Diana sighed as she carried the tray up the ornate stairwell that led to Penny's bathroom. Why was she the one chosen to babysit the crippled freak? Why couldn't Caine or Bug just do it? To be relieved of the task even once a day, once a week, would be welcome. Carrying food up the stairs, carrying dirty dishes down, feeding Penny, washing Penny, examining her smashed, mangled limbs to make sure there was no sign of infection. And all the while listening to Penny's moans for Aspirin or Tylenol, and her constant sarcastic bitching about what a crappy, crappy life she had. Diana didn't doubt the fact that Penny's life truly did suck. But could she at least be a little more quiet about it? A girl could only handle so much complaining.
The smell wafting up from the bowl of food made Diana pause. She still loved the scent of that wonderful nourishment as it floated up from the tray. Tonight, Diana had brought Penny a bowl of canned black beans.
Beans, beans, they're good for your heart
the more you eat, the more you fart
the more you fart, the better you feel
so eat your beans with every meal!
A memory of some stupid little ditty floated up from the depths of her brain, making Diana grin. Well, Diana didn't mind so much if Penny got a little gaseous after her meal. After all, Penny's festering legs smelled far worse than bean gas ever could. And if the beans really did make Penny feel better, well, maybe she would finally shut up for a minute.
"That's fine, just set the tray down over there. I'll pick it up later. Oh, wait no. I can't do that. I'm crippled. Stupid bitch." Penny's taunting set Diana's teeth on edge as she placed the meal down on the edge of the bathtub-slash-jacuzzi. With an inward snarl, Diana shoved the tray along the edge of the bath towards Penny, who sat dangling her ruined legs into the water. "Finally. Now help me get this thing off," she said, pulling at the fabric of the pink, fluffy bathrobe that surrounded her form.
"You know, a please might be in order. Just every once in a while, you know."
Penny's voice changed to a mocking whine. "Oh, Diana, you wonderful, loving creature, would you please help be get this bathrobe off so I might enjoy a soak?" Penny extended the word "please" like taffy, like a wet towel being wrung to get every last drop of sarcasm out of the word. Sighing, Diana disrobed her patient and, holding her by the armpits, eased her slowly into the tub.
Penny gratefully slid into the bath, melting into the water's warm relief. She closed her eyes, and, just for a moment, was still. Diana took the time to examine Penny's body. She was short – petite, one might say, although that size zero frame was the result of months and months of brutal starvation. Skinny arms attached to thin, bony shoulders. Her narrow face was exotic looking, with olive skin, dark hair, and a soft, slightly flat nose that was in keeping with her Chinese-American heritage. Her breasts, which had never been large to begin with, were now almost flat. A pair of small, chocolate colored nipples poked up from mounds that would have had some wiggle room in an A-cup. Diana's gaze slid over Penny's concave stomach and bony hips to Penny's groin. A wisp of thin, light brown hair concealed Penny's slit from Diana's view.
Diana's eyes roved even further down, until... oh God. Her legs. They were... better! I mean, they still looked like they belonged to a hungry twelve year old, but all the twisted flesh, the fractured joints and the lumps where splintered of shattered bone threatened to tear out of their fleshy covering? It was all gone!
"Nice, aren't they?" Penny kept her eyes shut as she spoke. "I just leaned how to do it yesterday. Of course, they aren't really fixed. But I can do some pretty handy stuff with my powers, not just making nightmares and all that crap. Takes away some of the pain, too."
For once in her life, Diana was speechless. She had spent days, weeks, just trying to keep Penny alive. As little as she deserved it. And now... this.