The Tiger King (Chaelisa)

22|Stuck

Jennie roused herself up with the first light of dawn and stretched herself out like a cat. She rolled on her side and poked Lisa's foot.

"Come on Lis. Jog time."

"Yeah," Lisa rasped, her voice rough from sleep. "Gimme a second."

She stuck out an arm to prop herself up but pain slithered up her limb fast as lightning. Her shoulders throbbed. As she slowly woke up, Lisa grew aware of sore, tender areas all over her body making their presence known when she budged. She attempted to roll off the mattress but even that one simple movement proved impossible—her muscles ached as though she had been steamrollered by a bulldozer.

"J-Jen I can't move," Lisa whispered.

"What do you mean you can't move?" Jennie said, busy dressing.

"Exactly what I said. I can't move!"

Jennie loomed over Lisa's frozen figure as the blonde lay beneath her, stiff as a corpse with eyes bulging.

"Hmmm, can you move your eyes?"

Lisa  swivelled her eyeballs back and forth.

"Your tongue?"

Lisa stuck her tongue out.

"Your fingers?"

Lisa wiggled her fingers, frowning when she glimpsed Jennie's mouth quirk up into a faint smirk. "Jen? Why are you laughing?"

"Am not," defended her sister as she hid her face behind her hands, "but...seeing you like this...you obviously can't be doing anything today."

"What? What? Why?" Lisa exclaimed. "I'm not sick, I'm good, I'm fit as a fiddle, I can—HOLY MOTHER OF BAGELS!"

In the midst of her outburst, Lisa had violently pushed herself up in a sitting position only to collapse again as her muscles screamed and pulsed and throbbed in pain, the aches flaring up to unbearable levels that had Lisa floored.

"Why can't I move? Am I going down with some sickness?" she said panic-stricken. "I don't...." she trailed off, her face darkening with realisation. "Roseanne."

"I diagnose a case of over-exercising and mild lactic acidosis, nothing that won't clear up in a few hours," Jennie said as she sat back on her heels, "but I don't think you'll be able to accomplish much exercise in that state so if you do get up, take it easy, no exercise."

Lisa looked up at her sister, appalled. "Over-exercising? Me? Is this some kind of sick joke? Knock it off!"

Jennie got to her feet and stretched. "Well, I did warn you. Pilates isn't merely some stretching sport for the...how did you put it? Meek and dainty. And you exercised muscles that you weren't usually exercising—"

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Lisa shouted. Jennie shrugged and took up her windbreaker jacket.

"I'm off for a run. Catch you later."

"Hell no, come back here! You can't just—"

Whistling tunelessly, Jennie lowered the ladder and went down through the trapdoor, her steps fading away even as Lisa called after her furiously.

"What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to stay stuck here like some kind of dead roach? What the hell? Unnniieeeeeeeee!"

But Jennie was long gone.

Lisa struggled and gnashed her teeth, attempting to sit up but each time, she crashed back on the mattress, red in the face from exertion. Her stomach tightened each time she tried pushing off the mattress and she found herself simply unable to move.