Rosanna Calvierri crawled out of the water and onto the solid ground, sputtering and coughing up water as she did so. She collapsed immediately. She could feel a stinging in her arms, legs, and midsection but she felt too weak to do much about it. Her vision began to blur and her head throbbed. She involuntarily let out a tortured scream and writhed in pain. The edges of her vision began to darken and soon she was out cold.
Rosanna began to stir about three hours later. Her eyes shot open and she glanced around. She was in a room with brick walls and the faint crackle of a fire could be heard a few feet away. She tried to sit up, but she quickly found that to be an impossible task when a wave of pain shot through her stomach. She groaned and decided it might be best for her to remain still for the moment.
"Ah, waking up are we?" A woman's voice said. She flinched and looked around frantically.
An older woman came into her view, she smiled down at her and put a hand on her forehead.
"How are you feeling?" The woman asked sweetly.
"It hurts," Rosanna rasped. It was all she could manage to say.
The woman's features twisted into what Rosanna assumed was sympathy.
"I would expect so. I don't know what happened to you but it must have been terrible. I found you bleeding on the ground out near the water," she chattered on for a while, but Rosanna tuned her out. Her head ached too badly to listen to that much noise.
"My name's Cecilia by the way," she said, snapping Rosanna out of her haze.
"I'm Rosanna. It's nice to meet you."
Cecilia noted the awful rasp in her voice and went to fetch her some water. When she offered it, Rosanna gulped it down faster than Cecelia could believe. She brushed it off as dehydration and gave her another cup full. Afterward she propped her up onto some pillows, making sure to be as gentle as possible. Nonetheless Rosanna still yelped as the pain shot through her stomach once again. She was about to ask about that when she happened to look down at her arms. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at them in horror. They were covered in some of the nastiest cuts and gouges Rosanna had ever seen. Although they were stitched up quite neatly, they still had a gruesome appearance.
"You've got them all over. You're lucky I found you when I did," Cecilia stated somewhat proudly.
"Thank you for that. I am truly grateful," Rosanna said, giving her a genuine smile.
"No trouble at all dear. I'm glad you pulled through."
"Why do I have such a terrible pain in my stomach?" She asked abruptly. It seemed like a pressing matter to her.
Cecilia didn't say a word, she simply pulled Rosanna's blanket away revealing stitches, bandages, and bruises covering her entire body. She knew now why her stomach hurt so much. A large purple and yellow bruise spread across her abdomen, accompanied by several small cuts and scrapes.
"Oh my..." Rosanna breathed, covering her mouth with her hand. She winced at the pain of bending her arm.
"You'll need quite a while to recover I'm afraid. Don't worry, I'll take good care of you."
Cecilia left Rosanna alone for a while, suspecting she needed time to herself to gather her thoughts and get some rest. Rosanna had a feeling this wasn't going to be a very pleasant experience, but despite all the consequences, she certainly was glad she had lived.