‘Please . . . no!’ she screamed as the doctor undid the lid on the jar, but Nurse Keen ignored her as they set about tying her legs.

Soon she was trussed up like a chicken, and Nurse Keen had lifted her gown to beneath her chin. Ruby’s face grew hot with humiliation as they stared down at her naked body, but worse was to come.

‘Ready, doctor,’ the nurse informed him with a smirk.

As Ruby felt the slimy leeches being placed upon her skin she began to buck and bounce on the bed as helpless tears began to stream down her face and her screams reverberated off the hard, cold wall.

‘Ah, they’re attaching nicely,’ Dr Pearse said as he poked the leeches. ‘Let’s give them an hour to do their job, eh? That should suck some of the madness out of her and then this afternoon I recommend some cold water treatment.’

Nurse Keen nodded with satisfaction and smirked at Ruby, who was now almost hysterical, and after the doctor had snapped his bag shut they all left the room.

Ruby screamed until her throat was hoarse as she wriggled and writhed, intent on throwing the leeches off her but it was as if the vile little creatures were glued to her skin. But she was weak from lack of food and after a time, when she finally realised that no one was going to come and help her, she stopped struggling and lay still, her eyes firmly fixed on the ceiling as she tried not to think of what was happening to her.

She had no idea how long she lay there, but eventually the door was unlocked and Nurse Keen appeared with a smug grin on her face, another nurse close behind her.

‘They look like they’ve had a nice little feast,’ she chuckled to the other nurse. ‘But now we’d better continue the treatment.’ With a look of glee on her face she began to remove the bloated leeches and drop them back into the jar, then she and the other nurse quickly untied Ruby’s hands and feet and hauled her to standing. Her wrists and ankles were chaffed and bleeding from the restraints but ignoring the wounds they dragged her out of the door and down the corridor towards the washroom where Ruby saw a large deep tin bath full of water waiting for her.

Before she could protest, they had pulled the shapeless shift up over her head and as they each took an arm and a leg, she sensed what was coming. There was no time for her to put up any sort of a fight before they lifted her effortlessly and flung her sideways into the bath. She disappeared under the water with a resounding splash that sent the water surging over the sides and onto the floor.