Ada's Story - Kinnporsche Universe

Chapter 17 - Pain

I woke up in the private hospital of my family.
I slowly gained consciousness, but my eyes were still closed. I remember feeling the weight of a hand onto mine, a big and warm hand, and I immediately understood it was Korn's.
When I opened my eyes he was there, looking at me and patiently waiting for me to adjust to the light of the room.
"Hi baby.. you're awake, finally!" he warmly smiled at me, caressing the back of my hand with his thumb.
I remember slowly starting to feel all the stuff the doctors put onto me: the tube going down my throat, thick and long, in order to make me breath artificially, thick things in each nostril of my nose, blocking them, the multitude of needles planted in my body, some hydrating me and giving me nutrition, some injecting drugs to make my wounds ache a bit less, the devices attached to my index finger and chest to monitor my heart rate and blood saturation, the monitor near my bed constantly beeping, following my heartbeat, the itchy and tight sutures on my face, waist and leg and the infinite number of bandages I had all over.
It all felt extremely overwhelming and I wanted to scream, but Korn interrupted my thoughts.
"Baby.. how do you feel?" he gently caressed my face, his other hand never leaving mine
"You slept for almost three days.. you were immediately brought to the operating room.. you almost died from blood loss.." he explained, still very concerned about my health, his hand tightening its grip on mine.
When he said the word 'blood' my mind immediately replayed Tasanee's death, making me cry instantly after.
It hurted to cry, it hurted to remember, but I couldn't help myself, and I just succumbed to all the feelings and sensations I was being showered with.

After calming down, Korn wiped my tears away and started explaining things to me:
"I know how you feel, believe me.. and I also know you would like me to inform you about the men who kidnapped you" he calmly said, paying attention to my facial expressions, in order to know when to stop. I simply nodded, my wet eyes staring into nothingness
"Ok.. so, we killed all the men that were in the room with you and captured the others, aside from their "boss", who escaped immediately after we arrived" he repeated the few things I remembered, to make sure I had context
"We interrogated them and they confessed that the actual boss never revealed his identity, only their "boss" knows it"
"But why did they kill Tasanee?" I wanted to ask, I tried to, but my voice was blocked by the tube. As if Korn read my mind, he said
"I don't know why they did.. it.. they wanted information.. but that guy was particularly sadistic.. and.. it went like this.." he tightened his grip on my hand
"I'm so sorry baby.. I should've come earlier.. It's all my fault.." he said, almost whispering, caressing my hand and avoiding eye contact with me, shame and guilt filling his soul. I didn't think it was his fault, and I still don't think it was at all, but he does, and this breaks my heart every time I think about it.
A single tear left my eye and I gripped his hand, trying to comfort him, but we were both hurting immensely, in two different ways.
Soon after, a nurse came into the room
"Oh, you're awake Miss Theerappanyakul!" she said, warmly smiling at me, coming near me to check the monitors
"You're stable, good.. How do you feel?" she asked, smiling again. I simply nodded a little, to make her understand that I was feeling well, physically.
"It seems like you can breathe on your own now.. I will go call the doctor to take out that tube from you" she said, caressing my face, exiting the room right after.
The doctor arrived quickly, came near me, grabbed the tube in my mouth and carefully slid it out of my throat, slowly, making me cough hard and painfully after it came out completely, Korn caressing my back to calm me down.
"There you are, take deep breaths, it will feel a little sore for a while, but I think you'll be fine" the doctor said, smiling faintly at me, exiting the room right after.
I did as he said, taking deep breaths and adjusting to the feeling of fresh air entering my lungs again. It hurt to breathe, I could feel the stitches on my side tightening at each breath, my ribs aching and my mouth drying even more.

After a few minutes I calmed down, and Korn spoke again
"I contacted Tasanee's parents.. I lied and I told them that you two got into an accident during a bike ride and Tasanee didn't make it.." he said after a few minutes, sniffing his almost fallen tears back up
"What.. did they say..?" I asked, my mouth sticky and my voice weak, knowing her parents weren't the most loving humans on earth
"Her mother answered the phone.. and she was devastated.. I don't know what her father did or said.. I only spoke to her mother" he explained, making me relieved that at least her mother still loved her, even though Tasanee never had the opportunity to know this.
"And.." he said, taking something from his pocket "I thought you wanted to keep these" he added, taking out the necklaces, both mine and hers, all cleaned up and shiny. As I saw them, I bawled my eyes out once again, taking them from his hand and securing them into my hand, gripping the metal as hard as I could, Korn caressing my back with pain in his heart, just like in mine.