Methis Delis POV
It must have been years, decades, centuries even but somehow I did not feel anything at all.
I was very certain that not all the blackness I saw was caused by sleep, starting from the very first one: after I had given birth centuries ago, I had a feeling of lousy dizziness and I switched off with the last thing I saw being the face of Jamal smiling broadly as he stared deep into the eyes of his children with loving eyes I had never seen him stare at anyone with before, not even me – that was the first blackness. The second came after I woke up and there was no one in the room. My state of consciousness did not last long as I switched off again, this time still not out of sleepiness but exhaustion, I was very sure I passed out – that was the second blackness. The third came abruptly, almost artificially: I had woken up to meet three doctors in my room. They congratulated me but did not allow me to see my babies or my husband, informing me that I was too sick and tired to do anything. I was fed before a whiff of fog filled my head and I was switching off again – this was the third blackness.
Subsequent ones came but the memories were too clouded to remember, sometimes I felt like I was being drugged, and other times I felt like it was natural, all the time, I felt truly weary to care or ask any question, I just went with the flow of my body. At long last, I woke up again. This time I was not having the feeling of going back to sleep, I was just having the feeling of getting up and going on with my day. I was gracious at least that I was feeling better. My mind went back to the day of the delivery, how I felt my insides and private part was going to tear apart. Two babies had come out of my below that night. I remember when Jamal, in his rock solid form, penetrated me, though pleasurable, it was as if it was going to tear me apart not to talk of two full babies going through. Slowly, I slid my hands under the sheets, all the way down between my legs to examine myself. It was back to its normal width and breath, not too tight as Jamal had loosened it, and not very wide as evident of two babies going through.
I slid my hands in and out, feeling every corner, using my fingers to stretch it, checking if it was still OK. Gradually, I began to feel the tingling sensation of pleasure.
“What were you thinking about?” a voice came from just directly beside my bed.
I almost jumped out of my skin. Turning to the side, I saw Jamal sitting on the edge of the bed. He had been observing me the entire time. I took my hand away from my private part immediately and gave him a death stare. “You pervert!” I said.
“Is it my fault you put your hands down there?” he laughed so hard. “It is a hospital. Come on, I could be anybody.”
He did have a point. “Well, you should have given me a warning when I was about to start.”
“Well, maybe I enjoyed watching you do it.” Jamal smiled.
“You are weird.”
“Besides, I’ve seen it before. I’ve been inside it before too so calm down.” He reached for my face and stroked it.
I blushed, feeling so embarrassed at what he had just caught me doing. Quickly, I changed the subject. “Where are our babies? It felt like it has been a year.”
“A year? Wow. The doctor did say you will feel as if time passed slower,” Jamal said.
“Slower?” I sat up from bed. Did he mean to tell me that it has been a year since I conceived?
“Yeah. You were gone for a long time.”
“God, no. How old are our babies now? What about my father?” I panicked.
Jamal burst into laughter. He seemed to be enjoying pulling my legs and though I should have been angry that he was doing so at such a bad time, I have also never seen Jamal like this before so this rare moment of happiness was meant to be cherished. I mean, when had Jamal ever cracked a joke and now he was doing it often in few seconds.
“It has just been weeks, Methis. Our babies are completely fine. And so are you,” he assured me.
“Wow.”
“What?” Jamal asked.
“I never believed I would go through that process and be just fine.”
“Of course, you would be fine. We have the best doctors in the world.”
“So how long do I have to stay in this hospital before they are ready to discharge me?”
“Just today. The doctors did most of your recovery while you were asleep through tubes and liquid supplements. They decided it best that the recovery process would work faster if the patient was unaware of it, removing the element of the mind and leaving the body to do its job.”
“You sound so smart,” I joked with sarcasm.
“I am smart.” Jamal smiled. “OK, I will leave you to it now. Your breakfast would be delivered soon to you and then you would be free to roam around just to get some blood in your legs blah blah blah, some science stuff I do not understand and blah.”
I laughed at his explanation so hard I felt my stomach pinch me inside. I held the side that pinched and squinted a little.
“Oh no!” Jamal exclaimed, perhaps too dramatically, and I knew he was going to do something funny. He moved over to my feet and lifted them, pairing under the blanket, between my legs. “Did the doctors forget a baby in there? Hello!”
I flushed as red as blood and covered myself with my hands as Jamal and I laughed. He then disappeared behind the door and into the corridor.
Not long afterward, a nurse came into the room carrying a tray. Inside the tray was bacon, eggs, strawberry jam, and a flask of tea.
“Eat up. It has been a long your body took in solid food.”
I had not realized how hungry I was until the smell of bacon and eggs filled my nose. It smelt so good my mouth produced saliva. It was not my first time eating bacon and eggs, but in this state, it definitely was my first time.
I bit into the soft bacon and took a bite of the egg. The flavour that filled my mouth had me yearning for more, so without properly chewing, I swallowed and went for the next bout. I wolfed down the entire meal in less than a minute and it was just then I realized that I was not alone in the room. With a mouth filled and spilled with food, I looked up at the nurse who just laughed it off while dashing towards the tray to collect the empty plate.
“Would you care for more?” the maid asked.
I weighed the options and picked the right one. This was no time for courtesy. Let queens and princesses observe their courtesies, I am Methis Delis and I was no queen neither was I a princess. “Yes please,” I replied in the positive and while the nurse had gone out to prepare food again, I thirstily emptied the flask of tea in few gulps. At least the nurse was not here to watch this one.
In less than a minute the nurse was back and she had brought more bacon and egg and jam. I ate hungrily and was done with the meal as fast as it had arrived. But I requested no more.
Shortly after, I went back to sleep and upon waking up, I decided it was time to use my legs. I took a thorough shower and wore some decent clothes. Not too much to be a burden and leave me sweating, but not too light to show skin. Then I took a tour by myself to the various parts of the hospital. Everywhere I entered there was something it had in common – and that was happy people who congratulated me on my safe delivery. When I had my fill of walking, I decided to do something more intense as I felt the need to.
I got into the gym and began toying with some light weight. Coincidentally, one of the gym instructors came in for his own session and after a quick chart, helped me with my fitness as I had told him I had just recently conceived. “Exercise is important for someone like you. But also dangerous if done wrongly,” he had told me. During the sit-up work out, I noticed that my stomach barely protruded again. Something I was grateful for.
After my work out session, I was worn out to do any other thing so I headed back to my room where I was attended to with dinner and a massage and was informed I would be discharged the very next day.
At last, I was close to going home, I thought to myself.