Morg: Heyo! I've got to say, I'm thankful for the awesome response this rewrite is getting.
Ikuto: I mean, it is a pretty good story.
Amu: No, it's not.
Morg: I've changed a lot this go around. Hopefully, you all will continue to like it.
Ikuto: I'm sure I will.
Amu: I'm sure I won't.
Morg: Sometimes, I really am glad that I don't own you.
Ikuto: Just keep telling yourself that.
~Indebted~
Amu woke slowly. She felt off. She felt like she was waking after being sick with a bad fever. Only, she hadn't been sick. The last thing she remembered was making her way home after a long day at work. She'd been tired but felt fine.
At least, she had thought she was fine. If she was waking up with cool sweat on her skin and her body feeling achy and clammy then she clearly hadn't been as fine as she'd thought she'd been.
Sluggishly, Amu managed to open her eyes and stare sleepily up at her ceiling as she tried to remember her dream. It was so strange. Something about a girl being naked before her. It didn't make any sense.
Then again, her brain felt like it had been stuffed full of cotton. Her thoughts were slothful and when they did finally make it, they didn't make any sense. It took Amu an embarrassing amount of time to realize that the ceiling that she was staring up at wasn't hers.
Letting her head fall to the side, Amu looked around the strange room. Nothing seemed familiar. Somewhere deep inside, she knew that she should be worried about being in a strange place, but her brain just wouldn't let her.
An older lady leaned over into Amu's view with a soft smile on her lips. "Hey, can you understand me?"
Very slowly, Amu nodded her head. She swallowed a few times but her throat was too dry for her to speak.
The woman quickly picked up a cup with a straw and held the straw to Amu's lips. "Here, honey. Drink this. Go slowly."
It wasn't water, but it did the job of soothing her throat and didn't taste too bad. "Who are you?"
The words were raspy and quiet but the woman smiled at them all the same. "I'm a doctor. You can call me Midori. I was called to take care of you."
Amu nodded again at that. It made sense that there was a doctor present. She felt like she'd been hit by a car. "What happened?"
Midori continue to smile that soft smile but a tightness appeared near her eyes. "I will answer your questions in a little bit. There is someone that has been waiting for you to wake up."
Thinking it was her cousin, Amu nodded again. She didn't try to move from where she was lying. Her muscles were too sore for that. Her brain tried to piece together what was happening, but she just couldn't hang onto her thoughts for long enough to figure it out.
Amu hadn't realized that she'd closed her eyes until the sound of the door opening had her blinking them open once more. The man that followed the doctor into the room was someone that she thought looked familiar but didn't know. "What's going on?"
The man motioned for the doctor to sit back in the chair beside the bed while he stood closer to the door. "How are you feeling, Amu?"
Swallowing hard, Amu tried to sit up a little but quickly gave up when all she was able to do was tense some of her muscles before relaxing once more. "Exhausted. Like I've been really sick, but I've felt fine over the last few days. Can something like that come on so quickly?"
Midori smiled again as she looked back from the machines hooked up to Amu to see the girl looking at her. "Some illnesses can, but you weren't sick because of something like that."
"Oh."
The man cleared his throat to gain her attention again but stayed near the door. "What do you remember?"
Amu tried to collect her thoughts. Everything was so jumbled up together that she had a hard time separating what she knew to be memory and what she thought to be dreams. "I remember walking home from work and thinking about what to eat. Then nothing. I don't remember getting home. What happened? Did I get hit by a car? Who are you?"
Midori rested her hand on Amu's arm in an attempt to give her some comfort. "You weren't hit by a car, though your body is going to feel very sore for a few days."
The man crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at her with an intense stare. "You were kidnapped and sold to an underground slave trafficking ring."
Amu's eyes widened as his words sunk in. She felt her heart start to pick up speed as her body finally started to have a reaction. "What? Seriously, who are you?"
Sighing, Midori took Amu's hand into hers. "What Ikuto didn't mention is that we got you out. You're not there anymore. We don't know the exact day you were taken, but we know it was sometime last week. The auction was late last night. You might have some memories that are going to feel like dreams or like they can't be real because they've had you on a pretty potent concoction of drugs since they grabbed you."
She felt like she couldn't get enough air into her lungs. "What did they do to me?"
Midori made some shushing noises as she ran her fingers through Amu's hair. "You're just fine, Amu. We got you out of there."
"Does that mean you're with the police? This doesn't seem like a hospital."
Ikuto shifted his weight but didn't approach the bed. He knew it was better to let Midori handle comforting Amu. "This is my home. I bought you to get you out of there."
Midori shot Ikuto a look before attempting to calm her patient down again. Amu's breaths started coming out a little too fast once again. "Amu, you're okay. It's okay. Just breathe. Ikuto is not going to harm you. No one here will harm you. We'll talk about what happens next later. For right now, I need you to answer some questions. Can you do that?"
Amu held her breath for a few seconds before releasing it slowly. Midori said she was safe. Amu wasn't sure if she trusted them, but she didn't have much of a choice. "What questions?"
"Do you want Ikuto to leave the room or is it okay for him to stay here?"
Amu looked over at where Ikuto was still watching her from the doorway. "What sort of questions, Midori?"
The doctor squeezed her hand. "I want to ask about the memories you might have. Anything you can tell us will help us to help you."
"Like what?"
"Do you remember eating anything?"
Amu shifted her gaze to the ceiling for a few minutes as she thought it over. "No. I don't remember being given anything to eat or drink."
Midori nodded. She kept her hold on Amu's hand. "Do you remember anything about how they treated you?"
Slowly, Amu shook her head. "The bits I have are some flashes of dark rooms and girls slumped over on beds and chairs. I remember seeing a girl kneeling naked before me and thinking that she was me. There were a few men that were rough with touching me while being careful to not leave any bruises. I remember feeling like I was burning."
Ikuto felt his jaw clench at the thought of anyone being rough with Amu. He forced himself to relax as her gaze flitted across his face. "How did they touch you?"
Amu shrugged a bit. "Grabbing my arms or pushing me to walk when I felt like I couldn't."
Midori squeezed Amu's hand again before leaning a little closer to her. "Do you think any of them touched you inappropriately?"
Amu froze at that. She felt like her soul was leaving her body as that question sunk in. "I-I don't know. I can't remember. Oh, no. Do you think they did? Oh, no, no, no."
Moving quickly, Midori got to her feet so she could sit on the edge of the bed. She kept Amu's hand in hers while trying to soothe her. "We don't think they did, but I can check if you want me to. I can do an exam to make sure that you weren't abused in any way."
Amu's wide and frightened gaze moved from Midori to Ikuto and back. "Why do you think they didn't?"
"You were the last one sold," Ikuto cut in. "They usually only do that for virgins."
Midori watched as Amu seemed to not calm down. "Amu, look at me. Do you want me to do the exam so you know for certain? Ikuto will leave the room. I can make sure that you don't have injuries anywhere. Would you like that?"
Very slowly, Amu nodded her head. She wasn't sure about having Midori check her there, but she needed to know.
Ikuto wasted no time in turning to the door. "I'll be in the kitchen if either of you need anything."
Midori nodded at that.
Amu refused to look away at the doctor. She was certain that her face was very red from her blush. He might be leaving but he knew what they were going to be doing in his house.
Midori waited until Amu was able to calm down a bit more before she released the pinkette and got to her feet. She made a show of checking the machines Amu was hooked up to before putting on a pair of gloves.
Starting at her head, Midori slowly began a physical examination. She tested Amu's scalp to make sure she wasn't suffering from an unknown head injury. She checked her neck, ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. She tested the movement of her arms, wrists, and hands and she looked for bruises or cuts.
Midori moved across Amu's torso, which was when Amu realized that she wasn't actually wearing any clothing, before moving to check her hips, legs, and feet. "I'm going to help you sit up so that I can check your back over. Despite what happened, Amu, you seem to be in great shape."
That was slightly reassuring to hear, but not by much. Sitting up was a struggle, but Amu managed to do so with Midori's help. The movement made her dizzy and she was glad for the support she had from the doctor checking her over.
"All right," Midori said as she helped Amu to lay back against the pillows once more. "So far so good. Now comes the part that's going to make you blush. I promise you that I will be gentle and do my best to cause as little discomfort as possible."
Amu nodded before looking away. She had to force herself to relax as Midori shifted her legs apart and bent her knees to keep them out of the way.
Midori knew how uncomfortable her patient was as she did her exam, so she talked to Amu. "Since we aren't sure when the last time you ate or drank anything, we're going to have to ease you back into it. Ikuto had someone run to grab food and drinks for you to start out with. I'm afraid it won't be anything of great substance for you for at least a few days."
Amu squirmed as Midori's touch caused her some discomfort. "What did you give me to drink earlier?"
"It's a drink you can buy that's filled with extra goodies. Some electrolytes and some good vitamins. It'll help rehydrate you without making your stomach reject it."
Amu gasped as Midori's touch shifted lower. She hadn't expected the doctor to also check there but didn't protest it. She needed to know even if she was very uncomfortable.
Sitting up, Midori helped move Amu into a more comfortable position before taking her gloves off. She covered Amu once more with the blanket before smiling down at her. "You haven't been touched, Amu."
The relief that flooded through her left her blinking back tears. "Thanks, Midori, for checking."
"Of course, dear. Do you want me to call Ikuto back in?"
Shaking her head, Amu yawned. "I just need a bit of time to process everything."
Nodding, Midori sat back down in her chair. "You should try and sleep some more. We're still working on getting the drugs out of your system. Sleep, we'll talk more when you wake up."
Yawning again, Amu felt her vision darkening. Her body was ready for more sleep even if her mind was struggling to keep her awake. "When I wake up, can I take a bath and have some clothes?"
"Certainly. I'll help you with that."
The last thought she had was that her situation was terrible, but at least she had Midori there to help her out.
XXX
Midori waited until she knew for certain that Amu was back asleep. Then the doctor got up and quietly left the room. She found Ikuto waiting for her in the kitchen.
"Well?"
"She's fine. She hasn't had sexual intercourse and there are no bruises or lesions on her anywhere. She'd be in perfect health if not for the drugs in her system."
Nodding at that, Ikuto released a sigh as he finally relaxed back into his chair. "They said she hadn't been touched, but you can't trust the word of a place like that."
Midori found that she couldn't disagree with that. "She's fallen back asleep and asked that when she wakes up she can bathe and get clothes."
"Are you okay with staying here to help her with that? I'm sure she'd more comfortable if it was you."
"Of course. I told her that I would help her when she wakes up."
Ikuto nodded at that before getting back to his feet. "I'll call Kairi for him and Yaya to go get her some clothes to wear until we're able to get her address and pick up some of her things."
Midori studied Ikuto for a moment before releasing a sigh of her own. "You'll need to ease her into the fact that she won't be able to just go home. She's not going to react well if you keep being so blunt with her."
Nodding again, Ikuto pressed the buttons on his phone to connect him to Kairi. He knew that Midori was right. He'd almost caused Amu to have a panic attack several times earlier. He wanted to be honest with her without scaring her.
Having her in his house was going to be a challenge, but Ikuto knew that he would be able to handle it. He had to.
.
Morg: So there's that.
Ikuto: Yeesh.
Amu: No thanks.
Morg: Review!
