teddy bear

chapter twenty three

Kaia stared up at the hospital ceiling, slowly stroking Jeju's head, her dog laying on her stomach. She was breathing calmly now, the oxygen mask still on her face. She tried to not move too much as she breathed. The doctors said three of her ribs were broken and her neck suffered severe damage.

Well, not damage like air escaping her windpipe or anything that severe. But, she would be really weak for a while.

There were bruises etched around her neck, long, slim, bruises all around, mimicking the fingers of Yang. There were small gashes across her neck as well from his nails and her own nails when she tried to pry his fingers off of her.

The doctor told her that she may have bad episodes where it would be really hard to breathe, or she'd get coughing fits, but to try not to freak out when that happened. If she has a major panic attack in the next week, however, she needs to be brought to the hospital immediately in case her windpipe does collapse.

Other than that, the doctor said to not be surprised if she lost her voice or had problems swallowing. Throwing up may happen too, and it may hurt a lot more than usual. But he said to remain calm.

Kaia was too scared to breathe now. She focused her breathing in her stomach, not her chest, to avoid moving her ribs too much. Jeju must've sensed her chest pain, because he kept his head firmly on her stomach, not daring to go any higher.

Kaia made sure he got treated as well. She didn't care if it was a doctor or a nurse or a vet, she wanted Jeju's mouth and teeth and body to be looked at.

Thank the Lord he wasn't hurt in any way.

Kaia blinked a few times as she remembered the cameras, aimed at her ribs and neck and face. All documentation for the lawsuit that would be filed in hopefully a few hours. The boys made sure the hospital knew this was an assault. They would've had police and lawyers here if they could mentally handle it.

But right now? They could hardly handle anything.

Kaia swallowed a few times, testing her throat as a nurse came in and checked on her IVs and ribs. "Wh-What are you doing?" Kaia quickly moved away from the nurse as she reached for her arm. Kaia's eyes watered as her ribs stabbed her chest with pain, but her fear of the nurse overtook that emotion. "M-Miss-"

"Oh Honey, don't speak." The nurse tried to soothe, Kaia's heartbeat increasing, the monitor beeping loudly. "K-"

"I don't want you to touch me." Kaia reached down for Jeju's collar. "Please leave me alone."

"Wait, please wait." The nurse stepped back several feet. "I don't have any intentions of hurting you." The nurse emptied her pockets, revealing breath mints, a mask, and several pens. She held out her hands, showing she didn't have anything. "I do, however, need to check your IV, temperature, and eyes." The nurse carefully picked up the thermometer and showed it to Kaia. "I'll use this to take your temperature, and this," She held up a small flashlight. "To check your eyes."

Kaia swallowed, slowly shifting back to her original position in the upright hospital bed. "Please be gentle."

"I will." The nurse promised, slowly moving forward, holding out her hand. "May I see your arm, please?"

Kaia's eyes fluttered closed, reminding herself the nurse wasn't Yang and that she wasn't going to try and snap her arm. "Yes." Kaia's hand trembled as she held out her arm, the nurse supporting her weight as she did what she needed to do.

"I know you're scared." The nurse spoke softly, making it very obvious with her movements that she was going to check Kaia's temperature. "And I know you're really hurt and-"