Private But Not A Secret

Chapter Twelve

Nunew's pov

After my heart calmed down, I decided to call Alex. "What the heck, man? I went to the hospital to find out that you weren't in your room. When I asked about you, they said you left with your HUSBAND early in the morning, no warning or nothing!" Alex screamed through the phone. "I'm sorry, I just got my phone back a few minutes ago," I told him. "OK, I'll come by your place," he said. "Um... I'm not home," I replied. "Where are you? You need to be in bed recovering," he insisted. "I am," I assured him. "Where? At your husband's house?" he asked, saying the word 'husband' weirdly. "Yes. Wait, he is not my hus—" I started, but he cut me off. "Why are you always allowing him to control you?" he questioned. "I do not," I defended myself. "Then why are you at his house right now?" he probed. "Because..." I hesitated. Maybe I just wanted to be close to him. Maybe I liked being cared for by him. "Because I want to," I finally said to him. "When are you coming back home?" he inquired. "In a few days," I told him, thinking to myself that it would be if I wanted to come back at all as I limped over to the closet filled with various designer clothes, shoes, and bags. I took out an oversized shirt and some sweatpants.

I fill the bathtub with water. "Are you taking a bath now?" Alex asks me, guessing he could hear the water running through the phone. "Yes, I haven't taken a bath in a few days. While I was in the hospital, I would get wiped down by the nurses," I tell him. "Ewwww, so they saw everything!?" he asks, sounding disgusted. "Yes, and more. They are nurses; they have seen it all and then some," I say, pouring herbs into the bath. "I would never," Alex says. He goes on and on about how weird that is. I eventually say my farewells and end the call.

I peel off the bandages from my back and throw them out. I step into the tub, feeling the warm water and herbs touch my wounds. I hiss in pain and clench my fists, fighting through the pain as I take the bath. Afterward, I wrap a towel around my waist and walk to the large mirror on the side of the room to examine my wounds. It's the first time I'm seeing the damage: six visible wounds scattered across my back, with a deep, nasty one running from my tailbone to my hip. They all look ugly, pink, and inflamed. "Nunew, lunch is ready," Zee says, walking in with a smile. He sees my back in the mirror, and his smile fades. I feel as if my heart has been stabbed. Do I disgust him now? I grab the towel I was using for my hair and try to cover my back as I start to cry hysterically. "Don't look at it; it's ugly," I cry out. "I don't think it's ugly. They will heal," he says. "Yes, you do. The way you looked at it was enough to tell me," I say, crying harder. "No, I was just worried. They looked irritated; they didn't look like that at the hospital," he says, kneeling in front of me and removing the towel. "You have seen them before?" I ask him. I'm relieved that he has seen them before and still decided to stay with me. "Yes, Nhu, I'll be back. I'll help you patch them up," he says, leaving and returning with a medical aid box.

He carries me to the bed and makes me lay on my stomach. He wraps my wounds after he was done he laid head next to mine while playing with my hair, he kisses my nose and cheek." you are very beautiful, now get dressed and come down for lunch" he says spanking my butt and leaving. This made me realize that he was tending my back while I was butt naked. I felt my cheeks turn red. All four of them.

I quickly get dressed and go downstairs to join him for lunch. "Nat and the others would like to visit you," Zee says. Nat and the others did send me things in the hospital, but they were too busy to visit. I'm glad; I wouldn't want to be overwhelmed and overstimulated like that. "Is that right?" I say, moving my food around my plate. "You don't have to see them if you don't want to," he says. "It's not that, I would like to, just not now though," I say, forcing myself to eat. The food is good; I just lost my appetite and know that Zee won't let me leave without eating something.

I try to eat as much as I can. "Do you like the room? I could change some things," Zee says. "I love it," I reply. After pondering for a moment, I realize the room is quite pretty—almost too pretty. "Whose room was this?" I inquire. "Well, it was mine, but then I moved my stuff out and filled it with things I thought you'd like," he explains. I blush and giggle so hard that a piece of rice goes down the wrong pipe, causing me to start choking. Zee is immediately by my side, panicking because he's cautious not to pat my back in case he hurts me, so instead, he offers me water.