Chapter 31: Warrior - Beth Crowley
Recovery Day 1: 21:00
Mai
CW/TW! This chapter contains scenes of a trauma physical evaluation, mentions of rape, and flashbacks of trauma. Reader discretion is advised.
It took them all day to travel from the facility where they were being held back home. They had to make accommodations for the breaks, gas, and food. At the first stop, she and Naru were handed some udon noodles by Luella, and although it looked delicious, Naru had to politely explain that they couldn't handle that kind of food yet. It made her stomach turn in knots smelling fresh food and not rations or quick-made food. Ayako came back from a grocery store with rice cakes, probiotic yogurt to eat, and water. That was a lot easier to hold down than noodles.
Their feet and legs were mostly healed through their bond. A feat Luella was eagerly taking notes on as they slept, making note of the details seen through the healing process. They also brought them extra shoes and socks which was a relief. Still, when it came to bathroom breaks they each had an escort to make sure nothing serious happened.
During one of their breaks, Takigawa received a phone call from Lin. "The police came to the crime scene." Mai cringed as she heard it being referred to as a crime scene. It reminded her of everything that they had gone through, everything that they had seen and done…that Dr. Hiroa was dead, and she choked up. Naru put his hand on her lower back and sent her a jolt of PK. It made her feel calmer. "They recovered all of the files and videos they took and wiped everything clean besides what they needed to crack down more on these members. Apparently, your case was never officially closed. They're looking into Detective Yojiro now for potential bribery charges from the yakuza to pass the case up to a higher level. It never was. Now it turns out that we just helped take down one of the most notorious bosses and gangs in modern Japan."
Mai's mouth dropped in shock. There was so much to take in that she didn't even know where to begin.
"What about Alaina?" Naru asked.
"They're still looking into how she came into this in the first place, but Martin was able to find something of interest," Takigawa continued, "There was a picture in a frame on a desk near the main testing room-"
"A red dragon frame and a picture of Alaina and another man standing back to back?" Mai interrupted.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" he asked.
"I saw it before they took me to…" she trailed off and shivered remembering the pain, the cold, and Akio.
Takigawa was shifting uncomfortably. "I'm… sorry to remind you of that. But Martin recognized the man in the photo: Jack McClaren."
Naru peaked in interest at that. "You're certain?" he asked eagerly.
"Yes. Alaina Sullivan is his half-sister."
"Naru, who is he?" she asked.
"One of our company's co-sponsors for JSPR. I met with him a few times as we were setting things up in Japan. He knew my identity and what I looked like. He must have tipped Alaina off. Gets in contact with Akio overseas and works together on kidnapping me, selling me, and splitting the money between them both," Naru explained bitterly.
She could feel through the bond his rage and feelings of betrayal. She also felt feelings of guilt arise as he processed everything. She held his hand and sent out her aura into him. He looked over to her. "Please, don't get consumed by anger now. We will deal with everything soon."
"And what about Akio and Alaina?" Luella asked. "What's going to happen to them?"
"They're being taken to a hospital for treatment before they are taken to a high-security prison hospital. Whatever curse you two put them under is still holding up and they haven't moved."
"And Dr. Hiroa?" Mai asked softly. "What's going to happen to him?"
"They're taking him to the local morgue for examination and autopsy. Lin has requested that he be transferred up to the hospital his daughter was at so that they can be buried together," Takigawa answered softly.
Tears started to fall softly on her face. She doesn't think she'll ever forget the face of the man who saved her life and gave him hope for his daughter. Only for the hope to be snuffed out and die so indignantly in the forest. She'll never forget the cold and bloodied hand that caressed her cheek because he saw his daughter in her. She'll never forget him.
Naru pulled her into him and held her. "It's ok Mai. He knew that this might happen. He did what he set out to do. He helped rescue us," he said through their bond.
"Can we…go to the funeral? For both of them?" She asked.
"Of course. Wouldn't dare miss it."
They made their way back home and arrived in the early night. Lin, Yasu, and Martin were due to make it in closer to 02:00. They made their way into Lin's apartment and got settled in the guest bedroom. Ayako insisted on doing a thorough examination before they went to sleep to check over their injuries and physical health. For once Naru didn't argue.
"Do you two want to stay together for this or do you want to do it one at a time?" Ayako asked.
"Together," they both said at the same time.
Ayako smiled and said, "Alright, together it is then."
Naru went first and Ayako went straight into nursing mode. She asked permission for every new thing and explained what she was doing through all the steps. He looked annoyed on the outside, but she could feel gratitude coming from him as it helped ease his mind that he was grounded with every comment made by Ayako.
"That bond of yours works wonders that's for sure," Ayako commented. "Still, you have signs of dehydration, malnourishment, and sleep deprivation. Mentally, I can see signs of anxiety, depression, and obvious mental trauma and PTSD. We'll be playing everything by ear for now for both of your guy's mental health. I worked in the ER for long enough to know how to help people coming in from a traumatic event. I'll be teaching the others on how to best help."
"Sounds good," Naru said, feeling relieved that it was over.
"Mai? Are you ready?" she asked gently.
She took a deep shuddering breath and she reached out for Naru's hand. He grabbed it and sat next to her as she sat on the edge of the bed.
"I'm going to start with just some basics. We'll go at your pace, OK?" she said.
Mai nodded and Ayako began to work. She started with vitals and checking over her vision and hearing. Then she moved on to a skin inspection. That's when her breathing picked up suddenly.
"Talk to me Mai, what's going through your head?" Ayako asked in a neutral voice.
"I'm scared…I'm scared of what you'll see," she said as her hand began to shake lightly.
"And what will I see that makes you so scared?" she asked.
"Scars. A lot of them. I just don't want you to overreact," she said. Naru sent out feelings of comfort and safety through their bond.
"Are they the scars from the experiments?" she asked neutrally.
"Yes."
"OK. Just breathe and stay with us. You're not there anymore. You're with your family now," she said, reaching out to hold her other hand.
She nodded her head and she began to take off Naru's shirt on her. She took it off and closed her eyes; she was too scared to open them and see Ayako's reaction to the burn scars.
"Do I have your permission to touch? I want to make sure that the scars are not inflamed or infected."
She nodded, unable to speak. "Naru, can you speak for me about what happened and what she's seeing? I can't. I don't know why I'm so scared when I wasn't before."
"Yes. Absolutely yes," he replied. "Ayako," he said carefully. "She's asked me to speak for her. During the first experiment, the PK overwhelmed her, and as it passed to her body her heart was struck and the energy erupted outwards. Dr. Hiroa described it as Lichtenberg scars caused commonly by lightning strikes. The ones down her forearms here are also from the experiment when they separated us. When Dr. Hiroa wasn't there."
"I see." She examined her chest and scars and then moved onto her back. "Take a deep breath for me please." She did and she realized her breath was shaking. "We saw Alaina kick you hard in the chest in the video. Did you feel anything crack?" She asked.
"No, though I'm not sure if I would have at that time. I was…seizing," she said through the bond.
"She says no but that she wouldn't have remembered if she did anyway. She was seizing when Alaina kicked her," Naru answered for her.
"I'm going to apply pressure with my hand to your sternum. I need to see and feel for any broken ribs," Ayako explained.
Mai nodded and she closed her eyes tightly. She tried not to think about the amount of hands that had touched her there recently. Thankfully no pain accompanied Ayako's touch.
"You're good to put your shirt back on now." She quickly did as she said. "The scars are a little inflamed. Probably from being so fresh. That cut on your throat, however; we had a hunch about it when we saw the video. That person who tried to rape you, did he have you at knifepoint?" she asked gently.
She nodded her head as tears started to flow down her face again. She peeled back the sleeves on her arms and pointed out her wrists and the lines from the knife made there too.
"He…pinned her to the ground and forced her arms above her head…" Naru explained, as he also started feeling upset by explaining this in detail. "He held them down with the knife."
"I see," Ayako said again. "Well, thankfully they don't look infected either. Now I need to ask you a very important question, OK?" Mai nodded in understanding. Ayako and Naru gripped her hands tightly. "The man who assaulted you, did he penetrate you?"
She took a shuddering breath that led to sobs. Memories flashed in her head of the event. Feeling scared, vulnerable, weak, and violated. She remembered his grimy hands groping her and touching her. When he shoved his hands down her sweatpants and stuck two fingers inside of her right before Naru's PK raced through her. The feeling of rage and the desire to kill him and stop what he was doing. Blinding light followed by seeing his face completely melted and she was gripping onto a bloodied and melted corpse.
"H-H-He…stuck his f-fingers in me…before I…before I! I killed him!" She yelled while sobbing. She thrashed her head trying to shake the memory from her mind. "I killed him! I killed him! I killed him! I hated him, and I wanted him to die!" She was sobbing so hard now. "I thought that Naru would never want to touch me again after that. I felt so angry at that thought that I wanted to kill him. I used Naru's PK to kill him! I didn't mean to go so far, but when I looked at what I had done I had completely melted his face. I burned him so harshly that his whole body was red and smoking. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to. I just wanted him to stop!" She felt so awful.
She felt Ayako fully embrace her and maneuver her so she was sitting on her lap. Ayako tucked her head under her chin and held her. She opened her eyes and saw Naru sobbing as he held her hand. Ayako started hushing her as she rocked back and forth.
"It's ok now. It's ok. It wasn't your fault. You did what you needed to to survive. You both did. No one will fault you for that. At the end of the day, you chose to live and survive. You're here, he isn't. You both are so strong and courageous. Oliver used his PK to protect you, and because of that, you're both home now. With your family."
She sobbed even harder now. "Oliver!" She cried out and leaped forward towards him. He caught her and held her in his arms. "Why? Why am I acting like this? Why now?!"
"Because you've been surviving the past ten days," Ayako explained, "You've been pushing down so much just to try and survive. Now you don't need to be. Your body is relaxing and is feeling safe enough to grieve. Don't fight this feeling or hold it back. Allow your body and mind to grieve. It'll take some time to heal, but you will. You both will heal from this. There will be a day when you both will look back and realize just how far you've come. Just keep marching forward to that day."
She got up from the bed and leaned down to kiss the top of Mai's head and then put both of her hands on each of their shoulders. Mai looked up at her and saw she was crying too.
"Both of you were so brave, so courageous, and so strong. If you need anything please let me know. I'll go ahead and leave you two alone now ok? Sleep well, and welcome home."
Ayako left and Mai and Oliver waited a moment before crawling into bed. Compared to the other bed, this was the softest thing they'd ever been on. He held her tightly and she rested on his chest and sobbed.
"Naru, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" She cried through their bond.
"Don't be. It's like what she said. It's going to take time to heal. We're home. Our family is here."
"I know. It just…doesn't feel real. It feels like it was much longer than ten days," she said as she worked to calm down.
"Yeah, it feels like years," Naru said, rubbing her back.
"I want…I need to go to my apartment tomorrow. I need to see if Alaina did what she said she did," she said.
"Ok, we'll have Lin take us over there tomorrow morning. For now, let's rest."