The usual warning and disclaimer applies, see chapter one.
Chapter 13
The next morning Colette woke Kenshin at the crack of dawn, pounding on his door until he yelled at her to shut up. When she continued to make a racket, screeching like a dying cat, he rebuked her, told her off, and very nearly fired her, all to make her leave the flat and let him go back to sleep for a few more hours. "Damn her…"
Collette returned around noon to find Kenshin awake, and went to find Kaoru. What she saw caused her to stop dead in her tracks, in the doorway of the room. She screeched, hands flying into the air as the sheets fell to the floor. "Miss, please! You must lie down again!" Kaoru did not respond, or even acknowledge Colette's presence. "If you insist on moving around like this, those lacerations on your back will not heal properly!"
Kaoru gave Colette a long stare. "I know full well the condition of my own body and the damage done to my dorsal epidermis, thank you," she snapped. "I know what I can take. I'm fine." She swept out of the room after finishing the bow on the dress ties, and went to sit at the piano, blocking out Colette's indignant spluttering.
Colette, for her part, went to find Kenshin. "Mr. Himura!"
"Great God, Colette, are you drugged? You have been caterwauling for the past twenty-four hours!"
"Miss Kamiya refuses to lie down! Her back is covered with lacerations, and she will not let me treat them! Has she not told you about this?"
Kenshin blinked. "La…what?"
"Yes! It looks as though she was whipped! I tried to tell you last night, but you did not say anything!"
"Call a doctor, then." He glared at her, and went back to his work.
"I have, but he will not be here for some time!"
Kaoru rolled her eyes at Colette's back, and caused the woman to screech again when she spoke from the doorway. "I appreciate your concern, Colette, but as I've said before, I'm fine."
"How can you say that when it's quite obvious that you're in pain whenever you move?" She received no reply, and proceeded to glare at Kaoru.
Meanwhile, Kenshin was becoming more and more irked at their behavior. His servants paid him no attention, did things like calling a doctor without consulting him first, and the woman he with whom he was living had the most atrocious temper he'd ever encountered…and he was still gay. "Colette, Kaoru, would you kindly take this someplace else?" Kaoru nodded and left the room, while Colette slammed out of the flat yet again. She wasn't an amazing maid anyway, thought Kenshin. He could not stand unrestrained people.
Kaoru flopped onto her bed in a decidedly ungraceful manner, and groaned. She didn't have the energy to do anything else at the moment. She was tired of hiding how much her back actually ached, although it was less than it had been before Kenshin took her in again. Playing the piano for extended periods of time only aggravated the condition, and drained her energy. She sighed and changed into a loose gown that required no corset before sliding under the sheets. She'd apologize for her behavior later.
An hour or so later, there was a knock on her door which turned out to be the doctor. She shrank back, cowering against the wall. He was a large man, and reminded her a bit too much of her former employer. It too quite a while before she calmed enough to allow him to treat her. Frowning the entire time, he cleaned each cut, causing her to hiss and bite back a cry of pain as some inflamed areas were cleaned and bandaged. He then went to find Kenshin.
"Can I help you, sir?"
The doctor nodded. "Forgive me for disturbing you, but I wanted to ask. Do you know what happened to the young woman before she came to be here?"
"She was employed by someone who was less than genteel."
"I am concerned about any damage that was done to her mental stability. I am actually surprised that she has agreed to stay, as she seems to be afraid of men now. She must trust to quite a lot to allow herself to be comfortable around you. She may not be able to move much for a while. Her entire back is covered with whip lashes, both old and new. The skin will take time to heal, though not as much time as it will take before she trusts men again."
"Very well. I will have my accountant cut a check for your services."
"No need. We can talk about payment after she is healed. Good day, Mr. Himura."
"Good day."
Kaoru pulled the blanket sup over her head. Her back hurt more now that the wounds had been treated and bandaged. "Damn it…he'd probably going to ask me to leave again."
Kenshin continued with his correspondence. He was beginning to think that women weren't worth the trouble. In fact, he was almost certain of the fact.
Kaoru rose a few hours later, and went to sit at the piano. She began working again on a difficult piece of music. As he was passing by, Kenshin saw her in the library. "Ah, music, lovely…" He continued on his way to the dining room, but stopped after a few pace and turned around. "You're supposed to be in bed."
She gave him a weak smile. "I know, but I can't stand feeling that helpless. Besides, you're letting me stay here. The least I can do is give you some music. I'm sorry about my behavior earlier this evening. It was completely uncalled-for."
"Go…to…bed."
She sighed, stood, and headed to her room. When Kenshin used that tone of voice, there was no arguing with him. However, if she had the energy, or if she was still the person she'd been six months before, she would have. Kenshin had dinner delivered to Kaoru's room, and went out to a business meeting, returning early in the morning.
The next day she was up before him, and knocked on his door, breakfast on a tray. He took the tray, glared, and ordered her to bed again. In return, she gave him a look that said 'You must be crazy to think that I'm going to lie on my stomach twenty-four hours a day for the next few weeks!' His glare fairly screamed 'you'll do it and you'll like it, good day!' "BED!" She gave him a pout, turned, and went back to her room, flopping onto the bed and glaring at the wall.
"What are you gong to do, tie me here if I get up again?"
That's it for the material already on the computer. I'm going to need your support, as the rest of this is coming straight out of my head, and I have less time to work on the fic now.