Kaija was fast asleep when she felt a hand clamp tightly over her mouth and someone gently shaking her shoulders.
"Kaija, wake up," came the familiar voice that belonged to the young man whose presence in this room had become such a normal thing.
Kaija's eyes swung wide open, but unlike what Juho had expected, no scream came. Her hand closed over the hand covering her mouth, nudging it away.
"Please don't tell me you've come for the balm at this hour," she muttered, her eyelids fluttering slowly at the silhouette of Juho's face in the dim light.
Over the past two weeks, Juho had been a regular visitor, three times a day, always at mealtime.
He'd come with the meal cart and a brand-new jar of balm, and every time he did, he'd make her lie down like a starfish for him to smear balm over her until he was satisfied with it, before he let her have her meal.
Even now that no traces of bruises could be found on her skin anymore, Juho still kept coming.
