Chapter 44: A Strange Recovery

The week after she woke was a frustrating one for Cinnamon. Except for trips to the bathroom, she had been confined to bed. Cinnamon understood the reason for that; she was still pretty weak, and tired easily. It'd only been the day before that she could stand up and walk to the bathroom without her legs giving out on her. As it was, she'd still had to walk slowly and, on the way back, lean on Sharmon to keep from falling.

Of course, going to the toilet was embarrassing for her. The toilet was an open communal toilet. Toilet seats lined one wall and half of two others. They all shared the same flushing system. A large tank of water was above the bathroom and when a cord by the door was pulled water would run though a pipe and into the trough that was covered by the toilet seats, flushing them all at one time. The embarrassing part was that not only that were there no individual stalls, but that it was unisex. A single half wall, that you could easily see over, was the only thing that separated the men's and women's sides. To get to the women's side, you had to pass through the men's. The sinks were shared by both.

Cinnamon thought she was going to faint the first time Sharmon carried her in, and she saw a couple men using the facilities. They were pretty understanding, however, and quickly finished their business so she could take care of hers. Even though she had yet to get used to using an open toilet, it was much better than having to use a bedpan. The only reason Sharmon started carrying her to the bathroom in the first place was because she'd been so embarrassed by it that she cried.

The other embarrassing thing for her was the breastfeeding. She wasn't sure if it was the breastfeeding itself, how it made her feel sucking on another woman's nipples, or the fact that everyone knew she was doing it. Despite the embarrassment, and how weird it made her feel, she'd come to look forward to her feedings. It wasn't so much a sexual thing for her with Sharmon, anyway. It still made her feel weird, but nothing compared to how she'd felt the few times she'd had to nurse from Elaine — that really confused her. With Sharmon, though, it was more the feeling of bonding with her that she enjoyed. Only in her dreams could she remember feeling so close to someone, and so loved.

Between the bouts of extreme embarrassment and confusion, and loving bonding, was boredom. To try to keep the boredom at bay, Muriel had loaned her a couple of her religious books. Cinnamon could read them, but only barely. The alphabet used confused her and slowed her reading to a crawl. When she wasn't reading, she was either sleeping, nursing, or playing games. Harnley had his board game set up on a small table he'd bring next to the bed so they could play. He good-naturedly accused her of moving pieces while he was out of the room. She'd been getting advice from Ernon, so she didn't lose quite as easily as he expected. She also played card games with her friends. All of the games being were clean ones, of course. Sharmon and Muriel wouldn't allow any adult games to be played, nor did they allow gambling for anything more than treats. They usually gambled for peanuts, marshmellowns, and chocolates. The chocolates reminded Cinnamon of naked M&Ms. Rose had even had an old gramophone brought down for Cinnamon to listen to. It had been placed in the attic when Rose had replaced it with a phonograph a few years before. The music was different from what she was used to, and scratchy, but it was nice. There was one song that seemed almost familiar, and she listened to that cylinder over and over again, often falling asleep to it.

Cinnamon was trying to read when there was a knock on the door, followed by Elaine sticking her head inside. "Cinnamon, are you awake?"

Cinnamon blushed, and looked down at the book in her hands, as she felt her nipples harden and a warm glow start in her middle.

"Hi, Elaine," she murmured.

Elaine came into the room with a smile. "We know you only have the one set of clothes, so a couple of the girls and I took up a collection for you," she said, holding up the bundle in her arms.

Cinnamon looked up, surprised. "Th-thank you, but you didn't have to do that"

Elaine smiled. "Don't thank me yet. Most of these are things we can't wear anymore, or don't want. Take this dress for example," she said, holding up a green dress that to Cinnamon looked like it belonged in an old movie set in the middle ages. It was simple, yet elegant at the same time. "It's just a mite tight around the bust on me," she finished with a grin.

Cinnamon had to grin at that — Elaine had an impressive bust.

"I can't let you try them on yet, as Sharmon would have my head if I wore you out, but I thought they'd cheer you up," she said, carefully folding the clothes and placing them in a small cupboard in the corner of the room.

After putting the clothes away, she turned and said, "Well, I've got to be getting back. Can I bring you up anything?"

Cinnamon shook her head. "Thank you Elaine, for the clothes and everything."

"You're welcome Hon," Elaine replied, and kissed the top of Cinnamon's head.

"Please thank the others for me."

Elaine smiled. "I will."

Elaine started to leave, as she did she made a quick stop at the table and moved a piece at random, gave Cinnamon a wink, and left.

A short while later, there was a knock on the door again, followed by Harnley hollering, "Ey, Lass, yYe decent?"

Cinnamon smiled, and called out, "Yes!"

Harnley opened the door with a grin. "I'm going to beat ya fur sure today," He said, and then stopped at the table. "Ah, ha! Movin' pieces around again, have ye?"

Cinnamon rolled her eyes. "That wasn't me."

"Sure it twasn't, Lass, sure it twasn't," Harnley replied with a grin, letting Cinnamon know he wasn't angry. He moved the piece back, and then moved the table and a chair over. "Alright, Lass, prepare to surrender!"

They were still playing an hour later when there was a timid knock on the door. Harnley called out "Aye?" and moved a piece.

"M-m-master Harnley?"

"Aye, come on in." Harnley called out again, looking at the door.

Slowly the door opened, and in peeked one of the maids. The maid couldn't have been much older than Cinnamon. Cinnamon gave her a smile, and she blushed, dropped her head, and curtsied. Cinnamon blinked in surprise.

"Come on in, Lass," Harnley said to her, causing her to blush. She followed his instructions, however, and came into the room.

"M-master Sv-sven s-sent m-me to, to in-inform you that he'd f-found the object he'd been l-looking f-for."

"Ah, excellent, I'll be right down."

The maid curtsied and scurried away. Cinnamon moved a piece and, curious, asked, "Is everything ok?"

"Huh? Oh sure lass," he said, distractedly. Cinnamon had moved a catapult up to cover her infantry. "Sven just mentioned ee had something ee wanted me ta look at, but wasn't sure where it twas. I reckon ee's found it." He scowled at the game, and set the table aside. "I'd be best seeing what he wants. I'll see ye later." He gave her an impish smile, and said, "And no more movin' the pieces when I'm not 'ere."

Cinnamon rolled her eyes, as Harnley laughed and left the room. Then she looked over at the table and grinned. Her moving the catapult had clearly surprised him, even though he'd tried to hide it. She enjoyed playing the game with Harnley and Ernon. She was also surprised to find out how many variations of it there were. There were naval versions, and versions with both water and land spaces. Harnley told her he'd even heard about a version with airships. Harnley said that one could even buy individual units and customize one's own game. While they played, he told her tales of massive games where several boards would be placed together so the players could control huge armies and navies. When she asked why he hadn't told her about them earlier he told her, "Learn the basics first, Lass, then learn the next level." Then he laughed, and said, "Sides, all them pieces and boards would weigh too much to carry around on a hike like ours.