A Hard Lesson to Learn

Chapter 5

Throbbing and pain that's all she felt. She felt like her head was splitting in two. She groaned when she shifted slightly, and the pain kicked up a couple notches. She lay there on that mattress for a couple more moments trying to get her bearings in order. She flickered her eyes open and scrunched her eyes as the sunlight infiltrated her vision. "Damn," she muttered.

She relaxed onto the mattress and sank into the comfort of the bed. A soft pillow was tucked under her head. She opened her eyes once more scanning the cell quickly. She was alone. What had happened?

Slowly, Kali sat up on the mattress. She had to steady herself stopping herself from falling over. The room was spinning. She propped herself up with her arms, her long legs stretching to the end of the mattress. She glanced back, and the left side of the pillow had blood smeared on it. Reaching up and grazing her head, she jerked pain shooting through her head. "Fucking hell," she whispered.

Looking down a bottle of water sat beside the mattress along with a couple little blue pills in a little plastic cup. She popped the cap off the water and tossed the pills into her mouth, swallowing them with a swig of water. Gulping down a couple more drinks of water, she sighed twisting the cap back on the bottle.

She sat back against the wall careful not to make her head hit against the wall. Looking out the window, she saw the blue clear skies and the top of white fluffy clouds as they glided across the sky. She watched for a little while, watching nature as it worked before glancing around the cell again.

Jerking her head back towards the cell door, her eyes went wide at the sight of the cell door open. She had to shut her eyes to stave off the nausea that came on suddenly. After taking a minute to gather herself, she once again looked towards the cell door. Was this a joke?

Kali pushed herself off her bed and shakily stood to her feet. Dizziness took over and Kali rushed to the bucket in the room and emptied the contents of her stomach in the gray pail. Heaving into the pail a couple more times, Kali emptied her stomach completely. Spitting into the bucket one last time, Kali brought her hand to her mouth and wiped away remnants of her episode.

Standing to her feet, she took a few shaky steps toward the cell door. Slowly she pushed it the rest of the way open. The door creaked open causing Kali to wince pulling away from the door. Everything made her hurt. Taking a couple shaky steps out of the cell, Kali had one hand hold the cell door and the other shielding her eyes. Maybe she should run up those steps and probably get caught by Rick or someone or maybe she should wait it out and see what they had planned. She didn't remember what had happened down here a day ago, a couple days ago? She didn't know.

Taking in the stairs that led to the house, the bottom stair caught her attention. There was a chip missing from the bottom stair and blood was dried on it. So, there was the missing piece of the puzzle. Her head, that stair, and now here. She rolled her eyes. Those damn Alexandrians don't know how to leave shit alone. What had she done besides get into that one scuffle with Mitch and Tommy?

She took one last look at that stairs. The want to run up the stairs and try to get away was overbearing but given her current state, Kali decided against it. If this was just a test, then maybe she'd pass with flying colors earning a little sliver of freedom and trust from Rick.

She sighed as she walked slowly back into the cell. Her one chance at freedom vaporized into thin air because she decided the risk was not worth the reward. Slowly she made her way across the cell to the back wall. Sliding down she felt the concrete bricks nip at her back through her clothes. She'd just wait.

She waited and waited against the wall for Rick to come for her. Finally, when she was just starting to doze off when the door at the top of the stairs opened and softly shut. She heard the stairs creak under the weight of the person and a small smirk graced her face. "Hey there Rick," she slurred once the curly-headed man was standing in the open cell door. "I bet you didn't expect to see me here."

The man continued to stare at her. His eyes locked on hers. "You just sit here all day with the door open," he asked after a few moments.

"Nah, Rick. Ya see I tried my best to convince myself to walk my merry ass up that stairs but I didn't want to fall and hurt myself. Especially since I have absolutely zero fucking idea what when down here that left me with a splittin' headache. Would you be so kind and to tell me," she asked him sarcastically. "Cause from what I saw there's a nice little chunk of that bottom stair missing and a nice gash right here on my head that gives it away plain as day. You need to control your people prick."

Rick put his hands on his hips looking down at the floor for a quick second before looking back at her. "You feel alright?"

"Got a massive splittin' headache. Sorta double vision since there are two of you," she laughed. "Kind of dizzy when I stand up or try to walk so no Rick I am not feeling alright. Thanks for asking though," she jested.

Rolling his eyes Rick walked deeper into the cell until he was standing in front of her. Her heart rate increased as he walked closer. "Are you here to finish me off? There won't be much of a fight so just do it." To her surprise, when Rick bent down to grab her, he grabbed under her arm and slowly raised her to her feet. He put her arm around his shoulder. "Where are we going, Rick?"

"Can you please shut up for two minutes," he pleaded. Slowly and gently Rick helped her out the cell and up the stairs. He pushed the door open with his free arm and the scent of home-made food wafted through Kali's nostrils like a bullet fired from a gun. He helped her over to the table and sat her down in the wooden chair before going towards the stove grabbing a bowl and filling it with food.

When Rick placed the bowl in front of her, Kali just looked at it. Watching the steam rise off the food, her mouth watering in anticipation. "It's not going to hurt ya," Rick said cutting through her thoughts. She raised her eyes to look at the man as he leaned against the counter his arms crossed watching her.

Shakily, Kali lifted the spoon that sat beside the bowl and it clinked against it. Swallowing down the first spoon fun, Kali let out a moan. "Mmmmm. Good stuff right here Rick. You didn't poison it did you?"

Rick rolled his eyes. "Do you want me to take it away," he asked.

Kali shook her head no as she continued to shovel the food down. "Did you make this or was it in a can? Please tell me you cooked it. Ricky pricky making me food. How cute," she teased.

"Yep. You're done," Rick said walking over to her to grab the bowl. To his astonishment the bowl was empty.

She grinned at him as he put the bowl in the sink. "Damn that was good. After a month or so of eating peanut butter sandwiches, I needed that." Softly chuckling, Rick walked around the kitchen making his way over to her once more.

He gently grabbed her raising her from the chair. He felt her stiffen once he put her arm back around his shoulder. "Guess it's time to go back to jail," she said dejectedly once Rick had her on her feet. To her surprise, Rick didn't guide her down the stairs toward her cell instead he took her around the house towards another set of stairs. The same ones that Rick had taken her up when she took her shower. "I don't really feel like a shower right now Rick. Thanks for the offer though. Maybe tomorrow."

Rick ignored her as he walked them slowly up the stairs being mindful of Kali's dizziness. Once they made it to the top, he pushed the door open at the end of the hall. He sat her down on the bed shucking her arm off his shoulder. "This is your room. Do whatever ya want. Sleep, shower, use the bathroom, I don't care. I'll see you tomorrow," he told her before heading to the door.

Just when he was about to shut it, he heard Kali call to him. "Hey Rick...thanks," she said quietly. Rick nodded his head before shutting the door. She heard the 'click' of the lock being turned causing her to smile a little bit. She decided against a shower. Instead, she eased out of her clothes letting them pile in a pool beside the bed.

She slid under the cover relishing in the warmth from a comforter instead of a thin paper-like sheet. Her throbbing laid on a soft pillow causing her to sigh. She could shower tomorrow. Tonight, all she wanted was a good night rest. Closing her eyes, she faded into sleep.