Chapter 101

Two Birds, Three Stones

Rhi POV

I can hear them talking about the whole mess and I can't stand it anymore. I sigh and groan again, instead of opening my eyes to roll them. I'm too exhausted to do much of anything, to be honest. "You guys didn't do anything wrong. You didn't know. I still love you. Don't let this affect things. It was just a combination of the heat from the water and the pain meds."

When I finally open my eyes, I see fear in their eyes and sadness plaguing their faces. At least it's not pity. I hate pity. Don't feel sorry for me. It just pisses me off. I don't feel sorry for myself so no one else should either.

I close my eyes again but I can still feel the guilt radiating from their silence. "Seriously. Let it go. It's fine. I'M fine. Let's move on. It's late and I just want to go to sleep."

I lay still, letting the silence in the room calm my irritation. After a minute or two, I move to get up but feel strong hands on my shoulders pushing me back down on the bed. I know it's Alex instinctively. My suspicions are confirmed when I feel lips on my forehead accompanied by whiskers tickling my skin. "Rhi, please, let your body cool off a bit more before you go moving around. Your skin is bright red and hot to the touch."

I sigh, struggling between fighting them on this or just giving up so I can go to sleep. After a minute, I decide on the latter. I don't have the energy to fight with them and I know they're going to want to talk about it. The thing is, I don't want to talk. I want to sleep. If giving in is the only way to do that, I will. "Fine."

"Thank you." Alex sounds relieved. "Here. Drink some more water. It will cool your core and your body will cool off faster." He places a water bottle to my lips, tilting it back so I can take a drink. "Try to drink at least one bottle of water and then you can go to sleep. In the meantime, we will keep putting cool towels on you to help."

My eyes still closed, I reply, "Thank you." I'm silent after that, hoping to make my point that I don't want to talk and, thankfully, they don't say anything. We'll see what happens in the morning.

I feel towels being lifted off my various body parts at different intervals, like they're being alternated as soon as the cool ones get start to get warm. Kind of like a well-oiled machine. I hear water running like a stream in the background and it's soothing to my ears. Little by little I'm relaxing and letting my mind drift along peacefully.

"Rhi? How are you feeling? Are you cooling off?" Kate asks, concern lacing her voice.

"Yeah." I exhale out. "Thank you for taking care of me."

Her response is the usual, "Always."

Without opening my eyes, I ask, "Ana? Can you put a towel on my face and neck a little?" I know she'll appreciate my effort and asking for help.

"Of course. I'll be right back." I hear a rustling as she moves away and a few moments later the cool feeling of a wet cloth swipes across my face. Oh that feels good.

"Thanks Ana. That feels good." I open one eye and peer at her, giving her a small smile along with it. She smiles back but remains quiet.

Opening both of my eyes I look at each of them. "You guys are the best. I'm sorry I worried you. I'm OK." I chuckle, "Well, I will be once I completely cool off." They don't respond and I close my eyes, hoping to fall asleep.

Alex POV

I've never been so relieved when I hear her groan. I'm choked up, tears form unbidden in my eyes, and I can't speak for few moments. I wish I could tell her how I truly feel but I'm almost positive that it would freak her out, especially after the revelations tonight. I don't know if she knows that I was listening when she was talking in the shower. I'll just have to wait and see what happens and if she remembers anything.

When she tries to sit up, I put my hands on her shoulders and gently push her back down. Leaning down, I kiss her forehead and the heat radiating from her worries me because anything can happen when the body overheats, especially that much.

What shocks me the most are her words, 'she's fine.' My ass she's fine. She could have died and she says, 'she's fine.' What the fuck is wrong with her to think that?

Kate and Ana put more cool towels on her and I look up at them. Ana doesn't say anything but she directs her eyes to the door. I nod slightly and she tells Rhi they're going to get more towels from their bathroom.

When they leave, I remain silent and take over wiping Rhi's face. After a minute or so of silence I feel Rhi shift and she breaks the silence.

"What's wrong?" She asks, looking up at me. She looks exhausted and dazed. Gee, I can't imagine why.

Sighing, I keep my honest feelings locked inside, instead I answer, "I was just worried about you. You scared me. When Kate and Ana found you passed out in the shower it kind of freaked me out."

"I'm OK. I just wanted to relax before the pain killer kicked in." She whispers.

I'm speechless so I just look at her for a minute. What in the fuck? How she can just brush off what happened? How can she think she's OK? "Rhi, you just took pain meds, had only HOT water on you, passed out in the shower and weren't moving. How can you possibly be ok?"

She doesn't say anything, she just looks away from me. Nothing I do or say seems to be getting through to her. "Rhi, please listen to me." I say, pleading with her. "Your body temp is through the roof and your skin is bright red. I'd be surprised if you don't have any blisters or anything from that water. Why did you get it so hot?" I seriously want to know what the deal is with her and the hot water.

She doesn't say anything for a while and when she does I'm surprised. "Have you ever had the feeling that you've been exposed to something so gross you can't get it off, no matter how hard you try?"

I think for a minute, trying to think of something like that. "They only thing I can think of is motor oil or grease from working on cars or something like that."

She nods slightly and finally turns her eyes to me. "Yeah, me too when I work on mine." She smiles, "You work on cars?" She asks.

I nod. "Yes, it's one thing I truly enjoy. I can't do major repairs but tunes-ups and small things I can do."

Her smile gets bigger. "That's a good skill to have." She's quiet for a minute and I briefly think she's going to stop talking but she doesn't.

Instead she continues on. "That's a clean kind of dirty. The kind I'm referring to is something like blood or germs or body fluids, stuff like that."

Where is she going with this?

She sighs, "If you have enough blood or body fluids on you, you have to clean to get rid of the bacteria to prevent illness and infections. In most cases, soap and hot water are the best solution to help with that. Sometimes a stronger chemical or process is needed. Since I can't autoclave myself, I use scalding water."

"What do you mean by that?" I ask, confused as fuck. "Why would you have blood on you?"

She looks at me, eyebrows raised in a look that says, 'really?'

"OK, so feminine blood. Got it." I chuckle and she rolls her eyes. "So what does that have to do with the hot water?" I ask, still confused by this whole conversation.

"Here's a fun fact. You can cause someone to have a miscarriage if you kick them hard enough." She pauses, "It's the cheapest form of abortion and the easiest to hide. Especially when you have more serious secrets to keep. Though there's still a lot of blood involved. Some people think hot water will get rid of DNA alone so they soak bloody things in scalding water under that presumption." She laughs, "Stupid people think that. Even using bleach won't get rid of the proteins completely, it just breaks them down."

I don't know what to say because I don't know where she's going with this. She's talking in riddles.

"Have you ever boiled meat to prepare it for grilling? Like ribs or chicken? You know that smell? Well, that's what it smells like if you use hot water to try and kill DNA, or evidence. Not to mention blood on human flesh."

I think for a minute, trying to figure out what she means and how it ties to her. "Yes, I'm familiar with the smell. It's horrible and lingers. But what does that have to do with you?"

She sighs and when she looks at me, her eyes are almost devoid of emotion. "My mother and her brother were monsters, Alex. Modern-day monsters. Her brother preyed on the innocent and helpless. When I said something about it, she punished me. She accused me of lying and trying to ruin her reputation. She could have done something, kept him away from me, but she didn't. When he went too far, he offered her money to cover it up. Money and status meant more to her than anything, which is why she used my dad. Anyway, they came up with the idea that if you kick someone in the abdomen hard enough, and in the right place, it will cause a miscarriage. She encouraged him and, well, it worked."

"No." I whisper, she can't mean what it sounds like.

She takes a deep breath before continuing. "It started with a scalding shower, to wash away the evidence. Pushing someone down the stairs to cover the bruising too helps cover it up too. Broken bones as a punishment are a good cover too. Two birds, three stones. She took me to the hospital and somehow was able to explain away what happened." She pauses, "Hmm, now that I think about it she probably covered it up by fucking the doctor. Her usual MO."

I'm stunned into silence. I have no idea what to say to that. I mean, what difference are words going to make now?

"I felt dirty for years and used the scalding water to try to get rid of the feeling." She explains. "I've been able to get rid of that feeling but I still use the scalding water to clean myself, especially when I'm stressed."

I'm silent with my thoughts running rampant.

"I'm sorry, Alex." She says in a whisper and looks away.

Reaching down, I grasp her chin and turn her face to me. "What are you sorry for?"

She shrugs, "You asked a simple question and I dumped a load of baggage on you."

Shaking my head, I lean down and kiss her forehead. "You're right. I asked a simple question. You didn't dump baggage on me. You answered honestly. Thank you for that. I just wish the cause was a little less traumatic."

Lifting her body up, I slide behind her so she's leaning on me. She's still quite naked but she's finally cooling off. The redness is starting to fade too as her temperature lowers.

I call out, "Kate? Ana? Can you guys come in please?" I need more towels to continue to cool her down. Reaching down, I pull one of the towels up so she will be covered when they come in.

While I'm waiting for them to come in, I reach over and pick up the bottle of water. "Here. Take a drink for me. Please." Unscrewing the cap, I tilt it to her lips and she takes a pretty big drink. Kissing the top of her head, I whisper, "Thank you."

Kate and Ana appear at the door and open it slightly. "We've got more towels."

They bring over the towels and lay them out on her. "It looks like this might be the last bunch we need to use." She smiles. "Then mother nature can take over."

Rhi nods in agreement. "Good because I feel like I'm starting to prune from all the water." She lets out a weak laugh at her joke.

I wonder how long it will be before she falls asleep.

"You seem more tired now. Do you want to go to sleep?" I ask, hoping she says yes. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Yeah. Can you help me get settled on the couch before you leave?" She asks quietly.

"Uh, I thought the plan was for me to stay here." If she wants me to leave I will, not happily but I will. "Unless you changed your mind?"

She answers right away, "No, I haven't changed my mind." She says quietly. "Please stay."

Smiling at her, I kiss the top of her head. "It's settled then. Let's get you something to sleep in, shall we?"

Placing her into a sitting position, I lift her to the side and get up to find her clothes. I smile as I dig through her suitcase, I find a camisole, some panties and a pair of shorts. This will be yet another time that I'm dressing her. This is becoming a habit. I chuckle.

Walking back to the bed she sees the smile on my face. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." She laughs quietly. "You're becoming a pro at this."

"Practice makes perfect." I say with a grin.

Kate says, "We'll leave you to get ready for bed." She smiles, "We'll meet you in the main room." I nod and she and Ana leave the room, closing the door behind them.