La Fleure qui est Belle
Chapter 13
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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
awake, and went to find Kaoru. What she
saw caused her to stop dead in her tracks, in the doorway of the room.
flying into the air as the sheets fell to the floor.
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?
twenty-four hours!”
“Miss
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!
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.
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?”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
have my accountant cut a check for your services.”
“No
need. We can talk about payment after
she is healed. Good day, Mr.
“Good day.”
Kaoru
pulled the blanket sup over her head.
bandaged. “Damn it…he’d probably
Kenshin continued
with his correspondence. He was
beginning to think that women weren’t worth the trouble.
Kaoru rose
a few hours later, and went to sit at the piano.
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.
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.
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.
still the person she’d been six months before, she would have.
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.
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!’
you’ll like it, good day!’
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.