A lot of time to heal.

Vixxen woke up in a dark hospital room, with monitors beeping. She had a splint on her right forearm, an IV needle in her left arm, and some kind of light tubing in her nose. She could now see out of her left eye a little, but it was swollen. At least the pain was much lower now, but her head was fuzzy.

Vixxen's neck hurt when she moved her head, but she looked around and saw a police officer sitting in the room in uniform, sleeping in a chair next to her. He looked familiar, she thought it was the officer from the ambulance, the one who found her in the room.

Vixxen tried to sit up and find something to drink. fuck she was thirsty and cried out in pain, her abdomen, and her neck in horrible pain.

The officer woke in a start and came to her side. You are in the hospital ma'am, try not to move, let me get a nurse for you.

Vixxen grabbed him with her left hand again, weakly, "Stay." She said in a light voice.

"Ok, ma'am," The officer replied, pressing a button on her bed. "They can't hurt you now…when I can't be here another officer can be by the door. You are safe now, as safe as you can get.”

She could not remember his name at first, but it came back to her. A doctor asked her many questions she could not answer, but it started to come back to her over the course of the day. Her concussion had been quite severe. She now remembered her name, but not her address or phone number. But things were coming back. They found her ID when they searched her house, and then started using her name when talking to her.

Vixxen was in the hospital for three weeks. She had sustained three broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken arm, a dislocated jaw, a bruised abdomen with some internal swelling, vaginal and anal tearing, a severe concussion, a strained neck, and shoulder and she lost two teeth. They used a **** kit to gather evidence and tested her for STD infection. Thankfully early reports were negative.

Officer Wilkins stayed by her side for most of the time she was in the hospital. He had to leave here and there for paperwork and interviews and statements regarding an officer-involved shooting incident, but he stayed with her as she asked, taking time off to do so.

As the swelling in Vixxen's jaw and eye went down, the officer saw how beautiful she actually was. How could those animals have tried to beat this woman so close to ****? He had decided not to leave until they found someone who knew her.

The police found her phone and officer Wilkins called Nikki when she mentioned Nikki was her closest friend, but that she had nobody else.

When Nikki got the call she collapsed and cried where she was standing, as officer Wilkins told her what little he legally could.

He could only really say that she was in the hospital, that the police had gone in to save her, and that she was going to live and was expected to be in the hospital for a some time.

Nikki felt terrible, she had not been gone for very long, only for months. How had it come to this so quickly? She should have taken Vixxen with them, damn her and her insecurity and jealousy.

She was on a plane that day, the earliest departure she could find back to Texas. Nikki's husband Rick understood how long she had known Vixxen and was supportive.

Vixxen called the manager of her strip club when they let her use a phone, to let him know why she had not been in, and that she might be out for a while. She also tried to reach Mason but got no answer. He had not answered in a while.

Oddly, while she left messages for Mason, but he never came to see her at the hospital, while her strip club manager visited, along with a DJ friend and a few dancers and bouncers.

Officer Wilkins, who was there most of the time, joked that she had the best-looking visitors in the hospital. But whenever someone new came in to see Vixxen she would see his eyes narrow and a serious look come on his face.

Nikki arrived that evening, in a mad rush to get to her friend. Nikki hadn't bothered to eat, or to pack before leaving. She looked terrible, red eyes, no hint of happiness, and looking exhausted.

She arrived just before visiting hours ended, but would not take no for an answer when asked to just wait for the next day.

Nikki lost it when she saw her injured friend. Seeing the machines and tubes, Vixxen's swollen jaw and eye, the bruises on her beautiful friend's face, and the splint on her right arm. This was too much for Nikki. Far too much.

Nikki didn't know what to do here, she wanted to hug and kiss her friend, to let her know it would be ok, but she worried she would harm her. Vixxen saw her friend and her eyes lit up, with Vixxen reaching her left hand toward Nikki.

When Nikki stepped into the room and moved towards Vixxen a very tired looking police officer stepped between them and introduced himself to her. His voice was gentle, but his eyes looked both very tired, and extremely serious.

He introduced himself as officer Jack Wilkins, and when he saw that Vixxen knew Nikki and seemed happy to see her he stepped out. "I will be right outside Vixxen if you need me."

He moved to a chair on the other side of the door, he did not move far away. Nikki noticed that the officer didn’t move until another officer walked up to take his place. Nikki wondered why Vixxen was being watched by the police, or protected by them.

Vixxen told her friend what she remembered of what happened. Nikki was deeply bothered and ashamed for not having been here for her dear friend. Vixxen shared a little of what happened , Vixxen told her of them taking her from her garage, the beatings, the ****, and the way the police came in shooting.

Vixxen could have died, Nikki thought. It could not have been much more than luck that the fucking assholes who took her didn't kill her, that the police didn't shoot her on accident when they got everyone else, or that she didn't die from some serious injuries.

And she wasn’t wrong, the medics in the helicopter had seemed very worried. There had not been any delay even when they landed on the roof of a hospital. They had rushed her to a room full of doctors.