Miserabelle
A Mercynaries Story from SinComics.com

Martin stoked the fire and sighed back into his phone. "I know, Clancy. I'm past the deadline, I know. We go over this with every book... Yes, it should be a concern this happens with every book... Yes, I'm terrible, Clancy... Yes, I know that's not what you meant... Yes, I know Cammy and I are superstars and these books have made us all rich... Okay, talk to you when I've made progress. That's why I'm out here in the middle of nowhere with the skiers, trees, and yetis... Yes, I know yetis probably aren't real. Goodnight, Clancy."
Martin sighed and tossed the phone back onto the cottage's bed. He'd been in the mountains for two weeks now and the ideas weren't flowing as well as he hoped. The plan was that getting out of the city would push him through his writer's block, he'd finish this book, and then he'd be free. Martin knew he was really the cause of the problem. He'd been writing the "Noire Gale Nurse" series for at least a decade now and it was time to finally end it. This couldn't be just another book, he had to make it an event. Did he kill off Gale? Did she retire peacefully? Did she stay at the hospital or the detective agency? Why was this stupid franchise the only thing he'd ever written that audiences would pay for?! He plopped down into the chair and woke up his laptop yet again to face the blinking cursor on a novel with barely two pages of notes and an outline. He'd warned his friends to not expect to hear from him in a long time. He was going to stay at the cottage, cut off from the world, until he either finished this book or he wandered off into the woods and abandoned society. Clancy would still probably find him living among the wolves and yell at him about the deadlines. Martin faced the fire and rubbed his hands again. Once this book was done, he'd be going on a nice, long vacation someplace warm.

After another hour of tapping back on forth on the keyboard, Martin pushed the chair back from the table. Supplies! Going out for supplies would get his blood flowing and brain working again. He snatched his keys off the table and headed out to the car, still trying to convince himself that this was about being prepared for a snowstorm and not that the ride to town would give him an hour or so where he didn't have to think about the book.

Martin pulled the car into the parking lot at the outskirts of the small town. It was an old fashioned place where the streets were reserved for pedestrians so there was no driving through the town. He slammed the car door and pulled his coat tight against the brisk wind. Martin stepped out of the lot and immediately felt an intense bolt of pain move from his foot up his leg. He reeled back, his arms flailing for something to grasp, and he slammed down on his coccyx. After a torrent of curses through gritted teeth, Martin looked around and was thankful nobody was there to see that. The patch of ice he was now sitting on started to soak through his jeans and he tried to get up off the ground. The pain returned in his ankle and he fell back down. With the way this day was going, it was probably broken. He slowly rose, placing all his weight on his other leg, and steadied himself. He winced again as he started to walk. This would require more care than the bottle of wine he was planning on buying could offer. Thankfully, he knew where the hospital was. He'd made it a note to always visit the hospitals of towns he visited so he could snag a few details for the next book. Maybe he could write off this visit on his taxes if he claimed a broken ankle was a business expense for research purposes.

Martin sat with his leg up on another chair in the waiting room. He was the only one in the room, but that wasn't out of the ordinary for a town this small. Heck, you'd be hard-pressed to even call this place a real hospital. It must have been built centuries ago, more an over-sized log cabin than a proper home of medicine. As he stared around and admired the old world craftsmanship, a middle-aged woman appeared from a room in the back. She was small town plain but carried herself with as much gravitas as any doctor in the city.
"Sorry about the wait, Mr. Martin! There are so many boxes of medicines back there and we don't really see much traffic through here."
Martin gave a barely polite laugh and reached out for the bottle of painkillers in her hand. "That's quite all right. Now if we could just-" He reached out again and the nurse stood at attention.
"Oh, right!" She spun the top off the bottle and shook two pills into Martin's waiting hands. "Let me get some water for you. Those should take the immediate edge off." She hurried off and quickly returned with a small paper cup full of cold water and Martin gulped it down.
"You're a lifesaver..."
"Jennifer! My name is Jennifer. If you wouldn't mind, I need to check your foot." She gently removed his shoe and Martin sucked in air through his teeth. "Oh, dear..." His ankle was already red and swollen to an unnatural size. "That's going to have to come off."
"WHAT?!" Martin bolted upright, jostling his leg, and wincing in pain again.
"J-Just the sock! I didn't mean- You thought-" She nervously laughed.
"And you're sure there's not a doctor hidden back there?"
"Quite sure. It's just me through the weekend. The doctor is off on a hunting trip and-"
"How many more of those pills can I take?"
The nurse laughed again and moved to help Martin stand. "You're a funny guy! Let's get you to a room"

Martin wasn't sure if it had been a few hours or just a few minutes, but Jennifer finally returned to his room. The whole world felt fuzzy and he was happier than he'd been in months. "S'pills are great, Jennfer."
She giggled as she finished prepping his medicine. "You're a bit of a lightweight, Mr. Martin." She plunged a needle into his ankle and swabbed the area after finishing the injection.
"M'notta lightweight! Dinn't feel a thing."
"Of course. I'm just going to sit here with you for a while. It's okay to fall asleep and let the medicine do its work." She hoisted herself onto a stool next to the wall and removed a small book from her coat pocket. Even in his medicated state, Martin recognized the cover. 666 CCs of Intrigue. It was one of his first books.
"Prolly shouldnt say, but that's mine."
Jennifer looked around the room to see if he'd dropped something before she noticed he was pointing at the book. "Oh no, dear. This is my book. If you have one in your coat, it's still there. I don't think you're in much condition to read right now though."
"No no nonono. Your book. I wrote it."
She eyed him curiously. "You like 'Noire Gale Nurse' too? It's my favorite! But... the author is Cammy Foxe. Did you mean you're a publisher?"
Martin whipped his head back and forth as best he could to say no. "S'a pen name. I wrote 'em all."
Jennifer closed her book and clutched it tightly. "The author is Cammy Foxe. She started the series after her hospital was shut down and she was laid off. I don't want to call you a liar in your state, but... Look, there's even a picture of her on the back." Jennifer held out the book and pointed at the smiling blonde woman on the back. Martin giggled in his haze. Jennifer defensively pulled the book in tight and wrapped her arms around it.
"She's a model. Lookit, look at my phone. Pictures from the las' release party."
Jennifer pulled his phone from his coat pocket and opened the photo gallery stored on it. After a few scrolls, she came across multiple pictures of Cammy smiling and sharing drinks with the man sharing the hospital room with her. She frantically scrolled through the gallery and saw multiple shots of Martin taking selfies at a publisher's office, a printing press, with mock-ups of cover art she held dear. Jennifer quickly turned off the phone and placed it on the table.
"She's really really nice. Friend of Clancy. Nice lady. Imma end the series."
Jennifer gasped and bolted to her feet, knocking the stool over with a clatter. "You what?!"
Martin grinned. "Las' book. I'm free!"
Jennifer's fingers trembled as she clutched her chest. "Cammy would never- You can't end 'Noire Gale Nurse'! Gale is an inspiration. It's- It's the most important literature of the modern-" Martin guffawed, his inhibitions gone thanks to the magic of painkillers. Jennifer stomped her foot and composed herself. "Gale has barely had time to decide which relationship to continue! Malorey the oncologist or Sebastian the chief of police, she- They both love her!"
Martin laughed and slapped his forehead. "Names are so dumb."
Jennifer tore through the medicine cabinets in the room and quickly prepared another needle and jammed it into Martin's shoulder. "Cammy would never end the series! I can- I can fix this..." Martin's vision blurred and he slipped further into sleep. Each time he blinked, his eyes were closed for longer and longer. The last things he saw was Jennifer furiously returning to the room with jars of strange chemicals.

Martin groggily shuddered awake. He could hardly move, but his vision returned slowly. Sounds were muffled like he was underwater and his mouth burned with a sharp, unnatural citrus taste. His head flopped to the side and he saw a multitude of needles inside his arm and leading up to IV drips. A faint beeping reached his ears and echoey footsteps finally became clear as he saw a figure enter the room and approach the side of his bed. It reached down for his pulse and he turned away as it shined a bright light in his eyes.
" -r me? I asked if you can hear me?"
Some nonsensical syllables spilled out of Martin's lips.
"Good good! The patient is finally awake. Your injury was most severe and you needed a lot of work done. You've been out for quite a while, so try to relax. These chemicals can take a lot out of you."
Memories started to slowly bubble up in Martin's mind. He was writing. Then driving. He fell. His ankle, that's what it was! He leaned forward to reach for his leg, but everything about his body felt wrong. Everywhere was like pins and needles and he struggled to sit upright. He felt a weight tug him forward more and a heft on his chest. He grunted and his voice was wrong. He must have been out for a long time for his throat to feel so raw from not speaking. He gently shook his head but it felt like boulders were rattling around inside. Suddenly, the world became dark and he couldn't see. In a panic, Martin waved his hand in front of his face and faint bits of light shone through. There was something on his head. He yanked at it but felt a sharp pain on his scalp. Grimacing, he swatted the obstruction aside, only for it to float back in front of his eyes. It was yellow. Blonde.
"Careful there, Miss Foxe. You still need lots of rest before you're back to normal. I'll take care of you though. I can make you all better."
"F-Foxe? I told you-"
"Oh I know what you told me! The hateful lies you made up! The horrible things you said about Gale!" Jennifer took a deep breath and smoothed out her skirt. "Ahem. I heard what you told me and I knew that Cammy Foxe, the REAL Cammy Foxe, would never speak like that, so I just- I just had to make Cammy Foxe."

Martin frantically patted himself down. The blonde hair on his head, the weight on his chest, the strangeness in his voice, the pins and needles over his body, and the chemicals being pumped into him!
Jennifer grinned as she admired her work. "The chemicals are a bit rough, but they do an excellent job." Martin spun around, shook his head to clear the fog, and grasped at the needles in his arm. Jennifer grabbed his hand and pinned it down. He was took weak to fight back and the strain wore Martin out quickly. "Cammy, please. Calm yourself." She placed his arm on the side of the bed and pulled out the straps. After securing his arms and legs, she rifled through the cabinet on the wall and prepared a needle. Martin couldn't even feel it jab into his shoulder or the new batch of chemicals pumped into him. "Maybe you need some more time, dear." The corners of his vision started to blur and Martin passed out into sleep once more.

Martin woke with the sun in his eyes. He groaned, still too weak to move much but he was able to look over his undeniably female body. Breasts pushed against the hospital gown and his hips jutted out from where it was loosely tied. He collapsed back onto the pillow and had to brush back the strands of blonde hair that fluttered into his eyes.
Breathing became easier as time passed and Martin adjusted to the changes and new feelings that came with his body. He propped himself up against the headboard and groaned as he looked at what had happened to his body. The tubes were no longer connected to his arms, but the damage was done. Footsteps softly echoed on the wood flooring and grew louder as his captor came closer.
"Gooood morning, Cammy! I thought I heard you waking up. You look nice this morning!"
"Don't call me that." Martin grumbled in his now delicate tone.
Jennifer walked over and gently patted his blonde locks. "I'd heard that artists were temperamental. Let's get you something to eat!"
"You won't get away with this! Somebody will find out where I am."
The nurse laughed and gave him a quick hug. "Of course they won't, dear. I was the only one that saw you that day and I removed your records from our system. It's a small town, so I have access to everything and nobody goes snooping around. I have the whole week off so it's just you and I together. We'll have fun." She left Martin to stew and he heard the footsteps move down the hall again.
Several minutes later, Jennifer returned with a small tray of food, set it on the table by the bed's side, and sat next to Martin. "Your medicine does wonders, but it takes a bit out of you. We have lots of fat and sugars to help replenish what you lost. Eat up!" Martin glared at her but she just smirked and and picked up the cup of pudding herself. "Don't worry, as a nurse, I have experience helping patients eat if they can't do it themselves." She propped open his mouth and shoved a spoonful of the dessert inside. Martin was still too weak to fight her, so he caved and weakly reached out for the cup himself. "Thatta girl!"
"How are you doing this? Why!?"
"Modern medicine is quite amazing, even for us folk in small towns. We typically use small doses of your medicine to help people after reconstructive surgery or skin grafts, that sort of thing. But, like I said, it's a small town so we don't need to use it much. Lucky for you, we keep it around and the old supply stays effective."
Martin grasped the pudding cup but was too weak to crush it. "Why..."
"After the hurtful things you said when we first met, I knew I had to help you see the light and make amends for the awful, awful things you said. The Cammy I know would never say that about Gale. She knows how important Gale is to all nurses everywhere. To all readers everywhere!"
Martin gritted his teeth. "There is no Cammy! The books aren't important, they're just dumb pulp novels that bored people buy because it's easy to read and has sex and violence in it."
Jennifer reeled back as if she had been physically struck. "Cammy would never speak like that! I can't let you end this series. I'm going to help you and we'll save Gale together!" She gathered herself and quickly shuffled out of the room, leaving Martin to eat in silence.

The days passed and Jennifer proved her power over the situation. Martin was quick to rebel in whatever small manner he could, but this was met with more injections and his meals spiked with drugs to keep him groggy and compliant. By the end of the first week, Martin's figure matched that of the model hired to stand in for Cammy Foxe's author pictures and he resigned himself to the chemical prison Jennifer was keeping him in. He finally caved and agreed to whatever she wanted him to do.
Jennifer gleefully hurried back to Martin's room carrying a laptop. His first instinct was to check it for a Wi-Fi signal, but nothing was detected. Once the machine was propped up in front of him, Jennifer clapped her hands and jumped up and down, barely containing her joy.
"Oh goody! Cammy, you and I are going to write the next masterpiece in Gale's journey! Obviously, we'll just put your name on it, but we'll know I co-wrote it. We'll know!"
Martin stifled all the ways he really wanted to respond and looked over at the nurse. "What do you want to do?"
Jennifer excitedly paced the room. "I think we should take a look back at Gale's adventures against the rogue mortician in Mexico from BurriToe Tags. It just didn't feel completed when he was arrested. The electrocutions had to have involved other people. I think there are people out there still looking for Gale!"
"Really? You think the ending was setting up a secret cabal with the mission of taking down a nurse detective?"
"Oh yes, exactly!" Jennifer rushed back over to Martin and hugged him. "You're SUCH an amazing writer. It's like we're on the same wavelength!"
Martin winced from tight hug and from thinking over the torture that writing this terrible book would be. He'd never hated Gale more than he did right now. He'd come to terms with selling out his artistic pride years ago because the pay was good but now that it had intruded into the real world and distorted his own body, he wanted no part in it.
"The ideas! They're just flowing!" Jennifer shuffled back and forth, waving her hands and grinning. "This must be how you feel all the time! You just HAVE to get Gale's stories out into the world!" Martin gave her a halfhearted smile back and started poking around the word processor. Jennifer looked over at the clock and gasped. "Oh, Cammy, I know we have work to do, but I have to go." Martin's eyes lit up. "I have to put in a shift at the hospital today. And it will gives us a chance to stock up on your medicine. You know, if the bad thoughts come back." He shrunk back as she approached. Jennifer leaned down at the edge of the bed and pulled up the straps. She tightly fastened them around his legs and Martin winced when she wrapped it around his ankle. There was a dreadful click as the straps were locked closed. Jennifer repeated the process around his thin waist and looped a cuff around his left arm before locking it to the bed. "Write well! I'll check up on you during lunch and breaks!" Jennifer hurried out of the room and Martin could hear her footsteps down the hall, a door slam, and then quiet fill the house.
Martin jerked his arm against the cuff but neither it nor the bed had any weak points. He yanked and clawed at the straps, but they were locked tight and showed no signs of giving way. Martin shuddered in anguish and held back his despair. He wiped his eyes clear and looked over at the blinking cursor on the laptop.

Jennifer arrived for her shift at the hospital flush and brimming with ideas. It was just a normal day shift but it would be hard to make it through knowing the contributions she could make to the world of literature. She bound towards the waiting room but quickly pressed against the wall when she saw two people talking to Bridget at the front desk. They didn't look familiar and they weren't dressed like locals. The redhead wore a puffy pink parka with purple tights. The blonde wore a mini dress accented by faux fur tufts at the skirt and sleeves and her heeled boots followed suit. She shivered and rapidly rubbed her arms for warmth. Served her right for dressing like that in winter. Jennifer dismissively scoffed at them, the kind of college kids that came up for a ski trip and got hypothermia or broke legs when going out at night drunk. She collected herself and strode into the waiting room. Bridget immediately waved her down.
"Jennifer! Oh, Jenny!"
Jennifer hid her worry behind a broad smile. "Morning, Bridget!"
"Jenny, these two ladies are from the... The... What was it again?"
The redhead nodded, her pigtails flopping behind her. "Medicine, Drugs, and Pills Agency."
Jennifer eyed her suspiciously. "Can't... say I've heard of that agency. Do you have-"
The blonde quickly interrupted. "We're here because we've been informed of a movement of large amounts of these medicines." She handed Jennifer a slip with hastily scrawled names on them. The nurse immediately recognized all of them as the items she needed to bring Cammy back to herself.
Bridget was flustered and motioned back and forth at Jennifer and the computer. "Y-You were the last one to take a delivery but the stock is fine and the inventory numbers are fine and-"
Jennifer composed herself and rose straight. She had obviously doctored the inventory to cover her tracks, and if Bridget didn't notice the change, everything would be fine. "Yes. I did inventory last week. The shipments were fine and we sent out the cases of expired medicine to the proper facilities." She turned and dismissively waved at the two new women. "Chemicals don't last forever, dears."
The redhead furrowed her brow, taking umbrage at the nurse's attitude. "Our sources say that-"
The blonde grabbed her partner's arm. "She said everything is fine. False alarm. Now can we get the hell out of here, I'm freezing!"
The redhead gave Jennifer one more look and turned the door. "We'll contact you for more information later." She pushed the blonde forward and the two bickered as they left. Jennifer could barely hear them as they trailed off, "-Then learn to wear pants, you dope."

Jennifer smiled and gave an "ugh, out of towners" shrug to her partner and hung her coat up. She and Bridget went over the night's events (nothing happened, as usual) and the day's schedule (nobody and nothing, as usual). Jennifer went off to her rounds of tidying up for the sake of filling time, but in the back of her mind she was only thinking of helping Cammy create her story. Their story! This would be the biggest thing to happen to Jennifer!

At the end of her shift, Jennifer passed off the notes to the night crew and said her good-byes to the cleaning staff and lone doctor on schedule. As she walked through the town back to her car, she noticed an odd sight in the diner. They had new ridiculous outfits, but that redhead and the blonde were sitting at a booth having what appeared to be an argument as they waved papers at each other. Jennifer clutched her chest and sucked in her breath. Did they know? Were they actually from some kind of agency? She quickly shuffled off to the car, keeping close to the storefronts so she couldn't be seen from through the diner window.

Back at her house, Jennifer saw Cammy at her bed, still in the place after Jennifer left her there after her no doubt inspiring pep talk when she stopped by during her afternoon break. Martin looked up to see his captor and immediately bent towards the laptop and brushed away the lock of hair that fell down.
"Cammy! Cammy..." Martin was shocked at the tone of the nurse's voice. He hadn't heard her flustered like that before. "Did you... Was there any... Contact?" Martin cocked his head at the nonsense coming out of her. Jennifer saw his total confusion and calmed down. "That is to say, have you been a good girl today? Lots of writing?"
Martin glared at her with hate, but bit his tongue to not speak out. Jennifer stared back sternly. Only breaking contact when her eyes flickered to the vials and medicine bottles on the table. Martin followed her gaze and sighed. "Yes, lots of writing. Do you... want to read it?"
Jennifer squealed like a small child. "A sneak peek at the next 'Noire Gale Nurse' story?! Oh yes, yes, yes!" She snatched the laptop away from Martin and scurried out of the room. Martin sighed and leaned back on the pillows. Bound to the bed writing this drivel all day and having to put up with this at night...
An hour or so later, Jennifer returned clutching the laptop. "Beautiful, just beautiful! Didn't I tell you a beach trip was exactly what Malorey needed after losing the senator during surgery!?" Jennifer plopped down on the bed and rested her head on Martin's shoulder. We're such a good team."

The next day, Jennifer filed her end of day paperwork and laid things out for the afternoon staff. She was excited to reward Cammy for her hard work on bringing Gale's latest drama and adventures to life and had a special gift in mind. She rushed to the stores before heading home.
Jennifer burst through the door shaking the paper bag. "Caaa-myyy!" She tossed her coat and purse on the dresser and rushed to loosen the straps on Martin's bed. "You've been doing SUCH a good job that I wanted to get you a little special something."
"Freedom?"
Jennifer laughed heartily and pulled Martin up. "I know you big city gals are all about fashion so I got you..." She lifted up a blue satin dress and shook it out at Martin.
He backed away, but knew there would be no stopping her until he took it. It looked like something she stole from a 1950s housewife, but it would be nice to finally be done with the hospital gowns. Without a word, Martin held up his arms and Jennifer gleefully helped him change.
Once the dress was on, Jennifer immediately sat him down and started brushing his hair, prattling on about her day and the insane ideas she had for the book. Martin looked down the hall and thought of escape. He could maybe break free, but running on his bad ankle... And he'd freeze before getting to town if just wearing the dress. Martin was still trapped and at this mad woman's mercy.

At the end of the week, Jennifer ended her shift and stocked up on Cammy's medicines by slipping the bottles into her purse. She planned for a full weekend of writing and nothing was going to get in her way of making meaningful progress on the book. Cammy was already over halfway done with the book so this was where everything got serious. Jennifer wasn't quite sure of how long it took to write a book as fine as this, but everything just felt right. Another week or so to finish it, a little time to proofread, and it would be in readers' hands and shaping humanity by the end of the month.
Jennifer skipped to the parking lot, her heart full, when a horrible sight stopped her in her tracks. It was those two awful women that visited the hospital! The redhead had pulled the blonde in close and was rubbing her shoulders as she looked over some paperwork. They motioned to one of the shops, the market, and walked down the street. Jennifer held her breath tight and hurried past them as quickly as she could without being suspicious. Did the redhead glance at her when she went by?! Jennifer shuffled to the car, threw her purse on the passenger's seat, and zipped her way home.
Back home, Jennifer unlocked the door to Martin's room and stormed over to him. "What did you do?! Who are they!?"
Martin immediately tried to back away but Jennifer kept advancing until he tripped back and landed on the bed. "Wh-What are you talking about?"
"The strange women in town! I've seen them. Oh, I've seen them! At the hospital! Asking questions!"
Martin beamed inside. Could help be on the way? Somebody to free him and take out this crazy lady! But he had no idea who they were and seeing Jennifer in this state was alarming. "I've been in this room all day! You locked me in, you had to unlock the door. I couldn't have been out!"
Jennifer paced back and forth, her eyes darting from the door to her prisoner and back. "You called them. I-I don't know how, but you called them. Nobody is going to take you away from me! Nobody is going to take Gale from me!"
Martin stayed on the bed, leaning back and accessing the situation and Jennifer's paranoia. She continued her rant. "All this time! I thought what we had was special. But no, you're not like Gale. You're not like Gale at all! You're... You're an Isabella!" Martin stared at her blankly, unsure of this advanced madness. "Isabella pretended to be Gale's friend too! But then... Then! In DieZygotic, Isabella betrayed Gale! Locked her in the bunker and tried to take over Gale's life. She betrayed Gale and tried to ruin her reputation! You're not like Gale, you're Isabella! Trying to ruin Gale's life! I'm- I'm the only one that can save Gale!"
Martin raised his hands with his palms out and did his best to talk soothingly. "Jennifer, you need to relax. Nobody called those women. Nobody wants to hurt Gale. Look, look at the laptop! We did lots of writing today! Why don't you sit down and go over what we-"
Jennifer stood up straight. "Yes, writing! That's the only way to save Gale!" She deftly grasped Martin's arm, pinned it to the desk, and jabbed the needle connected to the IV into his forearm. Martin yelped in pain and panic. "You're going to write! And finish our book!" She took the strap and tightened it around Martin's leg. He scrambled to pull the needle out, but Jennifer grabbed his left arm and strapped it down as well. After securing Martin, she went back to the desk and set up multiple IV bags with the medicine and chemicals from her purse. Martin wanted to plead with her, but he was caught in a state of panic and was unsure of what she would do in any second.
The nurse finished preparing the needles and calmly inserted two more into Martin's arm and hung the IV bags. "We're not going anywhere. We're going to stay and write. And write. And write and write..." Jennifer leaned in for a hug, her head on Martin's chest and sighed. "You're not going anywhere and I'm not taking your medicine out until we finish this book."

Over the weekend, Martin typed furiously as the medical poison pumped into his body. He swore he could actually feel it flowing into him, pushing outward, expanding him and making a mockery of his biology as it took control. Feeling his hips push outward and his chest puff up, Martin focused more and more on the book to get the sensations out of his mind and to work towards freedom. Jennifer never left his side and taped the needles down at night when he finally gave in to exhaustion and couldn't write anymore. She didn't even take the needles out while proofreading the chapters so Martin was left with only the sensation of his curves ballooning out while he watched her read.

Jennifer only agreed to remove the needles when Martin had sent the manuscript to his publisher. Under her careful watch, an email was drafted and the book was sent out to the world. Once he'd fulfilled his side of the captive bargain, Jennifer halted the flow of the poison and freed him from the tubes and needles. Martin sighed heavily, woozy from the sudden stoppage of chemicals flowing into his bloodstream, and collapsed back onto the pillows. Silently, Jennifer just leaned over him and hugged him tightly while he drifted off to a fevered sleep.

Rehabilitation Vacation was unleashed onto the world of print and the reviews flooded the sites. The book was critically panned, as all of the "Noire Gale Nurse" books had been, but the public ate it up and downloaded the new story in droves. Jennifer was ecstatic and read the book to Martin every night. He was given free roam of part of the house while under Jennifer's watch but continued to be locked in his room while she was away. Now that she had a taste of the world of the successful author, Jennifer's mind buzzed with exciting, new, and sexy adventures for Gale.

One evening, a knock came at the door and Jennifer hurried to the entrance. Martin sat, confined to his room, knowing that screaming for help would only bring punishment. Jennifer shouted back as she ran to the entrance, "It must be the next delivery of our novel! I ordered an extra shipment for signings!" As she swung open the door, Martin could hear a gasp and a shuffle out front. He rose from his seat but was too beaten down to move just yet. Once the yelling started, Martin shuffled forward. His ankle was better, but days of being confined to the bed had still left it weak.
"Out! Out! Get out, you awful-" Jennifer was raising a commotion and Martin heard the bang of something being thrown and striking the wall. He slunk forward more and peeked out into the open.

"There it is!" A strange blonde woman gestured to him while another woman in pigtails struggled with holding Jennifer's arms behind her back.
Martin's heart fluttered and he ran forward, ignoring the pain in his foot and jiggling everywhere else. He practically crashed into the blonde woman and embraced her tightly. "You're here- You're going to free me, right?!"
"Whoa, calm down. We're here for you, but relax with the hugging."
The redhead and Jennifer collapsed to the ground as the redhead finally pinned the nurse down by laying on top of her. "Ugh, at least he has a good excuse for being captured. Lady, stop squirming!"
"No!" Jennifer thrashed as best she could down on the ground. "You won't take my Cammy away from me! How did you find her!?"
The blonde gave him a sidelong glance. "'Cammy'?"
Martin sheepishly looked away. "It's a pen name, she thought I was... Look, she is CRAZY! But how did you find me? It was the coded messages, right?!"
The two women looked back and forth sheepishly. "Messages?"
Martin nodded frantically. "The chapter titles! The anagrams for clues on how to find me?" The two nervously looked away. "Then it was the codes in the first letters of the paragraphs. Each chapter had a-" The women hemmed and hawed. "So how did you..."
The blonde piped up first. "We just... kind of visited every house and store in the town and surrounding area until we showed up here. I mean, the hospital had all that chemical junk so we figured... Had to be somebody around here, right?"
"Sorry it took so long and all. Small town, but it's spread out and all so, ya know... And..." The redhead sheepishly trailed off.
Martin ignored the agents' less than effective methodology and was just thankful they finally came. "You can cure me, right? And what's going to happen to... her?"
The blonde eyed him up and down. "We can purge that. Might take some time and some trial and error, but we'll get there."
It was a less than soothing answer. Martin pointed at the nurse. "And her?"
The redhead clamped down on Jennifer harder. "She'll have plenty of time for writing... behind bars!"
The blonde glared while still looking at Martin and didn't bother to turn around. "Seriously, Mercy?"
"What? I thought it was a good cop shop one-liner. It works!"
"No, it doesn't. And at best we'll just get her for stealing the chemicals. We can't mention unlawful human transformations and-" She stopped and pointed at Martin. "You totally can't tell anybody about this." Martin nervously nodded. "So just for the theft, it will be a fine and probably a short sentence." She pointed back at Martin again. "So you should probably, like, never come to this town again." Martin aggressively nodded.

One of the agents tied up Jennifer while the other followed Martin to his room and collected all the remaining chemicals and medicines to take with them. Ruth mentioned something about an arm thing being capable of reverse engineering the chemicals and creating antidotes, but it was yet another oddity in a string of weirdness Martin had experienced and he let it go. They left enough incriminating evidence and placed a phone call to the police to pick up Jennifer and her stolen goods.
When the flashing lights were visible coming down the mountain road, the agents collected Martin and the chemicals and ushered him towards a glowing green door.
"It's almost a shame." Martin looked back at the crying nurse.
Ruth deadpanned back towards him. "What."
"It- It was my best selling book. I'm not sure I can end the franchise now. And to see what lengths my readers will go... Maybe I should keep writing to-"
Mercy scoffed. "Puh-lease. Your books suck and your boobs are probably too big to see the keyboard now anyway. Let's go."

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