she slid into the steaming water, hissing in pain as it scorched over the scrapes. She let her body relax, melting into the hot water. This was miserable.
She moved for the curtains first. Her bare feet made dull noises against the carpet as she dragged them tiredly. It was too hard to pick them up. She drew the heavier drapes across her window, sighing in relief when the sunlight was blocked. Drawing the silk robe closed, she resumed her stumbling gait to head for the bathroom.
A noise was made, low in her throat, when the light was flipped on. It hurt almost as badly as the sunlight from outside had. As the woman opened her eyes to peer critically into the mirror, she gave a startled shriek.
s**t, s**t, s**t! Jada's hand raised in panic, rubbing at the mirror for a second before she realized the mirror wasn't dying her face that color.
The mirror wasn't the cause of that busted cheek.
The mirror wasn't the cause of her black eye.
With a curse, she remembered what was. Garden Gnomes. Youma. Europa. Ice Cream.
At least one good thing had come from the night before. She gave a sniff, reaching up to her own face and gingerly placing her hand against the puffed flesh. The touch of her fingers on her numb face made her frown. She probed the lump visible under the hair; the lump was tender under slim fingers and she pulled her hands away from her hair.
She couldn't go to class like this. She looked like an abused woman. And she might be concussed. She groaned, sitting on the edge of the bathtub and allowing it to run. Her favorite bath salts, a green tea mix, were dumped into the water liberally. She pushed off the side of the porcelain tub, let the robe fall from her shoulders and pulled off her nightgown. Stared at her bare body in the mirror, eyes growing darker with every bruise spotting her midriff. Her ribs were a sickly green, and she was spotted and scraped down the entire right side of her body.
Jada drew her fingers over the pattern, pressing to see if she could feel anything broken. Thank goodness, none of the strokes made her shriek in pain; she was most likely only badly bruised. She pulled open the medicine cabinet, pulling out a bottle of acetaminophen; aspirin would make her blood thin, and with the bruises she had she wasn't sure she wanted that. She popped them into her mouth and swallowed without water, wincing slightly at the bitter taste as the pills slid down her throat.
Ugh.
Slowly she slid into the steaming water, hissing in pain as it scorched over the scrapes. She let her body relax, melting into the hot water. This was miserable.
