Mythran's Master Of All

“Ren...” Teepo whispered, then waited 10 seconds.

“Ren...” Teepo said in a normal voice, and waited 10 more seconds.

“REN!” Teepo shouted and chittered in delight as Ren sat up in the bed, sitting Nathalia up with him.

“I'm up!” Ren said and blinked his eyes a few times.

“Shhhhh!” Teepo said. “Nathalia's still asleep.”

Ren looked at her in his half-hug, still sound asleep. He smiled as he lay her back down on the bed, far enough away that she wouldn't accidentially touch him after he logged out. Ren lay down himself, and looked at Teepo. See you in the morning.

“Bye, Ren.”

“Logout.”

********

“Good morning.” Barbara said as she lifted off the VR headset.

“Barbara? I thought I might have missed you when I slept in.”

“It's just about at shift change, so you almost did.” She said and smiled. “You definitely did a lot last night.”

“I know!” Ren said. “There's still so much more to do!” He said and the door to his room opened.

“Hey there, little stud.” Stella said as she came into the room.

“Stella!” Barbara said, slightly scandalized.

“Sorry, Barbara. Just joking with him.” Stella said and turned to Ren. “You've had quite the time lately, haven't you?”

“I sure have.” Ren said. “It feels like a while ago, though.” He said and his eyes widened. “Wow Barbara, you were right.”

Stella smiled. “She almost always is.”

“What do you mean, 'almost'?” Barbara said and everyone laughed. “I guess that's my cue to go.”

“Thanks, Barbara.” Ren said. “For everything.”

Barbara nodded and held his hand for a moment. “Don't let her bully you, Ren.” Barbara smiled and glanced at Stella, who rolled her eyes.

“If you thought I could reign in her wicked ways, Barbara...” Ren said and grinned. “...you're sadly mistaken.”

“Okay, enough Stella bashing.” Stella said. “Ren, get into that bathroom and do your business and I'll get breakfast ready.” She said. “Therapy in half an hour.”

“Got it.” Ren said and slid out of the bed. He avoided banging his elbow and went into the bathroom.

*

“I heard the gist of the story, but can you tell me what actually happened as we go to the breakroom?” Stella asked Barbara.

“It's quite the mess.” Barbara said. “When Lucy visited yesterday...”

*

Ren came out of the bathroom about 10 minutes later, and climbed back into bed. It was a lot harder to do with only one arm, but at least he was going to start working with it today.

It's pretty stiff already, and it's only been a day. Ren thought, then watched television until Stella brought in breakfast.

“I think I'm getting spoiled with the food in the game.” Ren said and looked at the porridge and apple slices.

“You know what they say... 'Just because it's good for you, doesn't mean it won't taste good'.”

“But... I ate a pound of bacon in the game. A whole pound!” Ren said, and Stella laughed.

“This isn't going to taste that good. Sorry.”

Ren grinned and started eating. “Hey, this tastes like apple pie!”

“I'd hoped you'd like it.” She said.

“It's great! Thanks.” Ren said and took his time eating. Stella sat down next to the bed and waited for him to finish. When he was done, she took the tray and came back with the wheelchair. She took him to down the hall to therapy and the therapist nearly had a conniption fit when she saw the state of his arm.

“No no no... this just won't do!” She said and had Ren move from the wheelchair to a chair without arm rests. “Can you make a fist?”

Ren closed his hand almost all the way and she sighed.

“It's going to be a hard three weeks ahead for you, Ren.”

Ren chuckled. “When has it been an easy week?”

She opened her mouth to respond, then smiled. “Point taken.” She said. “Let's get to work.” She did as many single finger and hand exercises that Ren could stand. His hand and arm were sore, but at least he didn't have to walk this time.

“Okay, time for your walk.” She said when the hand exercises were done.

“W-what?”

“We can't ignore your knee just because your elbow is a priority.”

Ren sighed and walked the 100 feet. Now both his arm and leg were sore, and he complained about it.

“Good!” The therapist said. “Sore means it's healing.”

Ren rolled his eyes. “It feels like it's healing fast, if that's the case.”

She laughed and Stella came in to take him back to his room. He carefully got undressed and hopped in the shower, which took nearly twice as long because he only had one arm to use. Stella offered to help and waggled her eyebrows up and down. It made Ren laugh, but he declined and did it himself. He did let her dry him off, however; since it was really hard to hold a towel with only one hand and still reach all the spots that needed drying. He got dressed, Stella put the sling back on his arm, and he climbed back into bed. She sat beside the bed and put a hand on his good arm.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

“So, do you want to talk about it?” She asked and Ren nodded.

*

Lucy woke up on the couch, with a sore neck. “Ugh.” She said and rubbed it. “I should have gone to bed instead of watching television all night.” She looked down and saw the remains of the potato chips spilled on the floor. “Dammit.”

She picked up as much as she could and put them back in the bag, then tossed the chips into the compost bin and the bag in the garbage. She got the vaccuum out and cleaned up the crumbs on the floor and the couch, then put it away. Breakfast was next, and she made a poor man's grilled cheese with 2 pieces of toast and a slice of cheese, then microwaved it.

“The breakfast of champions.” She said, then froze. That's one of Ren's favorite sayings. She thought and sighed. She sat down at her computer to check her email. After sorting through lots of spam, she found one from Ren. I should just delete it without reading it. She thought. He's just going to be begging me to go out with him again. She sighed, and decided it was better to read it and then ignore it, then to never know what it said at all.