Ch.23Chupacabra! (4)

#023

As Dexter headed to the medical office for his usual shift, he sensed someone’s presence in the treatment room at the back.

Walking toward the treatment room, he saw Jessie removing her cast with Rose helping her.

“Good morning to ya.”

“Mr. Hughes, good morning.”

“…Hi.”

Unlike Rose who greeted him with a bright smile, Jessie’s expression was ambiguous—hard to tell if she was crying or laughing.

“Wow, removing the cast already? You must be getting discharged soon?”

“No, Dr. Yelena said we should remove the cast but keep her here for a few more days. Especially because of her weight.”

Rose said, pointing at Jessie.

The formerly skinny Jessie was now a distant memory, replaced by a beautiful woman with a healthy figure and a bit of meat on her bones.

A body type perfectly tailored to Dexter’s preferences.

“So she’ll be discharged around next week?”

“That’s right. Both you and Ms. Blueberg have been through a lot.”

Since the medical office wasn’t meant for such long-term stays, the on-duty doctors and nurses had the toughest job.

Perhaps that’s why Rose wore the biggest smile, while Jessie had the most apologetic expression in the world.

“Aren’t you a bit too happy about it?”

“Oh my, am I? I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Hahaha…”

‘She looks like she’s about to die from guilt.’

That was Dexter’s thought as he watched Jessie’s eyes darting around, clearly at a loss.

This was a side effect of her frontal lobe healing—her impulsive personality had calmed down considerably.

‘When she returns to the medium-security facility, they’ll probably think she’s a new inmate.’

Only the ID card pinned to Jessie’s chest, with her skinny-era photo printed on it, confirmed she was the same person.

While Rose stepped away briefly, Dexter entered the treatment room and spoke to Jessie, who was examining her hands and forearms.

“What’s so fascinating?”

“Nothing, just surprised how quickly the bone healed. Isn’t it too fast? Last time I broke something, I had to keep it wrapped for almost a month.”

Unable to say “Sorry, it’s because we experimented on you,” Dexter gave a common answer.

“Probably because you’re eating well. Your body’s in much better shape now.”

“I guess so…”

Jessie was still looking at her body with suspicious eyes.

“Feels like a dream?”

“Want me to pinch you? Really hard.”

Dexter mimicked pinching with his thumb and index finger.

“I’ll kill you if you pinch me.”

Jessie said, waving her fist at Dexter.

“Anyway, you should prepare for your return. The inmates in Block 2 will be quite surprised.”

“Those guys? Heh, I don’t care.”

Jessie snorted.

“I was going easy on them because I was scrawny, but if they try to mess with me now? I’ll beat them to a pulp.”

With a confident voice, Jessie cracked her knuckles, making popping sounds. Seeing this, Dexter sighed deeply.

“And end up in solitary? Please, let’s keep things quiet.”

“Hey, you should stand up and fight, not run away!”

Watching Jessie throw punches like a boxer, Dexter said:

“Sure, fight back and get sent to Block 4, right?”

“Ah, what Block 4! I won’t beat them that badly, and I’ll avoid fights when I can. Don’t think of me as the old Jessie, okay?”

Jessie said, showing off the muscles on her forearm.

Sensing there might be hidden information behind Jessie’s fierce words, Dexter probed further.

“Has anyone actually been sent to Block 4 for fighting?”

“Never seen it happen just for fighting, but I’ve seen people go there for things like group beatings that left someone a mess. You could probably find news articles if you search the prison name.”

Dexter nodded at Jessie’s detailed explanation.

“So it has to be newsworthy to get sent to Block 4.”

“I once saw a woman who came to Block 2 briefly after being in Block 4. Wow, I thought you’d need some serious guts to survive in a place like that.”

“Who was she?”

“Her name was Tena. Short hair, stocky build, tattoos from neck to ankle. She had an incredible presence. Nobody dared mess with her.”

Dexter was curious about what kind of inmate could make even the notoriously crazy Jessie back down.

“Why did she come down to Block 2?”

“Well, she had a homemade knife stuck in her stomach. The guards sent her to Block 2 temporarily to protect her.”

“Wow.”

Dexter couldn’t help but exclaim at the brutal reason.

“Be careful too, Dexter, okay? I’ll kill you if you get hurt.”

“Huh, you’ll kill me if I get hurt?”

Dexter thought it was ridiculous to receive such a nonsensical threat.

“Yeah, I’ll be careful. Ah, the nurse is coming.”

“Huh?”

As Rose’s footsteps approached the treatment room, Dexter quickly lowered his head.

And kissed Jessie on the lips.

Through the antiseptic smell of the treatment room, the subtle peach scent from Jessie tickled Dexter’s nose.

The contact lasted less than a second, leaving Jessie flustered while Dexter pretended nothing had happened.

“…!”

“Shh.”

While Jessie touched her lips in confusion at the suddenly vanished sensation, Rose came to the treatment room and gestured to both of them.

“I’m sorry. I need to check something before I clock out. Ms. Blueberg, please return to your room, and Mr. Hughes, you’ll continue to stay in the medical office, right?”

“Ah, yes. Of course.”

Dexter grinned.

“Well then… Ms. Blueberg, are you feeling unwell?”

“Eh? No, not at all!”

“Your face is flushed… You’re not suddenly feverish, are you?”

“I’m super healthy! I’m fine!”

Seeing Jessie flustered, Dexter left the treatment room first and secretly laughed with his back turned.

‘Hehehe, why is her panicking so cute?’

As soon as Rose came out, Dexter maintained a serious face, though he could see Jessie glaring at him with a flushed face.

“Ms. Blueberg, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Just you wait.”

“My, you two get along so well.”

Because of Rose’s bright smile, Jessie couldn’t fight with Dexter and just gritted her teeth.

Jessie entered her room, glared at Dexter briefly, and was about to prepare to lie down on the bed.

“Wait, Ms. Blueberg. Now that you’re healthy, how about doing some bodyweight exercises?”

It was Rose, stopping Jessie with her body as she was about to lie down.

“Bodyweight exercises?”

“Your arm strength must have weakened, and you didn’t exercise much before, did you?”

Rose said, placing her hands on her hips.

Surprised by Rose’s sudden exercise proposal, Jessie hesitated before answering.

“Yes, that’s true, but…”

“That won’t do. Don’t worry. I’ll definitely teach you exercises while you’re here. I actually have a personal trainer certification.”

At Rose’s sudden declaration, Jessie made a slightly displeased face.

“Exercise… do I really have to?”

“Oh my, we can’t let you lose the weight Dr. Yelena helped you gain. It’ll help maintain your figure too!”

Unlike Rose, who radiated endless positive energy, Jessie was crouching in the corner.

“Guard… help me…”

“Well now, my job is to make sure you follow the nurse’s instructions properly. You should work hard, right?”

“That’s right. Ms. Blueberg, you can be strong and healthy like Mr. Hughes. Come on, get up from the bed and exercise with me. Okay?”

‘This bastard, is he trying to mess with me?’

Dexter was nodding as if Rose’s opinion was absolutely correct.

Jessie wanted to slap her past self for proposing FWB—friends with benefits—to Dexter.

As Rose forcibly lifted Jessie’s body, Jessie was clearly showing her displeasure.

Now that he looked, Rose’s arms were also toned with firm muscles.

‘Excellent.’

Dexter had a good idea as he watched Rose already teaching Jessie an exercise on the bed.

‘Wouldn’t it be killing two birds with one stone if I asked Rose about exercises to teach Judy?’

It seemed like a good method to make both Jessie and Judy exercise.

‘Rather than a body correction device, maybe Rose… No, Jessie wouldn’t have become sexy without it.’

Dexter had completely abandoned his guideline that the process was also important.

“Rose, after you finish teaching Blueberg, could I learn about women’s exercise methods?”

“Wow, are you going to teach your girlfriend?”

At Rose’s words, flames were about to ignite in Jessie’s eyes.

“Of course not. I don’t have one yet. I know men’s exercises well, but I’m clueless about women’s. Sometimes people ask me, and I find it awkward to respond.”

“That’s right, that’s right. If women do the same exercises as men, they might collapse right away. You’ve thought this through. Give me your contact, and I’ll recommend some relevant books.”

As Rose readily agreed, Dexter firmly grasped her hand and said:

“Oh my, thank you. I didn’t expect to get such help.”

“Not at all. You’ve been more helpful, Mr. Hughes. Now, let me get back to teaching Ms. Blueberg.”

“Um, wait. You can talk a bit more…”

“Oh my, no slacking off already.”

The sounds Dexter heard as he moved away from the room seemed more like they were coming from a torture chamber than a medical office.

“ARGGHHH!”

“My, don’t exaggerate.”

“I’m going crazy, I’m losing my miiiind!”

But it wasn’t torture—just the two of them doing Pilates in earnest.

The on-duty doctor Yelena must have heard the noise too, as she poked her head out of the examination room, checked the patient room, nodded, and went back in.

“Um, Mr. Hughes?”

Dexter saw the day shift nurse looking at him with bewildered eyes, clearly having just arrived and not understanding what was happening.

“W-what on earth is that sound?”

“Hm? Oh, that’s the sound of exercise instruction. Don’t worry too much and just prepare for your shift.”

At Dexter’s words, the day shift nurse briefly turned her head toward the patient room, then nodded in understanding as she saw Rose holding Jessie’s legs with a bright smile.

“Ah… Rose is teaching exercise. She’s famous around here.”

“Famous?”

The day shift nurse spoke in a low voice.

“They call her the Devil PT Instructor… There’s a story that she traveled around gyms near Las Vegas, turning all weak-willed students into fitness models…”

“Ah-ha.”

It was an understandable nickname.

“I’M SORRYYYY! I SAID I’M SORRYYYY!”

“Ms. Blueberg, you don’t need to apologize. It’s not you who should be sorry, it’s your body.”

Despite Rose’s affectionate voice, Jessie sounded like she was about to die.

‘Hang in there, Jessie!’

Apart from cheering for Jessie’s healthy body, there was nothing more Dexter could do to help.