Beast

Chapter 23

Elise's eye cracked open slowly and painfully. It feet like she had grit in there and tried to lift her hand to check it. Her right arm refused to move an inch and pulled in an agonising thrum of white hot pain. Elise groaned and rolled her head to the side, wincing as her vision swam and her stomach lurched dangerously. You've been in an accident Elise, have a care. She opened her rolling eye once again feeling her gut squeeze uncomfortably. Swelling of the brain her mind warned, don't sleep or you could die. Agnes always told her to check for this, it was so disastrous to the sufferer because all they wanted to do was sleep. She took stock of herself while she waited for her vision to stop swinging so violently. Her arm was throbbing in time with her heart, her ribs felt sharp and crushing, her legs were all but useless as she move them she noted how they shivered weakly and the slightest movement pulled the scabbing wounds there back open. She wriggled her fingers and decided she had not broken her right arm, she had dislocated it. Easily fixed her mind informed her. Her mouth tasted like copper and she could not see out of one eye. Her left arm raised slowly and painfully to inspect the damage as she struggled to remember what had happened to her.

Her bruised fingers pulsed as she pressed them to her equally battered face. Her eye was swollen shut and she peeled the skin back gingerly. No notable or significant loss of vision her mind supplied helpfully as she winced against the light flooding the abused organ. Her stomach clenched again and her vision swam once more and she snapped her eyes shut, breathing as deeply as her tender ribs would allow. Her fingers traced the rest of her face finding a weeping head wound and a marginally distended jaw with puffy swollen lips. Slightly dislocated jaw her mind informed her, even easier fix than an arm, just a swift push and it will be fine again after a couple of days. She would need to resolve that before trying her arm, as she was likely to black out when her arm popped back in - this did not bode will for her brain swelling and she pondered on that for a second. Her hand travelled down to her chest ad she thought on her conundrum. She was wearing a ripped dress and wondered again how this had all happened. Her confusion was short lived as she pressed her hand to her side. The pain was blinding and twofold. Her fingers were bruised, scraped and bleeding and her ribs felt constrictive. Bruised ribs, I've broken them before and they don't feel like that so I'm fine, they'll need strapping up before you're much use at anything else her brain added as she pressed her ribs again and focussed on the feeling of them. Possible dislocated fingers, but more likely severely bruised. Elise pushed herself onto her knees, clamping her eyes closed and gasping and panting in pain. Her everything hurt, her knees felt raw and bruised where they touched the corner of a rug perhaps? Her shins ached and throbbed in protest at the small amount of pressure applied by the floor, her arm felt shaky and weak and her other arm hung useless at her side. She tried to open her eyes, but her recent movement had her vision rolling so violently and her stomach clenched so viciously she had no recourse but to turn her head to the side to be quite violently ill. Her empty stomach clenched on itself and she wretched and heaved a small amount of bile then nothing at all. Her body tensed and shuddered as she dry heaved, the pain spiralling through her body made tears stream down her face.

This impromptu sickness solved one problem however, for as she wretched bitterly on nothing one final time her jaw gave an almighty snap and re-seated itself. Her sigh of relief at ending one pulsing agony only reminded her of the plethora of others and she struggled to her feet. She lurched sideways painfully, her legs faltering as her weight pressed on her left ankle. Her eye shot open at this unexpected pain and her swimming vision and clouded mind seemed to clear momentarily. She clung to the dresser she'd woken up resting against desperately as everything suddenly made sense. She was in her old room, at her parent's townhouse. Like a lightening bolt she remembered it all. She had been kidnapped and taken to London. He had finally found her. The room began to swim again and Elise dived for the bedpost to hold herself upright. She knew it was not as easy to cling to as the dresser but it had the added advantage of being near something relatively soft if she should fail to remain standing. She forced air past her trembling and aching jaw. Panicking is not going to sort this out. Fix your ribs if you can, your arm if you must and then start thinking of a way to get out of here.