Sixty-eight - A kiss?

Stacey's eyes widened at the kiss and her initial impulse to push him away gradually fizzled out. She closed her eyes to experience it better, since she couldn't get away. That was until she felt like she was suffocating and couldn't breathe anymore.

So this was what a kiss felt like. It had been surprisingly enjoyable. It was soft and gentle and rather pleasant. She almost wanted to return the kiss and feel it again. It was alright to kiss her own husband, right? It was fine for him to kiss her?

Argh. No. What was she thinking?

But he was her husband. It should be acceptable. So why did she feel so guilty? And ashamed? Even slightly violated.

Ashamed? Violated?

She put her hands to her burning cheeks while she panted and stared into his eyes. He smiled and brushed the hair out of her face.

"The doctors told me you can increase the intensity of your rehab when you feel ready. They still want you to stay a bit longer to keep an eye on you though," Thieren swallowed and pulled himself away from her with what appeared to be some effort.

He must have gotten stiff and sore from sleeping beside her like that last night. Stacey watched him stand up and stretch. He must be very busy and yet he had spent the night by her side. It was touching. Was he that worried about her?

"I have to fly back to CC for a while," Thieren told her while yawning and stretching, "to deal with some company matters. I've bought you a phone and arranged a personal assistant and manager for you. They will live with the crew and should be arriving today or tomorrow. You've been officially employed by Stanza Entertainment - I signed on your behalf as your guardian. Let Me Entertain You is expected to resume normal filming by the end of this week. When you're discharged from the hospital, you'll be living in the girls' dormitory. Ning and our people will take care of you."

"Oh," Stacey sat up and tried to shake off the post sleep dizzies. She let herself be enveloped in a hug but had a deep frown. "Safe journey," she said. "Try and get some rest. You probably didn't sleep well last night, right?"

"Are you concerned about me? How kind of you. Thank you." Thieren looked at his watch and then left a kiss on her forehead. "I'll call every night. Try and make some friends with the other kids. Especially the girls."

"Ok."

Stacey watched him leave, leaving his scent and the faint breeze of deodorant wafting after him.

It was strange. She felt relieved with him gone. At the same time, a sense of loss. No. No. No. She wasn't going to miss him. She barely knew him… but there was no doubt she felt a bit more secure when he was around. It had been nice to have some company and someone who cared for her around. Now she was all alone again.

It was a familiar feeling, this loneliness. Perhaps she was used to being alone before she got married?

With a sigh, Stacey got up to prepare herself for another long day in the hospital. From what he said, it sounded like she might be getting some sort of rehabilitation therapy to help her to recover enough to return to the program.

She wasn't quite sure what she thought of the television program that she was a part of yet. She'd get more details from Ning later, before anyone arrived. If she remembered rightly, from the videos, she had somehow insulted all of humanity on national television by combining two songs. She didn't understand. Hopefully someone would explain it to her in detail. She'd have to ask Ning.

If the rehab didn't tire her out, maybe she could also start studying and learning things she seemed to be expected to know.

A nurse came by to get her vital observations for the morning and then another nurse kept an eye on her in the bathroom, just in case. Following breakfast, Stacey had a parade of medical visitors one after the other, coming to ask questions, conduct tests or take her to the gym to do exercises. The whirl ended at lunchtime when Stacey found herself back in her room.

Stacey was amazed at how tired she felt. She was given some time to have a nap after lunch, but then she was woken up for more therapy sessions. In the evening, she was barely awake enough to talk coherently to Thieren when he called. A nurse had been concerned enough to sit and almost feed her dinner.

"You should get more rest," Thieren told her. "You sound exhausted. I'll talk to the nurse. You just sleep. Goodnight, Stacey."

"'Night," Stacey mumbled.

What had had they been talking about for the last five minutes. She couldn't remember. What had he said?

The nurse took the phone and left Stacey to fall asleep in bed. Stacey heard the nurse reporting what she had done today and in listening, she felt amazed at how much had actually happened. She could barely remember any of it. It had happened so fast. Stacey drowsed, half asleep, trying to remember.

"We'll reduce the intensity a bit tomorrow," the nurse patted Stacey's shoulder when the phone call ended. "Get a good rest."