The River Part 3.
By Kyorii Pilau
Alice has been rescued from an evil religious cult, that had kidnapped
her and was headed by Matt Stevenson's nephew Lucas Johns. Joy, Terry
and his team have foiled a plot to take over the Stevenson empire and
have recovered the data that was stolen from the Toyshop (a secret
weapons research arm of the Stevenson Empire).
During her rescue Alice suffered a Heroin overdose, was shot and badly
injured, Joy was also shot twice whilst carrying Alice back to safety.
We start part 3, in Joy's cabin, she is about to regain consciousness
following Surgery on a large flesh wound on her hip and a bullet wound
to her right shoulder.
Chapter 1 The Aftermath.
my next real memory was slowly regaining consciousness in my bunk on
the Ship, I was covered by a blanket, Terry and Bob were both sitting
by my side.
"Alice?" I said groggily as I struggled to get out of the bunk,
"she's in recovery Joy, would you like to see her?" asked Bob
"yes I would", Bob and Terry both assisted me, and with some
difficulty I managed to extract myself from the bunk
"your probably feeling quite weak Joy, that's just the anaesthetic and
the effects of blood loss, your wounds were mostly superficial, you
were lucky, you will however need a little physiotherapy on your
shoulder though" said Bob as I struggled to pull on a pair of jeans,
I enquired from Terry,
"did we have any casualties"
"a few joy, mostly flesh wounds but nothing life threatening" he
replied,
I noticed that they were both trying not to look at me and were
looking a the floor,
"What?" I said
Bob spoke "how do you feel Joy?, we're both worried that the compound
attack may have adversely affected you"
I thought for a second and answered honestly
"I would be lying if I said that I felt anything but numb, that place
was awful" I then remembered and said
"I subdued some children that were being used as human shields, do you
know if they are all okay?"
"yes, they were all rounded up and reunited with their parents, once
they could walk again", said Terry,
"I need to contact Matt, his brother and nephew caused this, I think
it's our families duty to help these poor people",
"we've already spoken to Mr Stevenson and he has arranged for a large
medical team to help the victims, he thought that's what you would
have wanted" replied Bob,
"can we go and see Alice now please?"
"yes, just as as soon as you put on a top" said Terry,
blushing I found a Bra and a loose fitting blouse and gingerly put
them on.
I entered Alice's room alone, she lay on a hospital bed and had a tube
in her mouth, she had been cleaned up, there was a nurse attending
her, the nurse spoke
"we have Mrs Stevenson in an induced coma, both doctors didn't want
her on painkillers, as they are mostly opium based, hopefully she will
be well out of withdrawal when we wake her".
Just then Dr Mike entered the room, I went over to him and with my
good arm hugged him,
"thank you for saving Alice Doc",
Doctor Mike looked at me grimly then spoke
"Alice is stable but she is still very ill, this morning we have
started treating some of her other conditions"
I asked, "Dr, exactly, what is physically wrong with Alice and can you
cure it?"
"take a seat Joy", I sat down "apart from the obvious gunshot wound,
Alice was suffering severe dehydration, muscle wastage, and calcium,
iron and vitamin D deficiency, in her blood we found heroin, cocaine
and traces of crystal Methamphetamine, she also tested positive for
Gonorrhoea, syphilis and chlamydia, the intravenous Antibiotics are
currently clearing up those infections, fortunately she tested
negative for HIV or any of the hepatitis strains, she will need to
have follow up tests in a couple of months".
Doctor Mike was getting angrier as he spoke,
"then we come to the damage to Alice's body caused by those subhuman
animals, Alice has a severe Uterine prolapse and Rectal prolapse,
Alice's Anal sphincter muscle has been damaged and her vagina will
require remedial Labiaplasty, her skin has many small burn marks and
there are also the sores, they should heal and fade with time, Alice's
teeth will need professional Dental work also.
As a Doctor I shouldn't say this but I hope you made those bastards
suffer Joy"
Dr mike came over to me as I sat quietly with tears running down my
cheeks he passed me a tissue
"Joy over the next few weeks Alice will get the best medical treatment
that is available and Dr Bob swears that with time he will be able to
repair any damage that has been done to Alice's mind" he continued
"with time, patience and the love that I know that you will give her
she will eventually make a full recovery".
"Now if you would like you can sit with her", Dr Mike left the room, I
moved my chair to Alice's bed and sat by her side, she didn't smell or
even look like my Alice any more I thought to myself, her face was
pale she didn't have any eyebrows, her hair had been bleached white it
was wiry and looked terrible, I held her hand and noticed the severe
bruising on her wrist where she had been cuffed to the bed, her hand
was cold.
Chapter 2 The Angel.
Around lunchtime Alice was removed to go back into theatre to have one
of her repair surgery's done, I wandered into the mess area, the room
went deathly quiet, several marines stood up, one of Terry's men,
Taffy spoke
"how is your wife Ma'am?" he enquired, I smiled weakly and said
"still poorly Taff, she's just gone back into surgery"
"would you like to join us for lunch Ma'am" said Taffy as they all
moved to make a place for me to sit, I thanked him and sat down,
Taffy actually got back up and brought me my lunch from the galley.
We were joined by Terry, I enjoyed my lunch the conversation with
Terry's men and I even had a pudding, just as we were finishing Terry
said,
"I believe that our little trip made the news, who wants to see what's
being said?".
We all filed into our briefing room, Terry connected his laptop to the
large screen monitor, the screen burst into life, it showed an
American news channel, it was streaming live pictures of the compound
from the air, I could see the rubble from the destroyed Data centre,
but what actually made me smile was the caption at the bottom of the
screen, it read 'Terror plot foiled by Navy Seals, assisted by British
Special Forces', Terry said "typical as usual they appear at the end
and then take all the credit",
I replied with,
"It would have looked a bit odd any other way Terry, We did sort of
invade America, they can be a little sniffy about that kind of
thing!", he smiled and said
"I suppose you're right Joy", it was then I noticed on the screen
something I really wasn't expecting, Terry had a huge grin on his
face,
"Terry?, was that you?" he smiled and said,
"yes, turned out quite well I thought, amazing what you can do with a
couple of cans of petrol and a match".
On the TV screen I could see on the hillside adjacent to the compound
two gigantic Angel wings had been burned into the grass,
"makes Quite a statement Joy don't you think?", I had to agree.
After lunch I took a brisk walk out on the deck of the ship, I noticed
that we were moving.
Chapter 3 Bob Takes charge.
I was soon joined by Bob,
"hello Joy keeping up with your exercise I see" I smiled at Bob it
was strange to be chatting with someone that only a few days ago I
wanted to hurt,
"hello Bob, you didn't tell me you were a Doctor?"
"sorry Joy it must have slipped my mind, I need to ask for your
permission to treat Alice"
"why would you need my permission Bob, surely you could ask Alice,
when she regains consciousness".
"I want you to put her mental care into my hands, she may not be the
best person to gauge her own mental fitness, she may even deny that
there is a problem and the sooner I can start the sooner I can return
your Alice to you"
"will you be interviewing her like you did me Bob?"
"initially yes it may seem cruel but I will need her to be able to
discriminate truth from lies, true history from implanted history but
mostly of all she needs to realise how much you love her and exactly
to what lengths you went to get her back"
"is all of that really necessary Bob?"
"yes Joy I'm afraid it is, she needs to feel safe when she is with you
and your family, you will be soon be her number one emotional support,
at least until she has come to terms with the last few months"
"okay Bob you have my permission, but no Drugs"
Bob smiled,
"sadly Joy I will have to use some medication, she will be very
volatile mentally and until she starts to understand and come to terms
with the last few months she will be a danger to herself"
"okay Bob, just don't turn her into a zombie"
"Don't worry I wont and thank you for your trust, I will start as soon
as Alice is able to be moved" I then asked Bob
"do you know where the ship is going?, are we going back to England?"
"no Joy, I believe that apart from supplies and fuel our first stop is
due to be Singapore, Dr Mike has a surgeon in mind to do some re
constructive surgery on Alice, then some dental work and then possible
a leisurely cruise back to the shipyard in Wallsend, of course that
may all change, it should however give me lot's of time to unravel
Alice's mind".
I was walking quietly with Bob along the deck, I wanted to ask him his
advice but did not know how to phrase it,
"Joy, can we sit down?",
we found a couple of deckchairs and he positioned them so that he was
looking directly at me, we both sat down, he then said,
"come on Joy, spill the beans, what's on your mind", how the hell
could he know that, I thought to myself,
"it's just, well", I paused so I could join some words together in my
head, "when I found Alice, she, she repulsed me, she actually made me
feel sick, I had worked so hard to find her and there she was, fucking
some fat ugly man, without a care and stoned out of her head" I paused
again to wipe away a tear "it took a slap from Terry to bring me back
to my senses, I'm so ashamed of myself Bob", Bob was just looking at
me, he leaned over and took both of my hands in his and said,
"Joy, you wouldn't be human if you didn't feel those emotions towards
Alice, yes she did give up, but she would have been forcibly
introduced to drugs, she was still handcuffed to her bed, so she
wasn't exactly a willing participant" I interrupted,
"but she doesn't even look like Alice any more Bob, what's worse she
doesn't smell like Alice any more".
Bob smiled
"Joy everything that makes Alice up is still there, it may have become
jumbled in her head and truth's may have become distorted, she may not
even recognise you, but Alice is still in there, I will bring her back
and I will reorder her mind to return the Alice you love, but I can't
do it without your help".
Finally I smiled
"what do you need me to do?" Bob then let go of my hands
"essentially be yourself, I've read your file you have a compassionate
nature, so you need to be there for Alice,
especially at night when her subconscious mind will be waging war with
her conscious mind, just be there for her, no matter how unpleasant or
ungrateful she seems",
"I promise, Bob".
Alice was being kept in a drug induced coma to allow her wounds to
heal whilst we slowly crossed the Atlantic.
Chapter 4 Slow recovery.
Four days before we reached the straits of Gibraltar, Terry received a
message from the Admiralty, his squad was required for a business trip
and they requested that we stop in Gibraltar to let his remaining men
disembark, I could see that this saddened Terry as it meant that he
was about to become a civilian again, I decided that to cheer him up I
would try and arrange a little surprise for him.
My wounds were healing fast and I found myself exercising more,
I was also was spending a lot of time by Alice's bedside, slowly the
colour was returning to her, the horrid track marks on her arms were
starting to fade and there were signs of her eyebrows growing back.
Alice still did not look like Alice, she still had ridiculous bleached
white hair (although dark roots were starting to show), worst of all
were her teeth, they all had signs of decay and some were just brown
stumps, Dr mike had arranged for a dental surgeon to meet the ship in
Gibraltar hopefully he would be able to restore Alice's teeth to their
former beauty.
Bob spent a lot of time talking to me, I knew he was analysing me but
he was also showing genuine concern for my well being, I just couldn't
bring myself to call him Doctor, I just thought that Dr Bob sounded
wrong.
Terry and his men showed a somewhat sick interest in the news feeds
coming from America about the religious cult assault, the media had
latched onto rumours circulating about an 'Avenging Angel' and some of
the compound's children had talked about a woman that had put them to
sleep or temporarily paralysed them, a Senator found tied to a post
talked about an Angel in black that had killed his bodyguards, he was
claiming he was there on a fact finding trip, a man with blonde hair
was found tied to a lamppost outside a police station in New York, he
had a full signed confession attached to his body, he also had a wound
on one hand and a crude pair of Angel wings drawn on his forehead in
Biro.
The biggest mystery was the giant Angel wings burned into the
hillside, Terry's men thought that this was all rather hilarious, but
their mischievous stunts were starting to give people in power ideas.
Even the twins asked me one night over the internet link,
"are you the 'Angel', Mummy Joy?", I replied
"you must not mention that to anyone" I made them promise and asked
Matt to make sure that they kept quiet about it outside the house, of
course all I could hear in the background whilst I was talking to Matt
was the twins singing "mummy's the Angel Ninja, mummy's the Angel
Ninja", I really had to speak to Susan about the whole the Ninja
thing.
Chapter 5 Goodbye to friends.
At around 14 days after the compound raid and just as we were
approaching the straits of Gibraltar, Dr Mike and Major Simmons
started to reduce Alice's sedation and bring her out of the drug
induced coma, Bob advised them to restrain her, to prevent Alice from
self harming, I knew that this would initially be a necessity but
after her being cuffed to her bed in the compound it just felt wrong
to me.
After several hours Alice's body was starting to try to breath on its
own so the breathing tube was removed, after a short while she was
breathing naturally, Bob was more interested in Alice's EEG, as she
slowly came out of the coma the readings on the EEG started to become
a lot more active,
"she's starting to dream, and it's a cracker, she is fighting a war in
her head" he turned to me
"would you like to assist Alice with her battle Joy?" I eagerly
agreed,
"you already know what to do, so hop up onto the bed and hold her,
then gently comfort and talk to her", Bob then instructed everyone
else to leave,
"Joy doesn't need an audience for this, time to go, out, out" he said
to Dr mike, Major Simmons and the nurse, Bob closed the door as he
left.
I was semi sitting on Alice's bed with her limp body in my arms, I
started to talk to her as I watched the EEG trace, nothing, I stroked
her dry wiry hair, nothing,
"Alice can you hear me? It's Joy", the trace went a little erratic for
a moment,
"Alice It's Joy, I am here with you, I'm back to protect you again,
I'm so sorry it took so long for me to keep my promise Alice, but I've
got you now and I'll make sure that no-one will ever hurt you again",
I knew Alice was not awake but just for a second I heard her mumble
"Joy?", I stayed with her for a couple of hours until Bob reappeared,
"she is peaceful now Joy, can you help me restrain her again?"
I helped Bob fit the padded cuffs to Alice's arms and legs
"we'll be docking in about an hour, that'll give you time for a shower
before you and Terry say goodbye to your men",
"they are Terry's men Bob"
"that's not what they think Joy, they would follow you and Terry to
the ends of the earth if asked, they really have a lot of respect for
you Joy" as I was leaving Bob said
"dress for them Joy, please"
I went into my room and showered, once I had finished I noticed a
freshly laundered set of fatigues hanging on the door, I quickly
dressed and made it up onto the deck, Terry was waiting for me, he
smiled and passed me a beret, or more correctly my beret, he helped me
put it on my head, soon Terry's men appeared and lined up in front of
us, they saluted us, both Terry and I saluted back, I felt really sad
that these mischievous, talented, dedicated and slightly weird men
would shortly be leaving me and Terry, but also I felt proud that I
had been given the privilege of working with them, I really was going
to miss them.
they broke ranks, Taffy came over to me and Terry,
"Terry I speak for everyone when I say it been fantastic to work with
you again Sir, keep in touch this time or we may have to pay you a
visit"
Terry laughed, Taffy turned to me and said
"and you Ma'am, I mean Joy I hope your missus gets better soon, I
think we are all going to miss 'The Angel' though",
I laughed and just before he turned to leave a teddy bear appeared up
the boarding ramp carried by another of Terry's men,
"it's for your wife, she may need something to hug, Its from all the
lads" said Taffy, I was now wiping tears from my eyes.
I thanked and hugged all of Terry's (and my) men in turn and just
before they disembarked I asked Taffy one more question,
"Taff, what's your real name?" with a huge grin he said
"Donald" I felt I had to ask
"are you even Welsh?"
"no, Joy I'm Scottish, I just like being called Taffy", I just shook
my head and said to myself,
"strange, very strange".
Terry's men left the ship and we just stood there for a while looking
at the empty deck I turned and said to him,
"I'm really going to miss them",
"me too" said Terry,
It was then I remembered Terry's surprise and said mischievously,
"can you just go and check the dock Terry", he looked a little
confused but walked over to the boarding ramp and looked down, a large
smile appeared on his face and he exited the ship with some speed, I
went over to watch the reunion only to find Terry and Aliza arm in arm
kissing each other, and a very embarrassed looking Susan standing
beside them, looking at her feet. I then ran down the ramp and picked
up my beautiful teenage daughter and gave her a massive hug, she
hugged me back,
"I missed you mummy" she said.
Chapter 6 Susan.
Watching from the deck and looking rather smug with himself was Bob,
he turned and left me to hug Susan.
Soon we were back aboard the ship, Susan asked if she could see Alice,
I said I would take her after our evening meal, I also warned her that
she was still being treated and she didn't look very good but she was
slowly improving.
I helped Susan unpack, she was in the cabin next to mine
"mum everyone back home is so proud of you, Dot cried when she heard
that you had found mummy Alice, and so did Grandpa and Grandma, the
twins still think your a Ninja though" I smiled at her
"Aliza only taught us to defend ourselves Susan, you shouldn't keep
telling the twins that I'm a Ninja!",
"I know mum, but it doesn't stop me being proud of you"
I hugged her again.
After unpacking Susan's clothes, and some new ones for me we joined
everyone for our evening meal, the ship was starting to feel empty,
without Terry's men.
After dessert everyone was talking and the subject of Alice was
started by Susan,
"can I see mummy Alice once we've eaten?",
"yes Susan as soon as we've finished here I'll take you down to see
her", Dr Mike then Added,
"do you think that's wise Joy?", Bob chipped in
"your Mum is still recovering Susan so she'll be asleep"
"when will Mummy Alice be better?" asked Susan innocently
"well after all she's been through it may take some time, Susan",
Terry, Bob and major Simmons visibly cringed at Dr Mikes statement,
Susan looked at him and asked him angrily,
"what has Mummy Alice been through Dr mike?"
tears quickly formed in my eyes, I could feel them running down my
face, I swiftly excused my self and left the room, bob nodded to Aliza
and she followed me up to the main deck to comfort me, meanwhile back
in the dining area.
Bob took control,
"could you all give Susan and me a little space" he asked politely,
everyone got up and left the room,
Bob turned to Susan and said
"how old are you Susan?"
"fifteen"
"your mum Joy is a very clever and a very brave person but she has
done things to get your other mum back that most men couldn't do, what
she confronted when she finally found Alice will haunt her for the
rest of her life"
"your starting to scare me" said Susan,
"Susan, do you know the difference between good and evil?"
"yes evil people do bad things"
"very good Susan, well your mum Alice was kidnapped by bad men and
given to truly evil men, and they did things to her over a period of
months that are unspeakable, do you understand?"
a tear started to run down Susan's cheek,
"I think I'm starting too Mr"
"good, well your mummy Joy stopped those evil men with the help of
some other very brave people" it then dawned on Susan what Bob was
talking about.
"That place in America, that's been on the News, where All those
people were killed"
"yes Susan"
"they kept women like slaves and they used them as .....oh god I think
I'm going to throw up", Bob went over to Susan and comforted her.
"your mum Joy rescued your mummy Alice Just in time, another day or
two and she may have died, your mummy Joy is an extremely brave girl,
but at the moment she needs a lot of love and support, that's why I
asked for you to come here, you need to help her"
"she's the Angel isn't she?, my mum killed lots of people to get mummy
Alice back"
"yes Susan she did, but you can never ever tell anyone, do you
understand me?", Susan then realised why her mum was so upset,
"can I go to my mum now please?, I need to say sorry for my outburst,
thank you Mr?"
"Bob, yes go and find her and hug the life out of her, your mum needs
a lot of love at the moment".
Susan left Bob and went in search of Joy.
Meanwhile on the deck of the 'Alice'.
Aliza sat quietly beside me and comforted me,
"Susan did not know all of the facts Joy, her outburst was only
natural", I was not in complete control of my emotions,
"but when she sees Alice she will know that something really horrible
has happened to her" I said
"yes and Susan is a very clever girl, she is very much like you, she
will understand", I then looked at Aliza and said angrily,
"you and Terry have turned me into a monster, I am no better that the
people that I have hurt or killed, I even hurt children"
Aliza smiled and said
"Joy those children would have slowly ripped you apart if you hadn't
subdued them, almost all of the people that you hurt were trying to
harm you, your men or Alice, the men that you killed were trying to
kill you or others, your actions did save the lives of many innocent
people in that cult" she paused
"so Joy we didn't create a monster, we created a Hero", from behind me
I heard a familiar voice,
"I agree", I turned around to see Susan standing there
"and I am so proud to have a mum that fights Evil" she came over to
me and hugged me very tightly, I said
"I am just your mum again now Susan, my evil fighting days are over"
Aliza stayed very quiet.
After a while I took Susan to see her other mum,
just outside of Alice's room, I warned her that Alice now looked quite
different.
As we entered Susan walked over to the bed and gasped,
"her hair, what did they do to mum's beautiful hair, and her teeth"
she came over to me and hugged me,
"is that really mummy Alice?, are you sure it's her"
I said to Susan softly,
"yes, she actually now looks a lot better than when I found her",
Susan started to cry, I comforted her,
"the surgeons have repaired a lot of the physical damage to Alice and
they are curing the diseases that she had but there is still a lot
more work to to do" Susan looked up at me,
"what else could be wrong with her, mum?" I held Susan by the
shoulders and said,
"I will tell you Susan, but you have to promise me that you will never
ever tell the twins", Susan looked nervously at me and agreed.
I sat Susan down on a chair and I explained to her about how Alice
had been abused as a child and how it took several years for her to
recover, I told her the complete story of how we had accidentally met
and how I ended up becoming a girl,
"so you see since she was abused as a little girl your mum has had a
quite a fragile mind, it had become a lot stronger over the years but
we fear that the last few months might have broken it again, that's
why the doctors are repairing her body before they work on her mind",
Susan glared at me, there was rage in her eyes,
"why didn't you kill all of them, every last one, they all deserved to
die",
she then lashed out at me in frustration, unfortunately she caught my
shoulder I winced in pain, and small amount of blood began to seep
through the dressing and onto my blouse,
she looked at me in horror,
"your hurt mum, I've hurt you" I smiled and reassured her,
"no Susan you didn't, I was shot whilst carrying your mum Alice back
to safety"
"oh mummy, I", Susan then burst into tears, this was becoming a very
emotionally charged evening I thought to myself, I helped her up and
said,
"let's get you to bed young lady, I think you've had enough for one
evening".
Chapter 7 The Dentists.
I took Susan to her room and helped her get ready for bed,
I then made my way back to Alice's room and lay with her, I talked to
her unconscious body until I fell asleep.
I was woken by Bob the next morning, he had a bacon sandwich and a
glass of milk for me,
"good morning Joy I had a feeling that I would find you here"
I yawned and sleepily said,
"Alice used to sleep better when I was with her, but I think I just
wanted to be close to her", Bob passed me the sandwich
"understandable, it seems to have had the desired effect, Alice's
trace has been very calm for several hours now", I quietly drank the
milk and ate my sandwich as Bob studied the many traces on the EEG.
As I finished my breakfast Bob said,
"Alice has a couple of visitors today, Dental surgeons, they are under
the impression that they are going to give Alice perfect teeth"
my response was,
"they are bloody not, they are going to restore her teeth to their
previous state, no more", Bob smiled
"funny, that's exactly what I said you'd say".
I met with the Dental Surgeons after I had freshened up, they seemed
to think that giving perfect teeth to Alice was the way I should go, I
argued that her recovery would be enhanced by familiarity and that
having rows of perfect teeth would just confuse her, so after a long
and heated discussion we all reached a compromise, they would do it my
way, I was happy with this outcome.
Along with Alice's medical records I also supplied her dental records
(including two casts of her upper and lower teeth)
I supplied these records along with several pictures of how Alice used
to look.
Alice was wheeled into the ships dental surgery and placed into the
chair, once the chair was reclined she happily rested, the drip was
keeping her blissfully unaware of what was happening to her.
Alice had several x-rays taken and a thorough examination, one of the
Dental Surgeons then came over to Bob, he was very, very angry,
"did you people do this to that woman?" I was confused
"do what?" asked Bob
the dentist was absolutely livid at this point
"someone has drilled holes into perfectly good teeth all the way to
expose the nerves, that is barbaric" Bob spoke to the angry Dentist ,
"I can assure you that it was not us, we rescued her from abusers, and
we are trying to repair her body before we wake her, there are very
few people in the world that would torture using that method and I can
assure you there will soon be one less" Bob paused "now can you tell
us if the damage to Alice's teeth can be repaired please" the Dental
surgeon started to speak
"infection has set in on the gum around three of Her molars, they will
have to be removed, I think I can save the others With Crowns, some of
her other teeth are little more than stumps now, they will also need
to be removed I will start to implant Titanium pegs into the jawbone
following extraction in preparation for the replacement teeth".
I asked the Dental surgeon if he and his partner would consider
staying on-board whilst the work was done, as sort of a bus man's
holiday all expenses paid, after a bit of negotiation he and his wife
agreed to join us.
Chapter 8 Alice slowly returns.
Before we left Gibraltar and sailed into the Mediterranean
the Dental surgeon removed Alice's rotten teeth and fitted titanium
pegs into her jawbone, repaired and ground to shape several others, he
also sent the new cast's away to a specialist laboratory to make
crowns for her repaired teeth, we would pick up these crowns when we
next docked.
Susan and I exercised together every day, Aliza and the ship's
physiotherapist helped me start to get mobility back into my arm.
Bob spent rather a lot of time making phone calls and sending emails
he also studied the documents that were provided by Stefan Blake he
eventually confided in us,
"I have found the person that was employed to condition Alice"
I said to Bob,
"good when do we go and get him?"
"you Don't Joy, your still injured, besides I'm going to need him
alive!"
Terry spoke,
"I will go, I promise I'll get him alive"
Aliza then added,
"I will assist you Terry, this may be our final mission together,
where is he Bob?"
"he's in Egypt I have all the data here", Bob passed a small dossier
to Terry and Aliza,
"we'll leave the ship when we dock near Naples" said Terry.
During this time Alice's medication was being further reduced, she
slept most of the time but sometimes was almost awake, unfortunately
she made very little sense, as she was less sedated she began having
more nightmares when she slept, the nursing staff would usually
contact me when she was having a nightmare and I would get into bed
with her, hug her and talk to her until she calmed, sometimes Susan
would assist too, but she found it quite distressing to watch.
One night after a particularly unpleasant nightmare Alice said to me,
"thank you miss", I replied to her,
"it's Joy"
"no Joy's dead, I killed her"
"no one killed me I'm here I came for you" Alice became agitated
"Joy died, she was punished for loving me, I have to repent"
"Joy rescued you Alice, she rescued you from those evil men"
"no the Angel came to take me, joy is dead"
there were tears in Alice's eyes
"she's dead, I killed her, repent need to repent"
I was becoming increasingly upset and angry as to the extent to which
Alice's mind had been muddled,
it was at this point that Bob entered he injected something into
Alice's drip and after a few seconds she quietened down.
I carefully lay Alice back down on the bed and refastened her wrist
straps
"Religion, why is it always Religion, why can't it be Aliens for
once", said Bob.
"you will be able to fix her won't you Bob?"
"yes I will, but I will need your help Joy, I think we'll start
tomorrow"
I retired to my bunk and had a few hours sleep.
Chapter 9 Alice's therapy (part 1).
After my morning exercises and a shower, I met Bob at breakfast,
"we dock later today near Naples so we will lose Terry and Aliza for a
few days, are you ready to help me with Alice?" I looked at him and
said
"yes Bob, what do you require of me?"
"I would like you to dress in your night combat gear and black your
face, exactly as it was the night that you rescued Alice",
I shrugged my shoulders,
"okay if that's what you want, I'll get changed as soon as I've
finished eating",
I finished breakfast and went back to my cabin then changed into my
night combat gear as Bob had asked.
A little later I met Bob in an improvised interview room not far from
Alice's room,
"great you look great, that is perfect, if you just come in here, and
sit there", Bob said whilst pointing at a high backed wooden chair
that was against a wall,
"are you sure about this Bob?"
"yes I am, now I don't want you to move from this seat, you can move
your head but do not speak, understood?"
"yes Bob"
I sat down and waited, after a while an orderly wheeled Alice into the
room and moved her to a seat adjacent to where I was sitting he
fastened her arms to the padded leather straps on the seat, the
orderly did not acknowledge my presence as he left the room.
Alice sat quietly in the chair, she was still quite doped up, she
looked around the room and over over at me but said nothing, after a
few minutes Bob walked in and sat opposite her, he did not acknowledge
me either,
"hello Alice my name is Bob, can you hear me?"
Alice replied,
"yes" then after a pause "where am I, am I being punished?"
"why do you think you are being punished Alice?"
"my repentance has been stopped, why?, have I done something wrong?"
"no you have not done anything wrong, do you know who stopped your
repentance Alice?", Alice looked at Bob, she was confused,
"the Angel stopped it", Alice looked over at me, Bob then asked her,
"why would an Angel stop you repenting Alice?" Alice was getting a
little upset,
"I, I she told me she was saving me" Alice was getting more confused,
"what was the Angel saving you from Alice?"
"she hurt the man that was saving me" tears were running down her
cheeks she didn't know how to answer.
Bob's interview lasted several more minutes, he focussed on the man
who was having sex with Alice, she was getting increasingly
distraught,
"was that man saving you or abusing you Alice?"
"he was sa... no he hurt me he made me, the Angel saved me",
Bob got up out of his chair and moved over to where Alice was sitting,
he gently touched her restrained hand and quietly said,
"your being very brave Alice, try to think about what we have talked
about, now you go and have some rest".
The orderlies came back in and put Alice back into her wheelchair and
took her away back to her bed,
"that went much better than I had hoped, Alice actually has quite a
strong mind, that's probably thanks to you Joy" I was trying not to
cry
"She's really messed up isn't she Bob?"
"she's just confused at the moment Joy, Alice can't tell the
difference between truth or the lies that she was indoctrinated with,
it's our job to let the truth out slowly, and help her to cope as she
realises what was done to her, we'll do this again later, next time
don't black your face as much".
I left Bob and got changed, I went up on deck to meet Terry and Aliza,
they were just about to leave the ship when I arrived on deck, I
hugged them both and told them to be careful, Terry and Aliza were
holding hands as they reached the dock, I smiled and went to get some
lunch.
I met Susan in the mess room "what have you been up to this morning
Susan?" she smiled at me and said,
"as I'm on a cruise, I've been sunbathing mum" I laughed, I had
completely forgotten that we were currently cruising the
Mediterranean,
"I may join you later Susan for a little bit of late sunbathing".
As we were eating our lunch the husband and wife dental surgeons
turned up,
"we have just received Alice's crowns from the dental lab, we'll be
fitting them this afternoon, she should look a lot better after that
Mrs Stevenson" I thanked them.
After lunch I went to the gym for a while and then joined Susan for a
spot of sight seeing, we watched as our ship left the port and sat
back as the Italian countryside and coastline slowly flowed past us.
Later that afternoon Bob appeared on deck and said,
"Sorry Susan I have to borrow your mum for a while", then he turned to
me and said,
"time to change again Joy, remember show a little more face this
time".
I sat quietly in the interview room again, Alice was wheeled in and
helped into the chair and fastened in, a couple of minutes later Bob
appeared, he sat opposite Alice once again, this time he just sat and
looked at Alice, she looked at him and then at me then back to him.
"what are you looking for Alice?" he said
"why am I fastened to the chair?"
"that's to stop you hurting yourself Alice"
"but I feel better now can I go back to..."
"back where Alice?, the Angel saved you from there"
"but I am bad, I killed... she died because of me" a tear appeared and
rolled down Alice's cheek,
"have you killed someone Alice?" asked Bob,
"yes, no I mean she died because I'm evil"
"you don't look evil Alice, what did you do?", Alice was becoming
quite agitated,
"I killed my, she died because of me, because I'm evil, they told me
so"
"who told you this Alice?"
"the men, the man with the scar he told me I had to repent" Alice
turned her head and looked at me,
"but the Angel saved me, she was sent by Joy".
Bob paused and went quiet for a minute or two,
"Joy, who's that?" Alice sat motionless for a few seconds she almost
smiled, another tear formed in her eye, pooled on her lower lid and
started to roll quickly down her cheek as she spoke,
"I loved her but she's dead, they told me god was punishing me"
"if god was punishing you Alice, why did he send an Angel to save
you?"
"I, I, but, I don't know, I'm confused"
"can you think about something for me Alice?"
"I can try, I think"
"did Joy ever make you a promise?" Alice thought and smiled
"yes she promised to protect me"
"do you think she sent the Angel?" Alice's face changed
"to protect me, from those men?"
"yes Alice, I think she kept her promise" Alice started to cry
"an Angel to protect me, to save me, Joy sent an Angel....she kept her
promise"
"you have a lot more to think about Alice, I'll see you tomorrow
morning"
Alice was helped out of her restraints and as she left she looked over
at me and smiled.
"Tomorrow lose the hat Joy, over the next few days I'm going to turn
her Angel back into Joy, she needs to realise your not dead, and then
she needs to start to come to terms with the evil done to her".
I sat there after the session with Bob wondering how I could have been
so wrong about him, I had actually hated him during my interrogation
but here he was slowly picking out truth from lies and gently helping
Alice, I hoped that his method would work and Alice would be returned
to me and her loving family.
The next morning after breakfast and morning exercises with Susan, I
dressed as before I did not wear any blacking on my face or make-up
and as Bob had requested I 'lost the hat'.
I sat quietly as Alice was led into the room and sat in the chair her
wrists were still fastened to the arms of the chair, Alice looked
around the room she could see me but somehow her brain was not
registering that I was real.
Bob entered a few minutes later, he was carrying what appeared to be a
bowl of yoghurt, it looked like It had some honey in it, he placed the
bowl in front of Alice,
"if I undo one of your straps you can eat the yoghurt Alice, would you
like that?" she looked up at him and smiled, I could see the dental
work that had been performed on Alice, her new crowns had returned
some of the beauty to her smile but I could also see lots of gaps,
"it's a start" I thought to myself, Bob continued to talk
"have you thought much about our conversation last evening Alice?"
"yes, but things don't make sense"
"what doesn't make sense Alice"
"why didn't the Angel punish me, I was committing a sin"
"Did you think you were sinning Alice?"
"no I was trying to please the elders so I could join Joy in heaven"
"do you think that joy would have approved"
"no I think that's why she sent the Angel" she looked upset
"Alice, why did you think having sex with men would help you find
Joy?"
"because the men told me if I was good and did everything they said
they would let me sleep and I would be able to have more medicine"
Alice didn't sound as drugged today I thought as Bob continued.
"why did you need medicine Alice?"
"to make me forget, it made me forget and feel good, I didn't like it
at first but soon I looked forward to it, have you got medicine for
me?
"no Alice I don't, I want you to remember" Alice started to shake and
she became quite upset,
"I don't want to remember, I can't, please don't make me"
Bob stopped came over to Alice and unfastened one of her straps,
he gave her a spoon and held the dish of yoghurt for her,
"Alice I have a little treat for you, you have been very brave this
morning eat the yoghurt you deserve it",
Alice ate the yoghurt as if she hadn't eaten for days.
Bob asked Alice
"would you like to continue now, or would you like a rest"
"are you really trying to help me Sir?" asked Alice
"yes Alice I am, I promise"
"do you need to hurt me, to help me?"
"no Alice, I promise I won't ever hurt you, some of the things I say
may make you upset however"
"but you won't drill holes or use cigarettes to burn me?", Bob looked
her in the eye and said
"no Alice, it is not acceptable for anyone to do that, that is called
torture",
after a brief pause Bob restarted.
"Alice how do you feel about men?"
"I am there to serve them, without complaint, why?"
"that's not what I asked Alice, do you like men" Alice was conflicted
she didn't know what to say
"Alice you won't be punished, all you have to do is tell the truth to
me", I could see frustration and anger in her eyes
"I don't like men, they hurt me, they did things to me, they used me,
they made do things" she started to cry.
"Alice crying is healthy, cry as much as you want" I wanted to comfort
her but I had promised to keep seated, Bob waited patiently and passed
Alice a tissue, she took it with her free hand
"can I ask you a question Alice, it's about Joy?" she looked up at
Bob,
"yes, if you like"
"how did you meet Joy?" Alice smiled she seemed to become happy,
"he was sitting next to a river, he looked really cute, my sister and
I thought he was a girl, I went to talk to him, when he turned around
I saw he was a boy, but he had such a beautiful face and smile, he
apologised to me and asked me if I would like to sit with him",
"did he make you feel happy Alice?"
"I had butterflies in my tummy, and every time he spoke my heart
skipped a beat", I was starting to tear up, Bob intervened
"I would love to hear more about Joy later, will you come back later
and tell me more about her please, Alice?", Alice was smiling when she
said "yes".
After Alice had been taken from the room, Bob turned to me and said,
"are you okay Joy?, she has very fond memories of you"
sniffing I said
"I have almost the same memories of her, that was possibly the most
magical day of my life", he smiled at me and said
"we are making good progress, I'm introducing and reinforcing truths,
soon she will be able to start to discriminate the implanted lies from
actual truths, for later Joy, a little make-up and possibly a blouse I
think", he smiled and hummed to himself as he left the room.
Later that day, I was once again sitting at my seat in the interview
room, I had a light blouse on and a little make-up, Bob came into the
room,
"I thought I would come in first Joy, if Alice gets really upset
during this session I would like you to go behind her and gently touch
her shoulders, just enough to show someone is there",
I took my seat and sat with by hands in my lap.
Alice was helped into the room she shuffled to the seat and sat down,
Bob said to the two orderlies,
"no need for restraints this time", he looked at Alice
"Are you ready to talk Alice?"
Alice nodded her head, she briefly looked over at me
"you were talking about Joy before we stopped, are you still happy to
talk about her now"
"yes I am"
"you mentioned that Joy was a boy, I thought that you didn't like
men", Alice looked slightly miffed
"he was a beautiful boy, really polite and good fun, he dressed as a
girl for me and he started to become a real girl after.." she started
fumbling with her finger, she continued
"I upset him, he went out for a walk it started to rain, he became
ill, he collapsed into my arms, I thought he was dying" she was
furiously rubbing her ring finger "I've lost it. I've lost it again"
she said.
"what have you lost Alice?",
I had already taken the precaution of putting both of my silver rings
into my pocket before the interview so Alice would not be able to see
them,
"the most precious ring in the world, Joy spent her entire fortune on
it and I have lost it again.. No it was taken, the man who trained me
he took it when I was trained, he's got my ring"
"would you believe me if I said that your Angel retrieved the ring and
the man who took it is now in prison, he will probably never get out"
Alice looked angrily at Bob
"why did my Angel not hurt him, he did horrible things to me, made me
do horrible things, so I could get more medicine"
"Alice the medicines you were given were drugs like heroin, cocaine
and methamphetamine, they turned you into a drug addict in order that
you service men sexually, good people do not do that, only evil people
do that".
Alice sat absorbing what Bob had just said
"so I am a whore, they turned me into a whore, why was I saved why did
Joy send an Angel" she stopped for a second and then said through
tears,
"my children, oh god my Mum and Daddy their Daughter is now a filthy
stinking whore, why didn't she just let me die" Alice started to cry
uncontrollably, Bob gestured to me, I got up and silently moved over
to Alice and stood behind her, I gently placed my fingertips on her
shoulders, Alice initially flinched at my touch but soon accepted it.
"you are not a whore Alice, you were tortured and drugged by evil men,
you were used and abused by sick and twisted men, Alice you are a
victim, do you understand me?, you are a victim".
Alice looked up and nodded
"I'm a victim, but why me why not someone else"
"revenge" said bob
"but I've never hurt anyone ever"
"your Daddy did" Alice looked confused
"Alice can you remember when you were a little girl?"
"yes some of it"
"someone used to sneak into your room and do things to you"
Alice started to shake
"y yes, uncle Mark"
"your daddy found out what he was doing and stopped him"
"yes I remember, I was ill for a long time"
"your uncle went to live in America, far away from you"
"yes he was sent away"
"your Angel found out that his son had kidnapped you and was doing
vile things to you, she rescued you from those evil men and delivered
you to us, now she is helping you to get better",
Alice looked over but could only see an empty chair
"the Angel has gone back to heaven now,"
"no Alice, she is still here and she has a gift for you". I put my
hand in my pocket and retrieved Alice's ring and placed it into the
flat of my palm, I walked around to her side and offered it to her.
Alice looked astounded, she took the ring from my palm and placed it
onto her finger she whispered "thank you" to me, I returned to my
seat.
"Alice, I think that is all for today, will you come and see me
tomorrow please?"
Alice nodded and thanked Bob
"will my Angel be here too" Bob replied with,
"she will be with you for as long as you need her" Alice smiled and
looked over at me, she looked a little confused, Alice was collected
and taken back to her room.
"Bob?"
"yes Joy"
"why does Alice not recognise me?"
"that's easy joy, her mind is choosing not to, but she is slowly
starting to return to us, I believe it's lasagne for dinner Joy, are
you joining us?", I nodded and headed off to find Susan.
Several days of interviews followed, Alice was becoming more aware of
what had happened to her, Bob's slow progressive interview technique
was working.
I was called almost every night to Alice as she had nightmares, I held
her and talked to her until she settled, she never woke up fully as
she was mildly sedated, I always went back to my bunk before she woke.
I slowly dressed more and more like myself during each session, today,
after breakfast, exercise and a shower,
I sat on my bunk and gently pulled on a pair of tights and stepped
into one of Alice's favourite sun-dresses, Susan helped me pull the
zip up, I stepped into 4" heels, then I put on my make-up and as a
final touch I put on the ring that Susan had given me for Christmas, I
asked Susan "will I do?"
"mum you are looking more like yourself every day, you look very
pretty today" we hugged and I went to meet Bob.
"wow Joy, you look good today" said Bob, I thanked him and sat on my
usual chair, Alice walked into the room and sat down, she gave me more
than one glance,
"good morning Alice, how are you feeling today?"
"I think I'm feeling better, I'm not sure"
"can you explain that Alice?"
"well I woke up this morning and felt good", bob smiled
"how do you feel about your recent past Alice"
"do you mean when I was captured?"
"yes Alice how do you feel about that?"
"Angry, really angry, how dare those people do those things to me" she
started to get upset,
"Alice how do you feel about me?"
"you've been kind to me, but you are still keeping me from my family"
"I know Alice but I promise it is for your own good, there are still
things that you have not come to terms with and your mind is ignoring,
I need to help you readjust to the real world and you are doing really
well"
"thank you, but when can I return to my family and my children, they
must be distraught"
"soon Alice, we just have a couple of things to sort out first, it may
be painful for you but I want to talk about the person that you loved
more than anyone else" she had a pained expression on her face,
"do I have to?, can't I just remember her how she was, I was not there
for her when she died, I should have been there for her" she was
bordering on tears
"Alice this session may be very difficult on you but you have been
very brave in all the other sessions, but I need to destroy one more
lie you were told" Alice sniffed and said
"okay I'll try".
I could tell that Bob was treading carefully today he seemed unusually
hesitant,
"Alice can you remember the last time you were with Joy?", Alice
smiled
"yes she and Susan went to Newcastle airport to see me off, I was
going to America" she started to look nervous
"it's okay Alice, I'm not going to talk about your captivity" Alice
looked relieved,
"when you last saw Joy what was she like?"
"she was frail, and wore a wig, Joy had trouble walking she smoked a
lot and had too much make-up on"
"did that upset you Alice?"
"I was upset that Joy was dying but I wanted it to be over, I hated to
see her suffer, and.." her voice tailed off
"and what Alice" Alice frowned
"she had stopped being sweet, she had become bitter and resentful, I
regret it now but I was looking forward to a few days away from her".
My lower lip started to quiver, she was right, if it hadn't been for
Susan I would have given up, I would be dead!.
Bob picked up a remote control pressed a button and said
"before Joy went home, your daughter Susan asked if she could be taken
to the spot that you and Joy had met, I believe that this is a picture
of the valley" on the screen appeared a picture of the valley, it was
not to far away from where we had first met.
Alice looked at the picture and recognised it, she smiled
"yes it is, it holds happy memories I would like to go back there some
day"
"well Alice it was here that Joy became convinced that you were in
danger and that you needed help" Alice looked confused
"Joy decided that she didn't want to die, she and Susan did lot's of
research and started to work out a plan to regain her health" Bob
pressed the button again.
Alice looked quizzically at the screen,
"that is a mobile research lab Alice, it was being used by Joy and a
team of researchers"
Alice looked at the large temporary lab that had been parked at
Stevenson towers.
The next picture shocked Alice,
"this is a picture of Joy following one of her first experimental
treatments"
Alice looked at a picture of me with a completely bald head, and
deathly white complexion lying asleep on our bed, I looked like a
skeleton covered with baggy skin.
"that picture was taken by your Daughter Susan"
"oh god what was Joy putting herself through" said Alice
Bob seemed to be dwelling on this picture for a long time,
"Joy gained a lot of help over the next few weeks and months Alice,
she had only one goal, to find you"
Alice was still looking at the picture of my pitiful body lying on our
bed,
"can you see what she is hugging Alice?" said Bob, her eyes widened,
"it's a picture of me, she's hugging a picture of me"
"yes Alice Joy never forgot you, she physically punished herself in
order to become fit again", the picture went off.
"Alice I am about to show you a short clip taken from your hotel,
would you like to watch it?"
Alice looked unnerved
"what does it show?"
"it shows you being kidnapped Alice, would you like to see it?"
"I, I'm not sure"
"if you want me to stop just say stop Alice, shall I press play?"
Alice looked nervous and quietly said
"yes please", Bob started the video and Alice looked on in horror as
she was kidnapped,
"why did you show me that, it was horrid?"
"I'm sorry but it needed to be shown, I am now going to show you what
happened when Joy came to find you"
Bob started the video, the picture showed Terry pushing me in my
wheelchair to the lift, it then showed Terry being distracted whilst
two men took control of the wheelchair and pushed me into the lift,
the picture then changed to the lift camera, Alice shouted,
"Stop!", Bob pressed pause, Alice was weeping,
"why are you showing me this, why are you being so cruel, look at her,
Joy looks so frail, is this how she died?" Bob left the picture paused
and said,
"Alice you have been told lots of lies, I have proved that they were
lies, but one thing your mind refuses to acknowledge is the
possibility that Joy may be alive, can you tell me why Alice?"
Alice looked distraught she was starting to shake, there were tears
running down her face,
"because I am no longer good enough for her, I'm dirty, unclean my
body has been ruined"
"stop" said Bob
"Alice I am going to press play, I urge you to watch the rest of this
video" Bob pressed the play button and Alice looked on in horror as
the lift doors closed after the last passengers exited,
"I can't watch" said Alice as the men went to subdue their wheelchair
bound target.
"what on earth" said Alice as the frail looking lady leapt out of the
chair and violently subdued her attackers.
Alice stared at the screen as the picture was paused, her mouth was
open she looked at the person on the screen
"is that Joy?", Bob smiled
"yes Alice that is Joy, she trained for months endured many many hours
of treatment to cure her cancer, she was trained by specialists how to
defend herself, how to shoot and how to kill, she did all of this to
save you Alice" Bob pressed play again the video showed the woman on
the screen looking at the camera directly.
Alice looked at the screen and then at me sitting demurely on the hard
wooden seat she did this several times,
"the person that you thought was an angel sent by Joy was not, I think
that your mind is finally realising that your Angel is also the person
that you love, Alice do you recognise her yet?"
Alice was sitting looking at me her eyes were brimming with tears her
lip was trembling and she was starting to shake, there were tears in
my eyes also, I smiled at her and said
"I would have walked into hell itself and dragged you out Alice"
Alice held her arms out and stood up, I rushed over to her and hugged
her, "I kept my promise Alice, I kept my promise, you will always be
safe with me" I kissed her on the lips and embraced her
she cried, we hugged for several minutes.
Bob made a little cough, we broke our embrace and just stood looking
at him, Alice standing barefoot in her hospital gown and me in heels
and a summer dress,
"Alice I hope you now realise the love that Joy has for you is very
strong, she will stick with you through your recovery, I hope that by
the time you return home I will have undone the damage done to your
mind"
Alice looked at Bob and said sadly
"I am not well am I?" Bob smiled at Alice and said
"Alice the fact that you realise you are still unwell is a very good
sign, if you will allow me too I will help you, but you must let
others help you also, Joy has sacrificed a lot to find you, it may not
look it but in the coming months she may require help also".
Alice thanked Bob and promised that he could help her until she was
recovered,
"if you would like to find Alice some clothes I think an hour on deck
would do you both the world of good" he paused "and I believe that
there is a young lady on deck who would love to see both of her mums".
Chapter 10 Alice and Joy.
For the first time in months I held Alice's hand as I guided her to my
room, she was holding on tight, she was very nervous, I assured her
that it would be okay, once in my cabin I assisted her off with her
gown she wore no bra, so I helped her on with a nice plain cotton one,
I asked her if she would like matching panties, Alice nodded she took
off her paper panties and then I caught a glimpse of her vagina, gone
was the cute little slit that I so loved, it had been replaced with
large fleshy darkened lips that hung from her body, I hid my revulsion
as I knew that she would soon have the surgeon that had performed my
genital reconstruction restore her pussy to normal, I passed Alice a
pair of cotton panties and helped her into a light sun dress.
I handed her a pair of sandals, I then removed my heels and tights and
also put on a pair of sandals,
"how do you feel Alice" I asked,
"I'm really nervous Joy"
"don't worry Alice, here hold my hand", she held out her hand and I
took it and we walked up to the main deck.
"were at sea?" said Alice she seemed confused
"yes Alice, when we rescued you I brought you here to get medical
attention, this is our hospital ship, I've just borrowed it for a
while, we're currently cruising the Mediterranean"
Alice looked overcome I could see she had many questions
"Alice shall we go and surprise Susan?"
she nervously said "yes"
I led Alice around to where Susan was sitting, she appeared to be
doing homework.
"Susan look who is here" Susan turned around dropped everything and
ran towards Alice,
"Mummy" she shouted as she fell into Alice and gave her a huge hug
"I'm so glad you are back" Alice hugged Susan back, she was crying.
"I had lost hope, I thought I'd never see you again" said Alice
Susan hugged Alice for what seemed like several minutes,
"shall we go and sit in the shade" I suggested,
we all moved over to the deck chairs situated on a shady part of the
deck,
Alice and Susan chatted for a while, it was nice to see her smiling
again, Alice did not look good with her missing teeth, wiry bleached
hair and virtually no eyebrows but she looked happy.
Whilst I was adjusting the height of my chair the top spar caught my
shoulder, I winced in pain for a second, Alice noticed
"do you have a sore shoulder Joy?" she asked,
Susan said
"It's where mummy Joy was shot rescuing you, she was shot on the leg
as well" Alice looked shocked
"you were shot Joy?", I nodded
"was my rescue dangerous?" I nodded
"Joy how dangerous was it?, please tell me"
"I'm really not sure how much I should tell you Alice, I don't want
you to become upset"
Susan then said,
"There's Bob shall we ask him" she waved him over
Bob came over and Susan asked
"can we tell mummy Alice about her rescue?" bob smiled at Susan then
looked at Alice
"you will find out the full details in time Alice, but at the moment
you should really concentrate on your own recovery," he pulled up a
chair and sat down,
"I hope you don't mind if I sit with you for a while".
Bob sat quietly, sometimes joining in the conversation but I could
tell he was observing how Alice was interacting with Susan and I,
after a while a female orderly arrived, "I have been asked by the
Doctor to collect Alice as her dressing needs changing"
Bob said to Susan,
"would you like to go with your Mum, and I'll stay here and Keep Joy
company?"
Susan readily agreed and held her mum's hand as they left.
Bob turned to me
"Alice still has a long way to go, you do realise that don't you Joy?"
"after what she has been through recently I'm surprised that she is
coping at all Bob"
"she will become more aware of herself and her surroundings as I
slowly reduce her medication, but with intensive therapy and the love
and support that you and Susan will give her, I think she will cope
just fine"
"what about her body Bob, her genitals look terrible and her hair and
teeth" bob thought about this for a moment
"I will speak to Mike later and see if we can get her genital re-
sculpting brought forward, also Joy see if you can get Alice's hair
re-coloured and conditioned, I think that should lessen the shock, I
really don't know about her teeth though"
"I'll see if I can find someone to restore Alice's hair today Bob".
I left Bob on deck and disappeared into the ship, I used my laptop to
locate a hair expert, I made a call using Skype, a very pleasant well
spoken lady explained to me how Alice's hair could be restored, she
explained that bleaching hair removes all of the pigment (melanin)
from hair but can also leave the hair damaged lifeless and brittle,
she assured me that she could restore Alice's colour and repair most
of the damage.
As she was based in Malta I instructed the Captain to land there for a
few hours tomorrow morning.
Chapter 11 Trouble at mill.
I checked my finances online and was shocked to see that my once
healthy bank balance was dangerously low, although I was unofficially
given help for Alice's rescue, I had to fund almost everything myself
including getting the ship completed, sea trails and medical crew, so
my once very healthy fortune was almost gone, I also noticed that my
salary hadn't been paid for the last two months, I decided to contact
Matt for advice.
Matt was pleased to hear from me and enquired about Alice's health, I
told him that she was making good progress but it would be a while
before she was stable enough to come home, he understood completely.
I then said to him
"I'm really sorry to ask you Matt, but can I have a loan please?"
"why do you even need to ask Joy" he said
I explained that I had been funding Alice's rescue from my own account
and that I was now running short of money.
"how much have you spent so far Joy?" I rather sheepishly said,
"three and a half million pounds Matt" he didn't even hesitate
"I'll transfer four million into your account by tonight Joy, send any
other bills to me directly I'll pay them for you" I tried to thank him
but he simply said,
"keep my daughter and grand daughter safe Joy", he then added
"I had a visit from a rather peculiar young man and his mother earlier
this week Joy, he was rather upset".
I had meant to contact Martin but had completely forgotten,
"how is Martin?" I asked
"he has been sacked" said Matt, I was shocked
"how Matt, he can't be I would never allow it, he improved my initial
design and made my machine many times more powerful",
"I know Joy, so I did