Adelphe's Convalescence

Guilt and Shame

Guilt and Shame

"All right. Good work. Ready to switch to the other foot?"

Addie, sweating from her work out, just nodded as she adjusted her stance. Instead of simply walking her around the room that had been cleared of its furniture for her use in the Suite, Master Hue was having her stand in place, maintain her own balance, and lift her knees up towards her chest. Before that, he had her laying down and lifting her legs both individually and together towards the ceiling. And before that, they had done a couple laps around the large the room.

The session had started with some gentle stretches to try to prevent some soreness, but she knew it was going to be inevitable just by the way her leg muscles were shaking and burning. However, she refused to beg for a break. She was going to keep at this until either she collapsed or she was better.

This was all she had, after all.

Elaine was on duty watching Emilien today, which meant that Felicie was working out alongside her, lifting her legs in time with Addie and matching her movements. She was pretending that it was harder for her than Addie knew it was, but she appreciated the support.

Felicie wasn't asking her about why she ran or why she couldn't answer Elaine's question. She simply remained beside her, smiling as she always did, doing her exercises together, and acting more tired than Addie so she didn't feel badly about her own ineptitude.

It was loving and sweet: exactly what she would have expected from her and exactly what she would have done if the situations had been reversed.

Yet, somehow, the sight of Felicie's face hurt deep in her chest. Like there was a vice squeezing down on her heart, squeezing out all of her breath. Seeing her sister laughing and pretending to struggle nearly brought her to tears.

And she didn't understand why. She couldn't understand herself or her feelings. So, she just threw everything she had into the work out and tried to make herself so exhausted that she couldn't think. These worries couldn't plague her if she was too tired to have them.

Master Hue, however, wasn't kind enough to let her work herself to death.

"That's enough for today," he declared as her ability to lift her legs became slower and sloppier.

Addie frowned, lowering the leg she had barely managed to lift halfway. "No. I can keep going."

"No, you can't. Here." He turned, reaching into his bag and pulling out a small tin. He opened it, showing her the tea bags inside. "Drink one of these a day. It should help build stamina and recover your energy. So, drink them after your workouts."

He didn't give her the tin, instead passing it to Felicie who smiled delightedly as she took it. She didn't even try to pretend to be tired as she quickly stood to leave the room. If he wanted her to drink it after a workout, then Felicie thought she should have some of the tea now.

As the door shut behind her, Master Hue turned to Addie, who was struggling to remain standing anymore. The muscles in her legs were twitching and radiating heat from working too hard. Hue was tempted to push her over to prove that she was weak, but he didn't want her to hurt herself and so resisted the urge.

Instead, he gave her a soft smile as he took hold of her by the waist. She tried not to put much of her weight on him, but he didn't allow the attempt. He took on most the burden of her body and carried her towards the single remaining sofa near the door that was left inside for taking breaks.

"How are you feeling, Addie?" He asked gently.

"I can handle more, you know. I'm not going to break."