Part 12

I now understand why heroes are always hungry. Their workouts are brutal!!

We had just finished the most excruciating physical workout. It was half an hour-long, but we did planks and pull-ups, crunches and lunges, squats and dead-lifts, and more. By the end of the half-hour, I was sore, out of breath, and everything hurt. It hurt to move, it hurt to breathe, and it hurt to speak. When Alex asked me if I was ok, I could barely mutter a "no". Fortunately, he could tell that I wasn't in peak condition.

As soon as I could walk again, I went back to my room to relax, but my muscles wouldn't let me. So, I found Eric and asked him how I could get my muscles to calm down. After a bit of thought, he told me, "I would suggest a warm bath and a massage, but you'll have to ask Alex. He's the expert on this sort of stuff." As he walked away, I saw that the observation was purely genuine, which I was grateful for. I did not need people thinking that there was anything between me and Alex.

I tried to find Alex, but my muscles were so weak that I ended up collapsing at the stairs leading up to the dining space. I had no will to move, so I made myself comfortable, and rested there, silently asking Alex to come, though I doubt he could hear me. I waited for 20 minutes, and to my surprise, he came. When he rounded the bend, I saw genuine concern on his face. He ran to me and asked, "What happened?"

I went looking for you," I replied weakly.

He shook his head in disbelief. "Well, we need to get you to your room. Can you stand?"

"I think so."

"Ok. But if you feel like you need extra support, don't be scared to ask."

Scared, I thought. How about embarrassed?? I could easily make a fool of myself, even with something as small as trying to stand up! But I nodded and pushed myself into an upright position. When I tried to stand, I realized that I needed something for me to hold onto, so that I could pull myself up. I looked at him, and he understood.

With a sly smile, he put his arm out for me to grab onto, and I just barely pulled myself up. If I had let go of his arm after I stood, I would have dropped like a rag doll. But I knew that my legs were going to give way at any moment, so I just stood there, trying to catch my breath.

Alex saw everything, and then slung the arm that I was using for support around my waist, and forced me to put my arm around his neck. In any other situation, I would have protested, but I was too tired to care, let alone fight back. So I let him lead me back to my room.

When we got there, I gratefully sank onto my bed, wishing that I could go to sleep, and never wake up. But before I got a chance to sleep, Alex asked me to flip onto my stomach so that he could look at my legs. I knew that he was concerned, but that didn't stop my mind from going places. As I turned over, I winced. It hurt to put pressure on my arms. It died a little when I finally got to my stomach, but then I felt Alex's hand on the inside of my left shoulder blade, and I tensed. It wasn't that I wasn't used to this, but rather that he surprised me. After a couple of seconds, I realized that I was still tense. It hurt, but I was on my guard. I wasn't going to be bringing it down now, not till he takes his hand away.

"Marie, you need to relax. Your muscles are torn all over, and I can't help if you don't relax." When I didn't relax, he leaned closer and whispered, "I would never hurt you." His proximity sent a shiver down my spine, and as I result I was more relaxed than before. I still wasn't fully relaxed, but Alex went to work. He pressed little circles in the space just behind my left shoulder blade, and my left arm began to relax. After a few moments, he switched to my right side. Once my arms were taken care of, he shifted his attention to my legs.

I knew that my legs were bad. He only lightly traced his finger as he was assessing the damage, but anywhere that his finger touched my skin burned. I let out several cries and whimpers of pain as he looked over what I had done to myself. After he was done, he told me that the next phases of my recovery were going to hurt. A lot. I told him to proceed, and began to prepare myself for the pain that was about to fill my entire body.