"That's an easy one; 'Summer Day At The Beach'." Grace said, watching Wheel of Fortune on the TV in her hospital room as she sat in her hospital bed while Olivia gently brushed her hair.
"I'm going to have to start sending you on this show to win us lots of money." Olivia teased as she finished brushing Grace's hair and put the hairbrush down, "All right, now let's get your teeth brushed."
Grace held a bowl underneath her while Olivia carefully brushed her teeth for her with a spare toothbrush and toothpaste from the family lounge area. With that accomplished, the breakfast trays arrived. Grace had survived her 'gentle food' diet and was now grateful to be allowed to eat real food again. Today's breakfast consisted of eggs, bacon, fruit, toast, and milk. Grace's plate was empty when Dr. Warner breezed into the room on her morning rounds at the hospital.
"Good morning, ladies. How are you feeling, Grace? The nurse tells me that your fever broke this morning, which is excellent." Dr. Warner glanced over the clipboard in her hand.
"My stitches kind of hurt, but I'm okay otherwise." Grace replied honestly.
"I'm afraid you're going to experience a little discomfort while you heal. Lie back so I can take a look." Dr. Warner pushed the button to lower the bed. She then lifted Grace's hospital gown to reveal her stitches and inspected them carefully, "Well, everything appears to be just fine. Maybe later this afternoon we can try getting you up on your feet and see how you feel."
Later that afternoon, a nurse brought in a walker and assisted Grace in sitting up on the edge of her bed.
"You take your time, sweetheart. Whenever you're ready to try." the nurse said.
Grace took a moment to gather her courage, took hold of the walker, and carefully pushed herself up to a standing position, wincing a little as she tried to balance herself. She managed to stand for a few seconds, and then had to sit back down.
"Such a good girl." Olivia praised with a smile, earning a confused look from her sweet little submissive, so she went on to explain, "I'm so proud of you, little one. You stood up."
"Only for a few seconds." Grace pouted.
"Hey, put the lip away. Nobody expects you to be able to run a marathon after emergency surgery, and you still have an infection. You stood up for a few seconds, and later you'll be able to stand up for a few more seconds. You've been in bed for the past three days, your muscles are just stiff and need time to remember how to work. They'll come back." Olivia soothed.
"In two weeks, you won't even be able to tell that you had surgery." the nurse encouraged kindly.
"When can I have my IV taken out?" Grace asked.
"Not until you're discharged on Sunday, I'm afraid." the nurse told her, "Why don't I go get a wheelchair for you, and you can get out of this room and go exploring. There's an activity room down the hall that's open twenty four seven."
"Yes, please." Grace nodded eagerly, more than ready to leave the mind-numbing monotony of her room, even though Olivia had been doing her best to keep her entertained with card games and books and such things.
Grace was guided into a wheelchair, and Olivia pulled Grace's IV pole along with them as Grace wheeled herself down the hall and into the activity room. The room was currently empty, so Grace had the room to herself as she looked around at the various things to do. She challenged Olivia to a game of foosball, groaning in defeat as she lost two games in a row, and smiling in triumph as she won the third game. When Grace grew bored with the foosball table, she looked around the room and her eyes landed on the big, overstuffed chair at the side of the room.
"Ma'am, can you cuddle me?" Grace pointed at the chair, "I miss being cuddled by you." It had been three days since she'd been able to have a proper cuddle on her Mistress's lap.
"Yes, baby, we can do that." Olivia agreed.
Olivia sat down on the chair and, being mindful of Grace's stitches, she settled Grace to cuddle on her lap, and Grace's head automatically went to Olivia's shoulder the way it always did. Grace's hospital gown fell open and Olivia lovingly rubbed Grace's bare bottom to soothe her.
The next afternoon, Grace was once again resting in her bed playing Candy Crush on her phone while Olivia sat nearby working on her laptop. Both women looked up when the door opened and a man in a pressed button-down shirt and black slacks walked into the room.
"Good afternoon, ladies. Are you Grace Muncy?" the man asked, smiling at Grace.
"Yes, I am." Grace looked up from her phone.
"And that must make you Madam Benson?" the man looked at Olivia.
"I am." Olivia set her laptop aside.
"My name is Dominic, I'm a social worker here at the hospital. Dr. Warner asked me to come see you during this week you're in the hospital because while she was operating on your appendix she found some scars on your body that she's concerned about. We just want to make sure that you're safe at home." Dominic spoke kindly to Grace.
"My Ma'am didn't do that to me! She wouldn't! You can't take me away from her!" Grace shrieked, cowering in fear.
"Do you need me to leave the room while you speak with her?" Olivia offered calmly.
"That would be best." Dominic agreed.
"Ma'am!" Grace whined in fear with tears in her eyes. Olivia leaned down to lovingly stroke Grace's face to soothe her.
"Don't whine, my baby. I promise you are very safe, Dominic is only here to do his job. I'll be right outside the door, and as soon as Dominic is done speaking to us, I'll come straight back to you." Olivia promised.
Grace watched with wide, horrified eyes as Olivia calmly left the room, closing the door behind her, and then Grace's eyes shifted over to Dominic who was sitting down in a chair and opening a file.
"I am not here to hurt you, Grace. I am just here to make sure that you are safe at home." Dominic reiterated his intentions.
"If I say 'red' you have to leave and let my Ma'am come back in." Grace glared at the man and tried to sound strong.
"I can respect that." Dominic agreed with a nod.
By the time he had finished speaking with both Grace and Olivia separately, and over the phone with Dr. Olivet, Dominic was convinced that there was nothing amiss in this situation. He wrote something down in his file and then turned back to the young submissive who was now cuddled in her Mistress's arms with tears streaming down her pretty face.
"I'm very sorry to have upset you, Grace. You won't have to see me again, I can see that you are very well taken care of and very loved. I'll leave you ladies to enjoy the rest of your day together." Dominic excused himself and left.
"There, there. That's my good girl." Olivia soothed, lovingly stroking Grace's long dark hair, "I know that was scary, baby. You were a very good girl."
"Why would Dr. Warner do that?" Grace whimpered.
"Well, Dr. Warner is a doctor, and that makes her a mandated reporter. She didn't know about your scars when she took you back into surgery, so she had every right to be concerned when she found them." Olivia explained, "You just relax and breathe now, my baby. No one is going to hurt you and no one is going to take you away from me. Take a deep breath in; one, two, three, four. And hold it; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. And let it out; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. That's my good girl."
The next morning, Dr. Warner walked into the room, and Grace wasn't particularly happy to see her.
"Why did you call a social worker on me?" Grace snapped.
"Grace Elizabeth." Olivia scolded.
"I'm sorry if it caused you extra stress, Grace, but part of my job is reporting if I think something is off, and I was concerned by your scars. Now, let's check on your stitches."
When Dr. Warner was gone, Olivia sighed and gave Grace a stern look.
"Your tone was very rude, little girl. I understand that Dr. Warner isn't your favorite person right now, but you will not be rude to anyone. Do you understand?" Olivia scolded.
"Yes, Ma'am." Grace pouted.
"Come here, you're going to go stand in the corner for five minutes and think about why your tone was out of line." Olivia said. She normally would have made Grace kneel in the corner for at least ten minutes, but on this occasion she would let her stand, and given the circumstances she wasn't going to try to make her stand for more than five minutes.
"But my stitches." Grace said.
"I'm not spanking you. You're going to use the walker and stand in the corner for five minutes, that's all." Olivia explained as she gently and carefully guided Grace out of bed and over to an empty corner of the room. Given the circumstances, she wasn't going to make Grace kneel, and she wasn't going to make her try to stand for any more than five minutes.
"Ma'am!" Grace whined when she felt Olivia opening the back of her hospital gown to reveal her bare bottom.
"Hush. I'm not spanking you, but you need to remember what happens to naughty little girls." Olivia gently patted Grace's bottom and walked back over to sit in her chair.
Grace was fine for the first four minutes, but for the last minute of her time-out she had to lean on the walker for support. When the five minutes were up, Olivia stood from her chair and walked back over to where Grace was standing and gently fixed the back of her gown to cover her bottom again.
"All right, my good girl, time-out is over, let's get you back into bed now. My good girl is all forgiven. I am so proud of you, you stood for five whole minutes." Olivia gently guided Grace back into her bed.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. I'll be a good girl." Grace whimpered.
"I know, my baby. You will always be my good girl." Olivia assured her kindly, lovingly stroking Grace's face to soothe her. Olivia took her shoes off and climbed up on the bed to cuddle Grace close to her heart, and Grace leaned into her to soak up the affection. Message received loud and clear: she was not above discipline, even in the hospital, and this realization made her feel safe.
The next day was filled with very much the same monotony known to most hospitals; between meals, Grace kept herself entertained with card games, TV, the activity room, her phone, books and magazines, and using the walker to practice standing up. In the afternoon, a nurse walked into Grace's room with a kind smile.
"Hello, Grace. Dr. Warner sent me to draw some blood."
"Ma'am." Grace immediately reached for Olivia.
"I'm right here, little one. Don't look at what the nurse is doing, just look at me. Let me see those pretty eyes. That's my good girl." Olivia soothed, taking Grace's hand in her own.
Grace reluctantly offered her arm to the nurse and the nurse spent some time poking around looking for a good vein to use.
"Don't worry, darling. I've been a nurse for over thirty years, I'm very good at my job and you have beautiful veins. Ah, here we are." The nurse spoke kindly as she searched for a vein and found one.
"Ow!" Grace winced as she felt the pinch of the needle.
"Such a good girl." Olivia praised, lovingly stroking Grace's face.
"And we're done." the nurse announced, placing a band-aid on Grace's arm.
"Really?" Grace looked down at her arm, and up at the vial of blood in the nurse's hand that she was putting a label on with Grace's name, and then the nurse left.
"You were very good, baby. I'm going to run down to the cafeteria and find a treat for you, I'll be right back." Olivia kissed Grace's forehead.
"Yes, Ma'am." Grace smiled.
Olivia returned from the cafeteria with a piece of carrot cake, and Grace smiled as she enjoyed her reward.