Stacey sat on the edge of the bed, gripping the mattress with both hands so hard that her knuckles had turned white. Just like this, if she didn't move, she wouldn't fall. Sweat trickled down her face and neck but Stacey refused to give up.
Miao was guarding inside her room today and kept wanting to come over to help support her.
"Don't come," Stacey snapped. "Can do this."
"My lady…"
"Stay," Stacey said through her gritted teeth.
Her speech and swallowing ability had improved somewhat. She was determined for her other muscles to do the same so that she could move and walk again.
Feeling her balance starting to feel more stable, Stacey gradually relaxed her grip on the mattress. Bit by creaking bit at a time. It was her knuckles that creaked. Not the mattress.
Very, very slowly, Stacey raised one freely hanging leg. Then she put it down to raise the other dangling leg. She was too scared to try and shuffle forwards enough for her feet to touch the ground. If she got too close to the edge, she might slip off the edge of the bed and fall. But sitting without her feet on the floor was harder for her balance.
Nevermind. Sometimes, increasing the challenge would result in better outcomes.
Move one leg. Then the other. Feel the shift in weight. Readjust the body position in order to counter the shift. Slowly. Slowly.
Sitting too heavily on the left made it hard to move that leg. Sitting too heavily on the right while moving the left leg made her almost fall. She had to find that point of balance.
She couldn't sit too slouched, but neither could she sit too stiff and tall. Otherwise it would affect the weight distribution and she would fall. Her body was like a stacked tower of blocks. She had to feel and learn where the weight should shift to and where the lines of gravity would fall whenever she moved.
"Where are Elsa and Anna?" asked Miao into his communicator, pressing his earpiece. "When are they coming back? My lady is practising sitting by herself and won't let me anywhere near her to help."
"Elsa, Anna, no," Stacey told him through her teeth. "Some things do myself. Can't rehab exercise for me."
"Yes, my lady. Does that mean you're going to start eating again too? We can't eat the food for you either."
"Shut up," Stacey snapped. "No 'lady'. Call Stacey."
"Yes, my lady. I mean, whatever you say, Stacey."
"Shut up. Concentrate."
"Yes, my lady, uh, Stacey," Miao stumbled over his words.
There was silence again while Stacey focussed on sitting and moving one leg at a time. After a while, she practised swinging them.
A clink and a gust of outside wind whooshed through the room. The door opened, startling Stacey out of her concentration. She looked up too fast and fell. Miao was immediately by her side, supporting her, while looking vigilantly at who had come to disturb Stacey's self-conducted rehab session.
Thieren flicked his hand at Miao, who scooted off to one side, allowing Thieren to take his place in supporting Stacey in sitting. Thieren sat on the bed beside Stacey. Two male strangers entered the room, making Stacey subconsciously press herself a little closer to Thieren in hopes to hide herself.
And then she recognised her visitors.
"Ken! Flail!"
She opened her arms and leant forwards in joy. Thieren had to quickly hold her back before she fell forwards onto the floor.
"Be careful," he scolded her.
The boys came forward to hug her but then seeing Thieren's glare, they stopped and meekly reached out a fist instead.
Stacey cast a sideways look of annoyance at her 'husband' and then fist bumped them all the same.
"Good see you guys," she grinned. "Looking good."
Both boys looked so much better than when she had last seen them. Ken had definitely recovered and looked more mature now. He had lost a lot of his baby fat. She hadn't seen Flail since before the battle or even before her berserker training, but she had often imagined what he had looked like after his amputation.
"I thought you could do with some more cheering up," Thieren told her, "and bring some of your things to closure. So I asked your old friends to come. Maybe they'll help to stimulate your appetite."
Thieren helped Stacey to lie back into bed and raised the head of the bed so that she could sit up comfortably without fear of falling to talk to the boys.
"Lunch is arriving soon. I've ordered a portion for you boys too, so that you can all eat together," Thieren said. "See if you can get her to eat more. If she finishes most of her food, I'll let you come and visit more often. I have some work to deal with. I'll leave you all to chat. Tell Stacey's assistants if you need anything after they come in with the food."
"Alright. Thank you, Lord Huo," Ken bowed.
"Thank you, Lord Huo," Flail nodded his head. "I'm sorry, I can't bow or I might fall. I'm still getting used to my new leg. Thank you for helping me get such a good prosthetic model," Flail told Thieren with shining eyes. "I'll do my best not to let you down."
"You're welcome," Thieren said to Flail. "You helped defend Stacey during the battle after all and got injured because of it, affecting your future plans. As for you," Thieren turned to point a finger at Ken, "my bodyguards are watching. She's my wife. Don't think I don't know that you were hoping to marry her. I saw your marriage application. She's mine."
Ken scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment, while Stacey's eyes widened.
"Honestly, sir," he said somewhat sheepishly, "I wouldn't have been able to take as good care of her as you are. She wouldn't have any of this if she'd married me. Besides, I don't really have romantic feelings toward her. More a sense of duty and friendship. Endo entrusted her safety to me, you see. I'm not going to try do anything. I'm just a friend now. I don't have money, power or connections like you do." Ken looked down. "I just didn't want her to be alone and be taken advantage of by any other guys. I wanted to keep her safe, because she's special. She's not like any other girls I've met. I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea about me."