Joanna did as she was told. She rested her head against the pillow, let her eyes slide closed, and tried to focus on her breathing rather than the nervous ball that had formed in her stomach at the strange going-ons around her. Her father was there, which definitely helped, although she tensed ever so slightly at his question as to why Gabriel was apologizing. She wondered the same thing but stayed quiet as instructed.
Within a few seconds, however, she knew exactly why the man had apologized.
It began as little more than a typical spasm of pain, deep inside. After so many months of raw nerve endings and blood coming from her eyes and all sorts of other horrific things, Joanna had thought she'd felt the worst that pain had to offer. However she soon realized she'd never been more wrong in her entire life. For no sooner had the spasm of pain begun did it blossom into a large wave of agony that crashed over her and caused a whimper of pain to become a scream before it could even fully pass her lips.
Her body jerked, her back arched, as she struggled to stay as still as possible while at the same time wanting nothing more than to get away. Tears leaked from her eyes as they snapped open and stared, unseeing, at the ceiling overhead. Her hands clawed at the sheets beneath her, her nails digging into the soft fabric as her mind began a silent litany that her vocal chords simply couldn't express.
It hurts, make it stop, I don't want to get better just stop! I'll be good, I promise and I'll never talk about how much I hurt or my eyes or my legs or nothin' else never ever if you just please stop!
On and on the litany seemed to go, stuck on a neverending loop for as long as the pain was present. She meant every word, too, because anything - anything - was better than such agony after so many months of being worn down by pain she'd been unable to ignore.
And then, just as suddenly as it had started, it was over. The pain faded quickly and a numbness settled over the child's body as she sagged into the sheets in relief and realized distantly that she wasn't screaming anymore. In fact, she wasn't hurting anymore. At all.
Blinking the dampness away from her eyes, there was a look of hesitant hope on her face as she peered first at her father then at Gabriel. She didn't speak - she didn't trust her voice just yet and part of her was terrified what the answer would be if asked - so instead she simply stared at him and waited for some sign that he'd been successful... or that he, God forbid, had just gotten started.