The door clicked behind them and I heard the distinct sound of a lock turning.
In a hurry, I stumbled to the door, falling over myself as I did. Although my brain was feeling like it was being pickled, I had retained enough sanity to realise that I had been tricked by my elders into something undesirable. I hammered at the door for a while before sitting on the floor with a self-deprecating laugh. I really had just been sold. Drugged, sold by my parents and bought by the Juns. The documents I had just signed were likely a contract or something.
Tears slid down my face for a while at the pain of abandonment and betrayal. And then I wiped them off. When feeling down and miserable, a drunk and drugged person like me should go to sleep. Perhaps it was all a drunkard's dream and I'd wake up in the morning with the world all right again.
Climbing into the big bed, I slid under the covers only to find here was another person in there. He was hot and heavy. He groaned with discomfort and hugged me tight the moment he felt me in the bed, pulling me on top of him.
I screamed.
"Who are you?" a strained and hoarse voice demanded in a low tone. "What are you doing here?"
"Brother Sihao?" I squeaked, my pickled brain belatedly recognising the voice. "Is that you?"
If it was Sihao then I was in the right place. Since they had locked me in with him, it should be perfectly reasonable for me to take advantage of the man of my dreams. It was only right.
"Yi-yina? Yina, go and get my parents. I feel sick. There's something wrong with me. Quick, go. I don't want to hurt you but I can barely control myself."
Hot breath landed on my neck and I felt something poky poking at me from below. I patted it away and tried to stop it from poking at me through our clothes. It was bouncy and kept springing back up.
"Brother Sihao, you don't have to worry. You can do whatever you want to me," I had grinned drunkenly. "I know you won't hurt me."
That had done it.
The rest of the night was a strange muggy whirl. The drug must have been kicking in because I slowly lost all my strength and ability to move. I could feel everything though. Feel it all wonderfully numbly. I was losing my mind from the drugs and alcohol, so for this to be a wet dream with the man of my dreams seemed to be perfect. I showered him with kisses while obediently doing everything he asked and more.
I woke up to find myself being held tight by a man. I was lying sideways with my hips pressed to his. His grip was too tight and my head ached too much. I was still dizzy. My limbs all felt weak and my body felt like it had been run over by a truck.
Morning light streamed in through the window, while I felt myself being held possessively by an insatiable beast. It felt like I was riding a rollercoaster ride. His strong arms pushed and pulled me into him with ease. I was still in a daze, not quite comprehending what was happening to me.
It was quite an odd and exhilarating thing to wake up to. Especially when I recognised the scent of my crush. This was a dream, right?
The door opened and I heard a voice gasp.
"I thought you guys said he couldn't do it? Do you think he's been going all night?"
"Well, at least we know that the drug worked on them both. That's a lot of blood. Is there usually so much blood during a girl's first time?"
"Let's just let them finish doing it. You might have given Sihao too strong a dose. Yina is going to be sore when she wakes up later. Let's hope she didn't get injured."
"It's good to know he's not without ability."
"So I won't be able to be with Yina? I was really hoping I'd have the chance."
"If your brother can't make her pregnant within two years, you can have a turn."
"Two years? That's such a long time. What about one year? One and a half years?"
There was a smack and Siming yowled in pain.
"Brat, get out!"
The door clicked shut and I could only close my eyes again. I had wanted to ask them for help but none of them had actually looked at me.
"Sihao, Brother Sihao," I patted the man. My voice was almost nonexistent. "Enough. It's enough. Isn't it enough?"
All I got in return was my man calling my name while groaning and more 'excitement'. The light faded out.
A doctor and nurse chatted quietly and I felt a sharp pinch in my arm. An IV bag swayed overhead and I moaned in pain. Everything hurt. I could barely move. I needed to go to the toilet but I didn't want to even try. If lying here like this and not moving hurt, how much more would it hurt if I actually got up out of bed? My head throbbed and ached as if it had been shrunk.
I recognised that I was in a guest room. Not Sihao's room. I had practically grown up here, so I knew all the rooms just as well as I knew the rooms in my own family's house.
"Yina," said the nurse. "Are you awake?"
"Can I not be?" I asked. "Can you knock me back out?"
"How do you feel?" the nurse asked.
"Everything hurts," I mumbled, feeling tears in my eyes. "Really hurts. Who knew it would hurt so much? I need to go to the toilet, but it hurts too much to move. Is it possible to stay in bed?"
"I'll get you a bedpan," the nurse said.
Great. I could go to the toilet without leaving the bed.
"How is Brother Sihao?" I asked. "Has he woken up yet?"
"Yes," the nurse replied. "He woke up first and hollered when he realised what he had done. He was horrified. After we carried you out of the room, he locked the door and wouldn't let anyone in. Now that you're awake, perhaps he'll be willing to eat something. He thought he'd killed you."
"How long have I been out for then?" I asked in my raspy voice while the nurse wiped me clean and took the bedpan away.
"Two days," the nurse said. "We were starting to wonder if something else was going on and whether we should bring you to the hospital for more tests. He didn't tear anything, I don't think. I examined you while you were unconscious, just in case. There was just a lot more blood than we expected."
"Wow," I said in a flat voice. "I hope he enjoyed himself because I think I may never want to do anything of the sort again."
The nurse wiped my face and hands with a quirky smile.
"It's this bad because the two of you were drugged and couldn't control things. We've warned both your parents not to do such things again. It appears they dosed both of you quite strongly. A little more and it might have killed you both."
"It goes to show how much my parents love me," I said in a glum voice. "The only upside is that I've ended up with the originally untouchable man of my dreams. How romantic."
The nurse laughed at my facial expression.
"You must be starving," she said. "I'll bring you something light to eat. Try and sit up if you can. Make sure to pump your ankles and get the blood moving so you won't be too dizzy."
"Ugh," I said, moving my ankles up and down like she was demonstrating. "Too tiring. It hurts. I'm done. Going back to sleep now."
"Go back to sleep after eating," the nurse laughed again, seeming amused by me.
"Can you wake me up when the food arrives instead?" I asked.
"Alright," the nurse said with a smiling nod. "I'm glad to see you're in good spirits and not upset."
"What's there to be upset about?" I closed my eyes. "My parents sold me to our good family friends, so I know I won't be mistreated. I somehow got married to the man I've been crushing on. I'm now the sister-in-law of my best friend, so that should hopefully stop him from having any more thoughts about me… unless I don't get pregnant quickly enough and his parents decide that… but that's something to think about in the future. I'm a doormat with a cheeky personality who does what I'm told. Even though I've been sold and drugged without consent, I couldn't pass up a night with my secret crush - which is probably part of the trouble. Even so, I don't regret it. I'll just never let him near me enough to do it again. So there's nothing to be unhappy about."
That was when the doctor spoke up.
"When you're feeling better and more able, you should come to my clinic for a checkup," he said with a strange tone of voice. "We can have a private chat and you can tell us your real feelings without fear of other people overhearing."
"May I say 'when pigs can fly'?" I asked without opening my eyes.
"My office door is always open for you," the doctor replied, sounding oddly gentle. "If and when you need help, you can come look for me. I'll leave you my card. If you feel uncomfortable talking to me, you can talk to Geannie, here."
"That's right," the nurse, Geannie, agreed cheerfully. "Feel free to contact me."
I heard the sound of a card being placed on the bedside table and felt someone wipe away a stray tear I hadn't realised I had shed. Why would I have shed a tear? I wasn't upset. I wasn't. Patient, obedient little doormats like me don't have the liberty of having such feelings.
"I'll wake you up when the food's arrived," Geannie said.
I didn't wake up again until the next day and Geannie by my side, seemed relieved when I finally opened my eyes again.
"You're awake," she said with a smile in her eyes and a deep sigh. "I'm glad. Dr Feng was getting worried again when you couldn't be woken up. Did you have a good sleep?"
"Yeah," I sighed. "It would have been nice to never wake up again but reality has to be faced eventually."
"If you never woke up again, I don't want to think what dark places my mind would have gone to," said a hoarse, deep voice by my bed.
"Hey, Brother Sihao. How's your arms after the workout?" I turned my not-so-sore neck to look at my newly wedded husband. "Are you ok?"
"Better than you," the man smiled and I could see the dark circles under his eyes. "I could have held back, you know, if you hadn't wanted to…"
"You were drugged. I was drugged. I was deliriously happy to discover I was in your bed. I love you. Have for the past five years, so it was no big deal to give myself to you," I reached out a tired arm and took the man's pale hand. He held my hand hesitantly at first but then seemed to make up his mind and renewed his grip to hold my hand firmly. "So long you don't hate me, I'm very happy to be with you. And so, don't blame yourself. Siming did give me a heads up before it all happened although I thought it was all a big joke. Being with you can be said to be a dream come true. You'd never have looked at me if this never happened."
Jun Sihao pressed his lips together and gave me a complicated look.
"Hey, cheer up. I'm not dead. After all that fuss, I must have gotten pregnant, right? That should make your parents happy," I said.
"What about you? What would make you happy?" Jun Sihao squeezed my hand and his serious look made my heart shake a little. Did he, peradventure, actually care about me a little bit? I hadn't been betting on it, but if he liked me even a little bit, then all my hard work wasn't for nothing. It made my heart beat just that little bit faster.
Don't. Don't turn this serious and don't put the spotlight on me. I can't bear it.
"Hey, it's not about me being happy," I turned my smile up a notch. "I'm supposed to make you happy. It's all about you, ok? What will make you happy? I'm just happy to be by your side, ok? I'm happy. You tell me how to make you happy and we're all good."
"Can you be serious?" Sihao frowned.
"I'm serious," I said, struggling up into sitting and Geannie leaned over to help me move pillows. "As serious as red date tea. Seriously, man. You're a beast among men. You've made me lie down for a few days after the deed. How are you so awesome? Didn't they say you might never get it up? Who was it who spread that rumour? I want to beat them up until they cry for their mummies."
"You - you don't regret being forced to marry me?" the man asked hoarsely with an uncertain expression.
"If they had just asked me properly," I said with a quirk of my lips, "I could have put up a pretentious token resistance before giving in and marrying you while being secretly over the moon about it. They really didn't need to rush things like this. Where's my wedding? Where's my enormous wedding banquet? Where's my smiling groom?"
"I think they rushed things because of me," Jun Sihao licked his dry lips. "I was thinking of ending my life."
"Then it's a good thing they rushed things?" I queried with care. "Have I cheered you up? Please say my sacrifice wasn't in vain. If it's not enough, perhaps we can do some more to help you vent your feelings?"
"When you've recovered," Dr Feng said in a firm tone, entering the room with Uncle and Aunty Jun. My new parents-in-law. "Not before."
"I thought you said that you'd never do that sort of thing again?" Geannie whispered to me behind her hand.
"When it comes to my hubby, whatever he wants goes," I declared. "Short of killing me, that is. It has to be within reason."
"It seems that you married the right person," Dr Feng commented to Sihao. And the Jun couple nodded their agreement, looking inordinately pleased and satisfied with themselves.
"I'm starting to get that feeling," Jun Sihao pressed my hand to his stubbly cheek.
"Ow. Ow," I pulled my hand away. "Go shave, man. Don't be a caveman. Then you can rub my delicate hands all over your handsome, pretty face. I don't want my hands all scratched up. Go shave, handsome hubby, and show me how you light up my world with your magnificent visage. Show me that million dollar smile."