Hearing him puttering around the bedroom saw her relaxing a little bit. Hopefully he would stay out there and she could finish washing up without sending him over the edge. After removing most of the soot and dirt from her face and arms, Elsie gingerly lifted her stained chemise to see the bruise on her ribs. It was a deep purple, and bigger than she originally thought, but it wasn't so bad. She hadn't even really felt it earlier when Tyb had been squeezing her and everything these days paled in comparison to childbirth, so she was relieved that at least this would heal pretty quickly.
She froze at the sound of her name, looking cautiously up at his reflection in the looking glass. "I'm fine," she assured him, reaching for her nightgown quickly. "I got knocked into a shelf when someone was rushing by." Clumsy on her own two feet, she didn't need any help, but she had been in the way and it was just an accident. Her voice was quiet, tired, and she was trying to downplay just how hectic everything had been, though she knew he could probably guess. "It's just a bruise." She always seemed to have them anyway; she bruised easily and often, just from casually bumping into something. Pale skin and poor circulation and all that. Nothing felt broken or anything worse; she had gotten off lightly, comparatively.
Els turned away for a minute to pull one garment on in favor of another, the long sleeves of her nightgown thankfully covering all of the little injuries on her arms. She hung the washcloth on the edge of the sink and gathered up the ruined chemise to be tossed later. There was no rescuing any of the clothes she'd had on today and that was fine. The corset was truly the only loss, as they could be expensive to replace, but she would figure it out. Stopping in the doorway just in front of her husband, she gently laid a hand on his cheek. "I'm alright, I promise." It was far more mentally and emotionally upsetting than anything that had happened to her body today, but she would be alright. She had to be, otherwise it would have been for nothing.
She froze at the sound of her name, looking cautiously up at his reflection in the looking glass. "I'm fine," she assured him, reaching for her nightgown quickly. "I got knocked into a shelf when someone was rushing by." Clumsy on her own two feet, she didn't need any help, but she had been in the way and it was just an accident. Her voice was quiet, tired, and she was trying to downplay just how hectic everything had been, though she knew he could probably guess. "It's just a bruise." She always seemed to have them anyway; she bruised easily and often, just from casually bumping into something. Pale skin and poor circulation and all that. Nothing felt broken or anything worse; she had gotten off lightly, comparatively.
Els turned away for a minute to pull one garment on in favor of another, the long sleeves of her nightgown thankfully covering all of the little injuries on her arms. She hung the washcloth on the edge of the sink and gathered up the ruined chemise to be tossed later. There was no rescuing any of the clothes she'd had on today and that was fine. The corset was truly the only loss, as they could be expensive to replace, but she would figure it out. Stopping in the doorway just in front of her husband, she gently laid a hand on his cheek. "I'm alright, I promise." It was far more mentally and emotionally upsetting than anything that had happened to her body today, but she would be alright. She had to be, otherwise it would have been for nothing.
![[Image: Elsie-MJSig.png]](https://i.ibb.co/zFHDHQc/Elsie-MJSig.png)
MJ always makes her so pretty