Marienna barely had time to process what Corwin had said when the overwhelming spike of pain hit her. She might have been alarmed to know how easy it had been to render her unconscious in an unguarded state. It didn't matter now, the damage was already done and it wasn't unfathomable that a part of her knew this might well be the end of her life. So close to death so many times, and when it finally came to her it would be because she was so weak and had feelings for a man for the first time in the entirety of her life. How was that for irony? Or if not irony, than something else that seemed to be a fitting end.
She stirred slowly in the bed she was laying on, groaning ever so softly as she returned to consciousness, the distinct pain that she felt tracked with what little she remembered of the injury. But. Marienna remembered enough. Her hands, now ungloved raised to her head, fingers running through her hair along her scalp to the side of her head where she felt the raised patch. It wasn't as painful as it could have been, a silver lining she supposed.
When her eyes opened she expected to see Agent Cross, but she was not there, not yet. She expected to be restrained but she hadn't been. She understood in that moment what Corwin had done and why he did it. He wanted to give her a fighting chance, a story to tell, something that might allow those in the investigative branches a reason to let her live. But this was now her second strike, even if she had little do with the Gurlanin who impersonated her, the creature had indeed chosen her and that was suspicious enough.
"Hi." Marienna said softly, trying her best not to garner the immediate attention of the medical officer. Corwin looked worried, he was scared. She couldn't blame him, but she did feel guilty for putting him in this situation to begin with. Perhaps she should have told a version of the truth that would not implicate him, take her punishment and allow him to move on with his life. "I doubt we have long." She also knew that someone was likely listening.
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