From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
           [no sex or violence; kind of a long chapter]   
      
      
                                           Xena: Roman Gladiator   
      
                                                   Chapter Ten   
      
                                                   Aftermath   
      
   Xena woke up with a terrible pain in her lower abdomen – her bladder was   
   past full and was demanding to be emptied. She opened her eyes and from the   
   light, guessed it was well past dawn, probably half way to mid-day. She   
   didn't want to move, but she knew if she didn't get up to relieve herself,   
   she would piss in her bed. But when she moved, she felt pain in her side,   
   aching in every muscle she had, and nausea. But fighting the aches and pain,   
   she managed to get to her feet. Looking down at herself, she saw the   
   bandaging over her wounds were soaked with blood. Sometime in the night she   
   had moved wrong, or did something to cause the wounds to start bleeding   
   again.   
      
   She was also still naked, but she didn't much care about that. Slowly she   
   made it to the latrine area, but when she sat down to pee, her bowels   
   suddenly loosened from the trauma of the previous day. And the evacuation   
   was so fast and so hard, it caused her to double over in yet another pain.   
   She sat there, panting, until the pain subsided enough that she was able to   
   reach one of the rags used to wipe with and did so as best she could.   
      
   She then walked over to the bath tub, filled with relatively clean water,   
   and removing the wraps that kept the bandages in place, was barely able to   
   get into the cold water to try to clean herself.   
      
   "I see you are up," a voice said. "I would have thought you would be in bed   
   until tomorrow."   
      
   Xena looked up to see the physician standing there.   
      
   "Had to go," she replied. "Couldn't wait."   
      
   He nodded, then reached down to help her out of the tub and had her sit on   
   one of the dining tables. He then started examining her wounds.   
      
   "You have a fever, but it doesn't seem to be too high," he told her. "And I   
   see the cuts on your arms are scabbing over. Unfortunately there is   
   infection beginning and I have to remove them."   
      
   "Do whatever you have to," Xena answered.   
      
   The physician scooped a small amount of a white cream out of a bowl and   
   began to cover the scabs.   
      
   "Lard," he explained. "It will soften the scabs while I look to the wounds   
   in your side."   
      
   He prodded the area around the punctures, both in front and back, then said,   
   "There is some infection here, but the bleeding has kept it from being too   
   bad."   
      
   First he used a ball of wool soaked with willow-bark infused water to clean   
   around the wounds. From another bowl he scooped out a light brown cream.   
      
   "The honey and vinegar will help fight the infection," he said, then began   
   to fill the lesions with the mixture using his fingers. He next took a   
   needle with tan thread and began stitching the skin together.   
      
   "It is cat gut," he explained. "By the time your wounds have healed it will   
   have dissolved."   
      
   He then re-bandaged the wounds and wrapped a cloth around her to hold them   
   in place. After that, he scraped the scabs off her upper arms, cleaned the   
   area around the cuts with willow-water then covered them with more of the   
   honey and vinegar.   
      
   "Try to eat and to drink," he told her. "And you should rest.  I will see to   
   you tomorrow."   
      
   The physician gathered his potions and medicines and started to leave, then   
   turned back to Xena.   
      
   "Oh, you should know – your feats of yesterday are the talk of the   
   household. I hear it from the gladiators, the house slaves, even the few of   
   Dominus's guests who have risen early. No one in many years has made the   
   impression you did."   
      
   Xena, feeling some better, both in body and about the praise, made her way   
   back to her room, stripped the bloody blanket she slept on from the bed and   
   threw it into one corner. But the blood had soaked into the straw-filled   
   mattress and she knew she wasn't about to sleep on that, so she dragged it   
   into one of the unoccupied rooms and swapped with one of the cleaner ones   
   and took it back to her bed. Then lying down, she tried to sleep, but her   
   mind began racing as her memories of the previous day came back to her –   
   seeing Gabrielle on the balcony, the bloody combat in the arena, standing in   
   the middle of the room on display for Dominus and his guests, the look of   
   disappointment and anguish on Gabrielle's face, fucking both Barsis and   
   Philox, and the regret for those actions, hoping Gabrielle would never find   
   out.   
      
   The next thing Xena knew it was almost dark and she could hear the men   
   eating the evening meal. She knew she had to eat something, so she got off   
   the bed, wrapped her breasts and loins and walked into the dining area. At   
   first there was silence, but someone began to clap, then others joined in as   
   they all came to their feet. Her names were called out – "Xena!" "Amazonia!"   
      
   Seeing she was still unsteady, Doctore went to her and helped to a table.   
   Someone brought food and drink, while the others continued to praise her   
   until she stood up and looked round at them. Then in a symbol of her   
   victory, she raised her arms wide over her head, bringing a resounding   
   uproar from everyone.   
      
   All right," Doctore said to them. "There will be time to celebrate her   
   victory, but now she needs food and rest."   
      
   He sat down across from her as the men went back to their meals.   
      
   "I was wondering, now that I've proven myself, any chance Dominus would let   
   me see Gabrielle, talk to her, visit with her, maybe – spend the night   
   together?"   
      
   "I can only ask, but it will have to be when Dominus is in a generous mood.   
   Today he will be suffering the effects of too much wine from yesterday.   
   Perhaps in a day or two."   
      
   Xena nodded as she picked at her food, then she said, "Any chance I can get   
   another blanket?" she asked. "Mine's kind of bloody."   
      
   "It won't be a problem. Any one of them will be willing to trade with you,   
   just to have the blood of Amazonia in his possession."   
      
   Xena chuckled slightly, trying not to tear the stitches, shook her head, and   
   began to eat.   
      
   x…………………x   
      
   Gabrielle's day began as it had since her arrival, she and the others were   
   up well before the dawn. Today food had to be prepared and ready to be   
   served the instant any of Batiatus' guests arose and demanded breakfast.   
   There still was cleaning to be done, a never ending task. And all during the   
   day the talk was only of Xena and her victory in the arena. Those who hadn't   
   seen it questioned those who did. And the ones who witnessed it were only   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)