Sinful [malexmale]

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

"Congratulations! You've reached over a hundred eighty pounds!"

I breathed a sigh of relief and rested my head on the top of the scale. It'd taken nearly a month to gain all that weight back, mostly in muscle. I'd visited the training room twice daily and had switched to a diet of healthy foods and protein shakes. It was long and frustrating, but I was finally getting closer and closer to my goal. Taking a deep breath, I stepped down from the scale, turning to face Jahlia, who wore a big proud smile on her face. She stepped over to me, touching my arm and while my muscle twitched involuntarily, I managed to stay within her reach.

"Raven, this is amazing," Jahlia told me warmly, "I've never seen anyone rush through a recovery this quickly. You're one tough cookie, punkin' cup. Now, you can put your clothes back on and I'll write up a prescription for the pain you said you had in your hips. I'd say you can slow your exercise regimend to once daily, preferably in the morning in order to get you awake and wide-eyed for the rest of the day. Also, your retainer came in this morning, so I can show you how to use that. And Hannibal put in the order for the clothing you requested. Akin mentioned something about wanting to see you as well, so if you can find him, that'd be great." I simply nodded as I stepped away from the scale, picking up my shirt and tugging it on over my head while Jahlia went to her desk and started to type up a report.

In the month that I had taken my training and recovery seriously, I had also gotten some serious news about what that year had done to me long-term.

Because of the amount of times my jaw had been broken and my teeth nearly knocked loose, Jahlia had recommended I start using a retainer when I go to sleep to make sure everything stayed in place. I had expected it all to heal by now. After all, I was immortal. My wounds were supposed to heal much more than the average human.

But the damage from Alexion's shackles was permanent.

Due to wearing them for so long, the shackles had screwed up with my magical abilities. While I could heal from injuries caused recently, the multiple scars running up and down my back, the seared off fingernails, and scars around my neck, wrists, and ankles from the shackles, none of those would ever heal. They would remain as a physical reminder of what had happened, as if the nightmares and involuntarily flinching wasn't reminder enough, or Cain constantly mocking me.

I set that as another goal.

Punch Cain in the mouth before I left.

Jahlia instructed me to wear my retainer each night, and suggested I start thinking about sunglasses. My eyesight had been damaged from so much time sitting in a dark tent that bright lights gave me severe headaches. Thankfully, most of the lights in the house were adjustable and I could dim them when I entered a room.

I took my retainer and went to my room to drop it off along with the medical files Jahlia had given me. The files were also an unfriendly reminder with Jahlia's little scribbled notes in the margins about what had happened to me, what was happening, and what will happen, according to her medical analysis.

She's diagnosed me with PTSD. She insisted I try some sort of therapy, but I didn't want to talk about it. At least, not with anyone else. Especially not some random stranger. Although, I think being around Hannibal was a bit helpful.

I'd grown to understand him more. Obviously Hannibal shared my experience, somehow, someway, otherwise, he wouldn't understand, but he seemed to be the only person who did. I began to notice that, while at first he seemed invincible, he tended to share some of my symptoms. He'd flinch at loud sounds, especially loud music or thunderstorms. He'd retreat to Akin's side and remain there until whatever was making the noise was gone, and even a few minutes afterwards. I noticed he never let his guard down, except with Akin. His complete and utter trust in Akin continued to baffle me.