2011

He's a mafia boss and his daughter lives isolated from everyone else. I think he has enough power over her.

I gave up a year ago. I was trying to use strategically like when I flew anywhere, any longer trips, or outings where I thought the risk was high. I came to realize when I wasn't wearing there a high risk if I was wrong but when wearing there was almost no risk. Hugs, Freta

Hi! From Richmond ☺️   

*See if you can catch the pop culture references in this chapter. They're not that subtle.*    Chapter 23: Recovery   Mei had just put Jimmy down for the night when his phone began to ring. The phone’s caller ID showed Joy was calling. Mei accepted the call, and a sobbing voice on the other end of the line identified themselves as Diane, Joy’s Mother. Her Mother informed her that Joy had been assaulted outside of her work. She was in the hospital in critical condition. Mei almost dropped the phone in disbelief. Who would want to attack Joy? The level of violence required to put her in critical condition definitely gave the impression that this had been personal, and not just a random mugging.    Mei had promised the crying woman on the other end of the line that they would be at the hospital as soon as they could. The woman assured her that there was no need to hurry. Joy had been placed in a medically induced coma to assist her recovery. She assured Mei that there was nothing she could do for Joy right now. Mei thanked the woman and hung up.    Mei did not sleep well at all that night. She lay there in bed thinking about Joy, tears streaming down her face. She had known Jimmy longer, but had grown to love Joy over these last months they had been spending together. The momma bear inside her raged at the person who had hurt her precious angel. It felt like she had only just fallen asleep when she heard the cries on the baby monitor by her bed.    She rolled out of bed with a groan and shuffled her way over to the nursery. When the door opened, Jimmy’s crying stopped, and a smile spread on his face at the sight of his Mommy. The smile quickly dropped as he saw his Mommy’s tired face. Her haggard, worried look frightened him, and he began to cry all over again.    Mei, remembering how well babies can pick up on the emotions of their caregivers, tried to force a smile. It helped a little, but Jimmy was still sniffling when she put him on the changing table. She did her best not to let her emotions show as she changed him, but it was difficult. Once he was clean and dry, she sat him up on the table and put a hand against each cheek. Looking him in the eyes, she tried to portray how serious the situation was to him.   “Jimmy, I know you’re having fun being Mommy’s baby, but I need you to try to be a big boy for a little bit. I need to talk to big Jimmy.”   Jimmy could feel the intensity and the urgency in her gaze, and his adult self came to the forefront of his mind.    “What is it, Mei? What’s happened? Is it your Mom?”   Mei shook her head, a fresh tear running down her face.   “It’s Joy, Jimmy. She’s in the hospital. She’s in the ICU in a coma. Someone attacked her last night and hurt her really badly. They’re concerned about internal bleeding and broken ribs. I got the call while you were asleep last night, and I’ve barely slept since. I was going to go down to the hospital to see her today. Do you feel like you can handle seeing her in her current condition, or would you rather not go?”   Jimmy burst into tears. How could this have happened? He was going to lose not only a friend but the first woman who had ever loved him in a non-platonic way. There was no way he could not go to the hospital and say goodbye to his first love.    “I want to see her. I want to say goodbye.”   Mei hugged him tightly and rocked back and forth with him, patting his back.    “Oh, Jimmy. Nobody said she was going to die. She’s just in a medically induced coma to help her recover. The doctors are taking very good care of her, I’m sure. Let’s get dressed, and then we’ll go to the hospital and see her.”   She chose a more adult outfit for Jimmy today, since they would be going out in public. Once she finished getting dressed, they ate a quiet breakfast before heading to the garage. Both of them were a nervous mess, but Jimmy especially was going through it. With very little traffic on a Sunday morning, they made it to the hospital quickly. It took a bit of coaxing from Mei to get Jimmy out of the car, but eventually they made their way into the hospital lobby.    The pair was escorted into the ICU to the room where Joy was being monitored. Before stepping into the room, Joy’s parents exited. Her mother had tear streaks from runny mascara, and her father’s eyes were red, like he had been crying as well. Mei introduced herself as one of Joy’s friends and introduced Jimmy as well. The arriving friends were given a warning of what they were about to see when they entered the room.   The sight that awaited them was horrible. Seeing her tiny, frail body hooked up with different wires and tubes in her nose and mouth was horrible. What was even worse was seeing the deep purple bruises that covered her face and body.  Her face was calm and showed no pain, thanks to the medically induced coma. The sight of her was too much for Jimmy, and he slipped back into headspace immediately and wailed.    “Joy! Wake up, Joy! Jimmy needs you, no go! Mommy, help Joy! Joy have ouchies. Mommy kiss better!”   Mei picked up the crying little one immediately, placing her arm underneath his butt, as his legs wrapped around her waist. She rocked him back and forth, bouncing him up and down. Grabbing the pacifier from the diaper bag that doubled as her purse, she placed it in Jimmy's mouth. Eventually, his crying slowed and turned into sniffles as he buried his face in his Mommy’s neck and fell asleep.    The pair sat with Joy for most of the day, taking turns with her parents, and ignoring curious looks in their direction from the medical staff. They all ordered food to the room. They didn’t want to leave her. Jimmy even received a diaper change on the floor of the hospital room. Jimmy spent a lot of time snuggling into his Mommy’s neck, but would get fussy with boredom every once in a while. There were very limited toys in the diaper bag, but they did enough to keep him entertained.    They were forced to leave when visiting hours ended and made a silent drive back home. Both of them are deep in thought. Jimmy is sitting in his car seat, sucking on his pacifier, and Mei is keeping her eyes on the road. The sullen silence hung over them when they got back to the apartment as well. That night, Jimmy slept in Mei’s bed. He didn’t want to be away from his Mommy right now.    The next morning, Jimmy was still in headspace as they made their way to the hospital. They had only been there for about an hour when the doctor came into the room and looked at the four people sitting by the bedside.   “Are you her family?”   Mei was the first to answer.   “These folks over here are her parents, I’m just a friend, and this is her boyfriend.”   When Jimmy was introduced as Joy’s boyfriend, the doctor raised an eyebrow in astonishment. Sitting on the woman’s lap appeared to be a very large thirteen-year-old boy wearing a diaper and sucking on a pacifier. He held his tongue and proceeded to inform them of Joy’s condition.    “Well, her injuries were significant. She suffered a concussion, lacerations to the head and arms, three broken ribs, severe bruising of the body, including her bladder, and a punctured lung. She was just lucky that someone scared off her attacker, or she might not have made it. We don’t believe she should have any lasting damage. You can never be sure until they wake up. I would warn about the risk of temporary incontinence with the bruising to her bladder, but since it seems that she’s already incontinent, that’s not necessary.    The good news is, she’s out of the woods. We’ve upgraded her condition to stable, and will be moving her out of the ICU this afternoon. Once we’ve moved her into her new room, we will be waking her out of her coma to assess the possibility of brain damage. Also, do you know if her incontinence is a recent issue? We have no mention of it in her medical records. She arrived wearing a very soiled diaper, which was a bit surprising given her medical history shown on her chart.”   Mei smiled to herself a bit. Joy would likely be mortified when she found out about the doctors' finding out that she was incontinent, especially if they ever found out it was by choice. Diane was the one to answer this time.   “She has been in diapers full-time since she was seventeen, and was wetting the bed before that. So, that would be six years she’s been incontinent.”   The doctor seemed satisfied with that answer.   “Well, perhaps she had been able to hide it from her Primary Care Physician somehow. Anyway, it’s noted in her records now. I’ll have a nurse show you to her new room, and they will bring her down shortly.”   Right on cue, an older nurse popped her head through the door. She made small talk with Mei as they walked down the halls of the hospital, cooing at Jimmy now and then. Every time, Jimmy would just hide his face in Mei’s shoulder. His shyness elicited light chuckles of amusement from the grown-ups. As they approached Joy’s new room, the conversation dropped. Standing outside the room were two figures, detectives’ badges hanging from their belt loops. The nurse made her exit, leaving the two detectives to their business.    “Excuse us, would you happen to be the friends and family of Joy Watkins by chance?”   The female detective was the one to speak, keeping her voice low after seeing what appeared to be a sleeping child in Mei’s arms. She looked at the back of Jimmy and smiled faintly at what she figured must be a special needs child based on the clear diaper and pacifier clip attached to his shirt.    She was doing her best not to spook the child of this potential witness, which is why she took the lead for this interview. In her experience, her partner’s slightly cold demeanor could frighten some children. When Mei nodded in answer to her question, she introduced herself and her partner.    “Well, I’m Detective Montoya, and this is Detective Bullock. We were hoping to ask you a few questions about your daughter and friend, and if you had any knowledge that could help in our investigation. If we can take a moment of your time, please, let's take a seat in the chairs here. I imagine carrying your little one constantly can get pretty tiring.”   Detective Bullock escorted the parents into the hall to begin his interview. It was better to separate everyone so that any inconsistencies could be pointed out later. If they couldn’t confer with each other, they couldn’t all come up with the same answers. He closed the door and escorted the parents to an empty room across the hallway.   Still in the room, Detective Montoya motioned to two chairs that had been placed inside the room. Mei sat down in the padded chair, and the detective sat across from her in a folding chair that had been brought in earlier. The detective removed a recording device from her pocket and held it to her mouth.   “This is Detective Renee Montoya. The time is currently 11:30 in the morning on August 11th, 2029. I’m currently sitting with a friend of the victim, Joy Watkins. If you could please introduce yourself and indicate your relationship to the victim. As for the boy, ma’am, it’s your choice if you wish to enter the Minor child sitting on your lap into the record.”   Mei smiled faintly at the continued belief that Jimmy truly was a child.     “My name is Mei Watanabe, and I am a friend of Joy’s and an occasional provider of goods and services.  In my arms is Jimmy Dalton, her boyfriend.”   If Detective Montoya was surprised by this, she had a very good poker face. After acknowledging the people in front of her were speaking of their own free will, she got started. Her first few questions centered on where Mei and Jimmy were last night, what they were doing, and if there was anyone who could corroborate their alibi.  Mei told the truth, that they had been in her apartment together watching TV. No, nobody else could place them there.    The next set of questions revolved around Joy’s personal life, her romantic life, and her friends. Could they think of anyone who might have a grudge against Joy? Did you owe money to anyone? Any jilted lovers wanting payback for a bad breakup? Mei gave what information she knew. They had only been friends for a few months. No grudges, no debts, and no jilted lovers that she knew about. She had Jimmy turn around and face the detective, and do his best to answer the same questions, as he had known her longer.   Jimmy didn’t really have anything to add. He didn’t really understand what was going on, just that his friend Joy was hurt. The Detective smiled at him, but he was still feeling upset after seeing Joy and hid in his Mommy’s neck. Detective Bullock came back into the room as his partner finished with her interview. The detectives thanked them for their time, breaking off the interview as Joy was wheeled into the room.    Detective Bullock gruffly asked the nurse when they would be able to speak to the victim, and was informed that she likely wouldn’t be up for facing questions until tomorrow at the earliest. Bullock, not thrilled with this answer and having to make a second trip to the hospital, stalked out of the room.    Detective Montoya stayed back for a moment, stepping to Mei and whispering in her ear.   “Your little boy is adorable. You’re a lucky Mommy! When this case is over, my little girl needs a playmate. Perhaps we can organize a play date?”   The Detective handed Mei a card with her personal number written on it, shook Mei’s hand, and thanked her for the help. Mei received and quickly tucked it away for later. She had not been expecting the detective to be into Age Play. Once she left, her focus shifted back to Joy as the nurses were working around her.    The doctor joined them shortly after the detectives left. The doctor ordered the nurses to push the medication and wake Joy from her coma. It was not immediate, but after about thirty minutes, Joy finally began to stir. Fifteen minutes later, her eyes began to flutter open and closed rapidly. One of the nurses looked over to Mei, standing back by the chair so as not to be in anybody’s way.   “You can step over here. It might do her some good to see a friendly face when she wakes up. She’s going to be very disoriented and will likely panic as her last memories are of trauma.”   Mei carefully approached the bed, still holding Jimmy, who was now asleep in her arms. She stood next to the bed, holding Joy’s hand with her free hand. She began to make soothing rubbing motions on the back of Joy’s hand and positioned herself to be the first thing Joy would see.    Fifteen minutes later, Joy finally opened her eyes and kept them open. As predicted, she immediately panicked and began to thrash back and forth in the bed to escape the hand that had captured hers. The nurses held her down so she would not hurt herself, and Mei brought her face close to Joy once again. Joy finally seemed to see Mei and began to calm down. She stopped thrashing and immediately burst into tears.    “Mommy! Mommy, it hurt! I hurt! Bad man hurt Joy. Bad man wan hurt Jimmy.”

Can't have new customers until they buy more adult diapers.  The sorority is using them all.