Back to Hedone POV

  I don't know what's happening, and I hear panicked voices and lights shining in my eyes. But I can't open them. It's terrifying. My mind is foggy, and I don't remember what happened.

  "Brigit wants to become a Retainer: yes, no?"

  What? "mmnh," I hear. All around me, I hear a commotion.

  No. "Brigit wishes to become a Retainer: yes, no?" No. This continues for some time, but I'm in pain and confused. Fine, if she wants to, she can become a retainer.

  "Hedone, Hedone! Can you hear me," I hear some woman ask.

  Somehow I open my eyes. I see a female nurse or doctor? I don't know how to tell the difference. Her eyes widen. "She's awake! Hedone. What is your last name?"

  "Nemesis," I mumble. My lips are dry.

  "Hedone, do you know where you are?"

  Where am I? "No."

  "You're in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?" The nurse or doctor asks as she looks at the others.

  What happened? I don't know. I was doing something. "I can't. I don't know."

  The woman looks at me worriedly. "You stabbed yourself with a sword. You've lost a lot of blood. We are rushing to do surgery," She explains.

  I try to nod, but my head barely moves. "ok." A sword? That's weird. Then I notice Christal floating behind the nurse. That's right. I was fighting those adventurers! If I'm alive, did something happen? The shadow Brigit?

  I jolt up in a panic. "Brigit? What happened?" I grab the doctor.

  Everyone panics pushing me down. "Calm down! Your sister is fine."

  I sigh. I'm glad. I think as everything goes dark.

  "Uhg," I wake up with a sore stomach. I look around and see I'm in the hospital. Yeah, that did happen, huh? I see mom napping in the chair, and I call out to her, "mom."

  Mom wakes up and looks over with a smile. "Honey, you're awake." She walks over and rubs my head.

  "I'm alive," I say while enjoying mom's love.

  "That's right. You were lucky, and no vital organs were pierced," mom says as she scoops up my cheeks. She then puts her forehead to mine. "You did a good job. I'm proud of you."

  I blush and feel a warm sensation throughout my body. Tears threaten to form in my eyes as I hug mom. "I love you, mom!"

  "I love you too," mom coos as she gently hugs me back.

  I rest for a while until the woman I talked to comes in. She's a thin woman with big glasses. She waves at me and asks, "do you remember me?"

  I only remember seeing her while being taken to surgery. I don't know if there's more, so I respond, "a little."

  She laughs and says, "that's good. I'm Amanda, and I'll be your main doctor while here. You gave us quite a scare when you jumped up like that. It's surprising what the body can do even in that state."

  "Sorry," I reply sheepishly.

  "Don't worry about it. You must care for your sister a lot. You fought a boar and were bleeding out, but you still only thought about her."

  "A boar? Um yeah, it was scary."

  Amanda takes a clipboard and says, "Things are looking good. We'll let you go if nothing happens in a few days."

  "That's great," I celebrate.

  I check what day it is on my phone, and thankfully it's only been a day. I look at my points, and I gasp. 2465 points! What happened? I call Brigit, and she picks up immediately. "Hello, sis. Mom told me you were up!"

  "Yeah, it seems everything will be fine. But forget that where did all these points come from?" I ask quickly.

  "Is it a lot? I can't see the points," she says. I can almost hear her tilting her head in confusion.

  "2465! It's all the points I started with. What did you do?"

  She laughs, "I taught them a lesson they won't soon forget! They weren't even human by the time I was done."

  I shake in fear, then wince as the stitches pull. "I didn't think you'd be that evil. Umm, are they alive?"

  "Of course, I know you don't want to kill them. But they may have a new fetish from now on. Oh, I was there earlier and left a few bottles with mom. That's the last of it, but it should help."

  "Bottles? Oh. Thanks."

  "I'm holding down the fort for you, so hurry up and heal!" Brigit says happily before saying bye.

  I'm glad she's doing good. I was worried she'd be down, but I guess she let out all her frustrations on those adventurers.

  I spread some of my healing juices on my injury and drink a bit before the day ends. The next day Friday  2430. The women from the tourist center visit me. They talk about aliens and how it's bringing in more tourists.

  I want to ignore them, but they are talking about my slimes, so I try to listen. But in the end, I was a fool because they only talked about the cute men who showed up and how it was like the old days. I think they are getting ahead of themselves, but it's not my place to say that.

  Later that day, I get a surprise visit from the cutie Angelique. Oh, and her dad Franklin. Sorry, Franklin, you're nice, but I want to eat up your daughter. I hope you understand who's more important.

  Franklin's holding a bouquet which he hands to me. "I'm glad you're alright. Wild animals can be dangerous. You need to be more careful."

  "Yeah, I was a bit full of myself. I'll be more careful from now on," I respond seriously.

  He then grabs a spray can from his pocket. "This is bear repellant. It'll work on most animals. Just aim at them and spray. It's better than using a sword."

  "Yeah, I appreciate it," I say. I try to reach for it but then the flowers kind of slip.

  Franklin smiles and hands the spray to my mom. "Oops, I'll let your mom hold this for now. There shouldn't be any wild animals here," Franklin jokes with a chortle.

  Angelique shoves her father to the side. But this petite short girl can't move a large man like Franklin. She puffs out her cheeks as her shoes slide on the floor. "Dad, I want to talk to Hedone. You go talk to her mom."

  "Alright, princess," Franklin responds while patting Angelique's head. Her springy twin tails bounce with the movement.

  She leans in towards me as her dad goes to talk with my mom. "This wasn't done by a boar, was it? This is that shady game, right?" She questions with a serious face. She glares at me from over her half-cut glasses.

  I look away for a moment. "It's not something you should get involved with. It's not a normal situation either. If you want to know, you'll have to join. But look at me. Is that what you want? Also, I'll eat you up," I say mischievously. I then lean in and peck Angelique's cheek.

  Angelique jumps back and holds her hand to her cheek. "You! I'm going to find out, so you better be ready when you get home!" she loudly states.

  Franklin looks over, "Angelique, quiet. This is a hospital."

  "Sorry, dad. Anyways I said what I came to say. So let's go," she storms off with a huff, still rubbing her cheek.

  Franklin shakes his head. "Sorry about that. She was worried about you, but now she's acting like that."

  "That's fine. I think it's cute," I respond with a quick nod.

Untolddead

Thanks for reading! Hedone lives. I think it's pretty unrealistic for them to let her leave the hospital as fast as I plan. But I don't have any hospital content and it'd just be me counting down points which I would counter by giving more points. So let's not waste words or time.