I took off my shirt, as Mia requested. She watched me intently—and I liked it despite feeling a bit of shame, too.

Rejecting Mia's help, I lay down on the table, relying on the strength of my arms for everything—including adjusting my legs straight and flat on it—eventually feeling the soft cushion under my neck and exposed shoulders when I let my back lie down. The cradle adjusted beneath my head, holding me gently, though my lower body stayed still, as always.

I shifted a little, trying to find some comfort despite the nagging reminder that everything below my waist wasn't going to cooperate. I let out a low grunt.

"Try to relax," she said.

I closed my eyes and tried to let go of any strength in my entire body, but it was hard.

Mia moved quietly around Maester Khan's study room, her footsteps soft but steady, almost as if she knew I needed the space to settle into myself first.

"Deep breath for me, James," Mia's voice broke through the lingering fog in my head. It wasn't a command, more like an invitation. I inhaled deeply, feeling the air fill my lungs, almost as if it could reach the parts of me that hadn't moved in months. Then I let it out slowly, focusing on the exhale. If only everything was as simple as breathing.

Mia's warm hands were gentle but firm as they found the back of my neck. She had a way of knowing exactly where the pain was, without me having to explain. The tightness there had nothing to do with the injury, but it was a constant reminder of the tension I carried in the parts of my body that still worked. My shoulders ached from hours of pushing myself in the chair, and my neck... well, my neck had been holding the weight of too much since the day they told me I'd never walk again.

"You've got a lot of tension here," she murmured, fingers tracing the knots along my cervical spine. Her touch was confident, like she wasn't fazed by what had happened to me, like I wasn't something broken. I closed my eyes, trying to shake off the intrusive thoughts, trying to feel just that blissful moment.

Her hands expertly moved under my head, cradling it with care. "I'm going to adjust your neck, okay? The sound can be a bit startling, but don't worry. Just keep breathing." There was a tenderness in her voice that made me want to trust her completely. I exhaled again, letting my body sink into the table.

She rotated my head slightly to the right, and then—

Crack.

The sound was sharp but not painful. Instead, it felt like a release, a pressure valve turning in a place I didn't even realise had been building up. A small sigh escaped me before I could stop it, and Mia chuckled softly. "Just like that. Keep breathing."

I drew in another deep breath, the tightness easing just a little. It wasn't just my neck—it was everything. The weight on my chest, the way my shoulders had hunched as if they were trying to shield me from the world. I hadn't noticed how much I'd been holding back.

She adjusted my head to the other side, the same firm but gentle grip, the same pause, and then—

Crack.

Another release, that time deeper, like something had let go that I'd been clinging to for too long. I didn't realise my hands had been gripping the edge of the table until I felt them relax. The sensation of her hands, the quiet room, her calm voice—it was as if the pain wasn't just leaving my body but something deeper, too. Something I hadn't been able to name.

"How's that?" she asked, her hands still cradling my head.

"Good," I mumbled, though the word didn't really capture it. There was more than just relief. It was as if each of those small cracks had opened something up, not just in my spine but in the parts of me I'd been trying to shut off.

I opened my eyes just for a moment, and caught her staring at my broad chest while a cute blush appeared on her cheeks.

I closed my eyes again before she could see that I had seen her.

She was blushing—and so was I.

Did she like what she saw? I certainly did. She was a sight to see.

But me? I still trained, so I knew I was fit. Many girls liked me—well, used to like me—but... please. Why would she notice me? I was a cripple and a bastard. She could afford to have a much better suitor, while I... I'd never get married, right?

But Mia was not from Two Dawns, so she thought differently from women around here. Would she have me?

Was I reading too much into that cute blush of hers?

"You're suddenly so tense," she said. "Relax. Remember to take deep breaths."

"Sorry," I whispered and started to take deep breaths again.

I needed to stop overthinking.

She worked her way down my neck, each gentle movement precise, each small crack a reminder that not everything in me was broken. Her hands never hesitated, and somehow, that steadiness eased something I hadn't expected. I didn't need her to fix me, but it felt like she understood what it meant to need healing in more ways than just physical.

"Keep breathing," she reminded me, as if she sensed my mind wandering back to those dark places. I obeyed, inhaling slowly, letting my lungs fill, trying to focus on the way the tension slowly drained away with each breath. The air moved through me in a way that felt almost... free.

When she was done, she rested my head gently back on the cradle. I didn't move. I couldn't. I just lay there, staring up at the ceiling, feeling a strange mix of emotions, like I was lighter but also raw.

"We're done. How do you feel?" she asked, her voice soft, as if she already knew.

"Like... I'm still here," I said, surprising myself. I hadn't meant to say it, but it was true. For the first time in a long time, I didn't just feel like the guy who lost everything. For a moment, I was just James—breathing, feeling, alive.

Mia smiled, and though she didn't say anything, I could tell she understood. She hadn't just eased the physical pain. Without even realising it, she'd done something far more important. She'd made me feel like I still mattered.

"Stay lying there for a few minutes," she said in a gentle voice as went away. I could no longer see her as she washed her hands in the basin, somewhere far behind my head.

Silence ensued, but it was comfortable.

"So, it's been... quite a while. An hour, maybe? Did the hacker reply?" her hesitant voice turned into a shy whisper.

"Hand me my phone, please," I whispered back as I extended a hand.

When she passed it to me, I unlocked it. There it was. That motherfucker's reply.

699091976: Your girlfriend is hot. You're a lucky bastard.

Bloody idiot. I shook my head.

And then, I froze.

My eyes went wide as I felt a growing, hot tension down there, between my legs.

There they were, right above his reply: Mia's photos.

The hacker wasn't the idiot there—I was. I had opened up the conversation in Whosupp, and my eyes caught a glimpse of her almost naked form in those pictures by accident.

Her marvellous, slender, young form rendered anything that I might've ever imagined of a woman's body into pathetic, boyish fantasies. At some point, I had seen Vanessa naked. She was hot, but too built, like a swimmer. In contrast, Mia's curves were all in the right places.

From that moment on, I knew I would never be able to sleep or shower in peace—only with a special lady engraved behind my eyelids for as long as I lived... and with a hard-on.

699091976: FYI, done. All videos and traces deleted. Sending you my log so that you can check.

It was all that lecher's fault. I locked my phone without even thinking.

"Did he reply?" Mia asked.

I shook my head and cleared my throat. "Yeah, he did after we started the osteopathy session," I whispered back as neutrally as I could. "My phone was silent. You don't have to worry. It's done."

Bearing in mind her normal yet sad tone of voice, I concluded that she hadn't seen me ogling her photos by accident. I sincerely hoped she wasn't looking at me then—especially from my waist down. I needed some time to get that... thing down.

She sighed. "Did you... Did you see the pho–?" She cleared her throat. "The... you know."

I just did.

"You didn't delete them after you sent them?" I asked in bewilderment as I turned my head to try to see her, but I couldn't. I pretended I hadn't seen them. She should've deleted them, anyway. My question was valid.

"I didn't... just in case we might need them."

"Why would we ever need them?!" I was tense again. The osteopathy session was all for nothing.

"I don't know! You're the expert on this, not me." Her voice was so unsure, so unlike herself, that it broke my heart. She was obviously out of her element.

I sighed deeply as I ran my hand over my face. "I'll... Okay, I'll delete them."

"No, I'll delete them for you," she replied in a hurry. "I don't want you to see them."

She came to stand beside me with an open palm, silently requesting me to hand her my phone. Thankfully, my hard-on was receding and my bulky trousers hid it.

"Mia, there's nothing to be ashamed of," I whispered as I handed her my phone, hoping she would not inquire whether I had seen the photos while reading the hacker's reply. "You did what you had to do."

She bit her lower lip as she took the phone. "You didn't approve. You said I was mad."

She unlocked it and searched for the photos.

"And I still don't approve, but you're safe now. That's what matters. Well, I mean, your photos are safe with this guy. I've known him for a long time. He's not the sharing, scamming, or blackmailing kind of fellow."

She fell silent—and I hated that.

My answer wasn't enough. My words never were because I had no idea whatsoever how to deal with delicate issues like that.

But I didn't think any reply would have ever been enough to appease her heart and her mind.

Handing my phone back to me, she pressed her lips into a thin line.

Part of me wished she hadn't deleted the photos. Had she deleted the conversation in Whosupp too? It'd be the logic thing to do. Everything related to those photos should be deleted.

"Mia, stop overthinking," I whispered with care as I took the phone. She stared at me with a blush of shame. "What's done is done. Now what matters is that those videos have been all deleted and that you cannot be traced. Suit Robotics won't know you're here."

"I hope so," she whispered back.

"Trust me. It'll be alright." I smiled at her.

She smiled a bittersweet smile back at me.

"Listen, hmmm," she said then with a coy kind of hesitation, avoiding my gaze. "I know you're my bodyguard, but there's this thing I need to do with Rose... on our own. You don't have to worry. I'll be safe with her."

"And what's this thing?" I asked with curiosity, raising an eyebrow.

"I... I can't tell you," she displayed her wonderful teeth at me as she made a funny face, like a child who had done some mischief. "I owe her since she's helped me take the photos. She needed a favour, so I'm helping her with something."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you can't tell me anything?"

She shook her head.

"But at least tell me whether you'll stay with her all the time, in a locked place, preferably," I insisted. "Thiago usually stalks her day in, day out. I don't want him anywhere near you."

"I agree. This favour requires me to stay with her and her friends for a few hours, all the time, indoors."

"At the brothel?" My voice came out as a disapproving comment.

"Yeah. I'll make sure Rose covers for me if any clients think I'm available or something weird happens." Her serious demeanour didn't quite convince me that course of action was truly safe.

I sighed, and against my better judgment, I replied, "Okay, then. On one condition."

"James..." Her eyes were pleading with me to stop pushing her, but I wasn't going to do that—quite the contrary.

I sat up and grabbed my legs to push them over the edge of the right side of the table, where she was standing.

"I'm buying you a mobile phone," I answered as I faced her, grabbing the side of the table, before she could say anything further. "This afternoon. And after that, we're going to the hydroponics lab and the crop fields, as you asked a few days ago. We'll get all the herbs you need."

I smiled at her—and she smiled back at me.

"Great! I was eager to go after all the research I made!"

"After that, we have dinner with my family," I added. "My father said he wanted to praise you for what you did to save that paramedic's life in front of the hospital. Maester Khan is coming, too. He wants to know about the progress we're making as regards my spine."

She raised an eyebrow. "You didn't tell him about..."

I shook my head. "I didn't tell him about the deformity. I thought it best to let you give everybody the news."

"By the way, I've arranged the nerve study. You're scheduled to take it in two days, and we'll get the results immediately. I pushed to make it so, mentioning your father's name to put pressure on anyone who would dare to object. I hope your father forgives me, because I had no permission to do so—but the people at the hospital didn't know, so..." She chuckled.

"How and when did you do all this?" I asked, bewildered.

"At Rosa's. After the photo shoot. With your phone."

"O-kay, you can certainly put it to good use—more than I ever could," I whispered. "But what if the nerve study doesn't uphold your theory?"

"It's not a theory. I saw you during rehab—and I know what I saw." Her eyes glowed with fierce determination, like a brave warrior before battle. "The test is just a formality, which will shut many mouths around here."

I fell silent as I stared at those beautiful blue eyes of hers.

"Anyway," she added in a tender voice, "I also scheduled an appointment with the anaesthetist that same day. Then, we can ask to get the surgery done in... maybe a few days' time, hopefully. That way, we can make this faster. After two years, I thought it was pointless to keep you waiting."

She blushed a bit—so did I.

I whispered, my voice breaking, "Thank you."

After surgery, I was going to need to stay in the hospital, and later, I was going to need rehab. Coincidentally, the Federal Governor would be coming to Two Dawns in a fortnight, around those dates. I knew I might not be ready for his visit... and bearing in mind that she wanted to make a stand. 

Damn, Mia. I sighed.

I hoped she wouldn't use my forced leave of absence to do something reckless.

Hello, my sugar cubes!

Did you enjoy the osteopathy session?
Will the study confirm Mia's plans?
Will she find the herbs she needs to develop a cure for the pandemic?

Stay tuned!

XOXO

Mar