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repeated in her head the lie she had prepared for Nurse Hall the night before after finally having decided that it was time for her to go home.  I’ll simply tell her that Mr. Shatan believes I’m well enough to be transported home and that he’d like Nurse Hall to drive me there straight away.  
    Running a brush through her long dark hair, Lucia attempted a smile at her reflection in hopes of inspiring courage.  She was afraid of what would happen if the plan backfired in her face.  What would Draken do if he knew she was trying to be deceitful in an attempt at escape?  He already dislikes me.  Can it get much worse? Her smile quickly faded because she had no doubt that it actually could. 
    Her eyes flicked back up to her reflection and she stared at her own image.  When she’d first met Warren, she’d often wondered why he’d never tried to instigate an intimate relationship with her.  She was told often that she was beautiful and frequently had to thwart advances from other men, but Warren seemed immune to any beauty she possessed.  After time, she lost any romantic inclination where he was concerned and grew to love him as a brotherly figure. 
    Gazing at herself, her eyes drifted down to the scars that marred her neck and the right side of her jaw.  Luckily, the flames that licked up at her face that awful day hadn’t reached too high.  One swirled looking scar crested her jaw line up to her cheek about two inches and was about an inch and a half wide.  Unfortunately, under her chin and a good portion of her neck were severely scarred where her protective suit had ironically melted into her flesh. 
    Removing a glove from one of her equally scarred hands, Lucia felt the unbelievable softness of the scar tissue and couldn’t make out whether it was the deformed flesh of her neck or her fingers that was so soft.  She wondered if any man would again find her as beautiful as she had formerly been dubbed.  The thought was interrupted by Nurse Hall entering the room. 
    “Up and around I see, that’s good for you my dear,” Nurse Hall proclaimed in a chipper tone. 
    Before she lost her nerve Lucia blurted out, “Draken says I can go home and he wants you to take me.”  She quickly lowered her gaze and bit her lip, annoyed at her own impatience and dismayed at so quickly abandoning her well-rehearsed lie to simply blurt it out. 
    Nurse Hall simply laughed and said, “I’m glad to see your sense of humor is returning.” 
    Annoyed, Lucia looked up and said more sternly, “I’m not joking, Draken feels I am healthy enough to endure travel home.” 
    Nurse Hall scowled at Lucia with her own annoyance and said, “That’s not funny.  It’d break Mr. Shatan’s heart to hear you talk in such a manner.”
    A look of utter bewilderment crossed Lucia’s face, but went unnoticed by Nurse Hall who was busy setting out new bandages for Lucia’s wounds.  “How on earth could my leaving break Mr. Sha…Draken’s heart?”  Lucia questioned. 
    Nurse Hall turned to her with a serious look and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by an elderly gentleman dressed in a suit who entered the room. 
    “That will be all Nurse Hall,” the old man drawled. 
    Nurse Hall glanced at Lucia, then quickly left the room throwing a, “Best of luck dear!” over her shoulder. 
    Lucia opened her mouth to protest Nurse Hall’s rapid departure, but was immediately silenced by the older gentleman’s words.  “I am Patrick, Mr. Shatan’s valet, and charge of the household staff.  Dr. White and Nurse Hall have been cleared of their service as your last check up went as well as can be expected. 
    Mr. Shatan would like you to accompany him for dinner this evening in the formal dining hall.”  Patrick clapped his white gloved hands together and three young women wearing matching gray uniforms entered from the hallway carrying several boxes. 
    “I haven’t even had lunch yet,” Lucia scoffed under her