Chapter 115. The Promise of Obedience

Edward woke to the familiar ache. His wrists burned where the cuffs bit into his skin, and his shoulders throbbed from being held in the same position for too long. The room came into focus slowly, pale walls, dim lights, the steady hum of machines somewhere outside that he no longer bothered trying to identify.

Time had become a fluid, hazy thing, marked only by the occasional appearance of the maid who gave him silent sponge baths. He remembered the feeling of wet cloth on his skin and the distant, rhythmic sound of a vacuum cleaner in the hallway, but the rest was a blur of IV bags and stinging injections.

The only thing that had helped him survive the blur was Rosie. She had been there when his mind slipped. Sitting beside him. Whispering comforting words to him, stroking his hair, and smiling the way she always did when she wanted to calm him down.

Today, ho