Lake and I look at each other. It's not like I've never seen her nak*d…just not for prolonged periods of time. And with the lights on.
“I….I don’t know,” I mutter. “Do you want me to help you?” I ask Lake.
Lake shrugs her shoulders. "It wouldn't be the first time you've put me in a shower. Although, I hope you help me take my clothes off this time." She laughs at her own joke. She regrets the laugh as soon as she does it, though. Her hand goes up to her head and she winces.
The nurse can sense the slight awkwardness between us. “I’m sorry. I thought you guys were married. It said on her chart that you were her husband.”
“Yeah…about that,” I say. “Not quite yet.”
“It’s fine,” the nurse says. “If you’ll just go back to the waiting room I’ll let you know when we’re finished.”
“No,” Lake says. “He’ll help me.” Lake looks up at me. “You’ll help me." The nurse looks up at me and I nod. She takes a few items off the tray next to Lake’s bed and walks out of the room.
“Have you walked any more today?” I take her arm and help lift her off the bed.
She nods. “Yeah. They had me walk down the hall between visits again. I feel better than yesterday, just dizzy.”
The nurse walks back into the room with a towel. “Just don’t let her get her head wet. There’s a handheld shower head in the shower or she can use the bathtub. The tub may be better for her so she can lay down.” The nurse leaves the towel in the chair and walks back out.
Lake slowly stands up and I assist her into the bathroom. Once we’re inside, I close the door behind us.
“This is so embarrassing,” she says.
“Lake, you asked me to stay. If you want, I’ll go back and get the nurse.”
“No. I just mean because I need to pee.”
“Oh. Here.” I walk around her and grab her other arm as she backs up. She grabs hold of the metal bar attached to the wall and pauses.
“Turn around,” she says.
I turn around and face the opposite direction. "Babe, if you’re already making me look away it’ll be kind of hard for me to help you in the shower. You aren’t even nak*d yet.”
“That’s different. I just don’t want you to watch me pee.”
I laugh. And I wait. And I wait some more. Nothing happens.
“Maybe you need to leave for a minute,” she says.
I shake my head and walk out of the bathroom. “Don’t try to stand up without me.” I leave the door open a few inches so I can hear her if she needs me. When she’s finished, I walk back into the bathroom and help her stand up.
“Shower or bath?” I say.
“Bath. I don’t think I can stand up long enough for a shower.”
I make sure she’s holding onto the bar before I let go of her arm. I adjust the faucet on the bathtub until the water turns warm. I grab the washcloth and get it wet, then set it on the side of the tub. It’s a larger tub with two steps leading up to it to make it easier to walk down into. When I stand up, I take Lake’s arm again and lead her to the bathtub. I stand behind her and brush her hair over her shoulder and untie the top of her gown. When it drapes open, I have to suppress a gasp. She’s got bruises all over her back. There’s one more tie on her gown, so I pull the string until the gown separates.
She slides the gown forward and down her arms. I run my fingers under the stream of water to check the temperature, then reach for her arm and help her up the steps and into the bathtub. Once she’s seated, she pulls her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them, then rests her head on them.
“Thank you,” she says. “For not trying to put the moves on me just now.”
I smile at her. “Don’t thank me yet. We just got started.” I dip the washcloth in the water and kneel down beside the bathtub. The steps come out pretty far, so it’s hard to reach her without hovering over her. She takes the washcloth out of my hand and begins washing her arm.
“It’s weird how much energy everything takes. It feels like my arms weigh a hundred pounds.”
I open the bar of soap and hand it to her, but it slips out of her grasp. She feels around in the water until she finds it, then she rubs it in the washcloth.
“Do you know how long before they let me go home?” she asks.
“Hopefully by Wednesday. He said recovery can take anywhere from a few days to two weeks depending on how the injury heals. You seem to be doing pretty well.”
She frowns. “I don’t feel like I’m doing well.”
“You’re doing great,” I say.
She smiles and sets the washcloth back on the side of the tub and wraps her arms around her knees again. “I have to rest,” she says. “I’ll get to the other arm in a minute.”
She closes her eyes. She looks so tired. I reach over and turn the water off, then stand up and take off my shoes and my shirt, but leave my pants on. “Scoot up,” I say to her.
She scoots up and I step into the bathtub and slide down into the water behind her. I put my legs on either side of her and gently lay her back onto my chest. I grab the washcloth and run it up the arm she was too tired to get to.
“You’re crazy,” she says quietly.
I kiss her on top of the head. “So are you.”
We’re both silent as I wash her. She rests against my chest until I tell her to lean forward so I can get her back. When she leans forward, I put more soap on the washcloth and gently touch it to her skin. It’s bruised up so bad I’m afraid I’ll hurt her.
“You really got banged up. Does your back hurt?”
“Everything hurts.”
I wash her skin as softly as I can. I don’t want to make it worse. When I’ve covered every inch, I lean forward and kiss her on the back, right on top of her bruise. I kiss her other bruise, and her other bruise, and her other bruise. I kiss every spot of her back that’s hurt. When she leans back against my chest, I lift her arm and kiss the bruises on her arm, too. Then I do the same to the other arm. When I’ve kissed all the bruises I can find, I lay her arm back down in the water. “There. Good as new,” I say. I wrap my arms around her and kiss her cheek. She closes her eyes and we just sit there for a while.
“This isn’t how I pictured our first bath together,” she says.
I laugh. “Really? ‘Cause this is exactly how I pictured it. Pants and all.”
She takes a deep breath and exhales, then leans her head back against my chest and looks me in the eyes. “I love you, Will.”
I kiss her on the forehead. “Say it again.”
“I love you, Will.”
“One more time.”
“I love you.”
***
Lake is finally discharged today after five days in the hospital. Luckily since yesterday was a Monday I was able to finalize reports with the insurance companies. Lake’s Jeep was totaled. The damage to my car wasn’t as bad so I was given a rental until it’s repaired.
Dr. Bradshaw is really pleased with Lake's progress. She has to go back to see him again in two weeks. In the meantime, he's put her on bed rest. She’s excited because she knows that means she gets to sleep in my comfortable bed every night. I’m excited because that means I get to spend two solid weeks with her at my house.
I end up withdrawing her from all of her classes for the semester. She was upset, but she doesn’t need the added stress of school right now. I told her she just needs to focus on getting well. I’m taking the rest of the week off but plan on going back to school Monday depending on how she’s feeling. For now, though…we’ve got almost a whole week of nothing to do but watch movies and eat junk food.
***
Kel and Caulder bring their plates to the coffee table in the living room and set them down next to mine. Lake’s lying down on the couch so we eat in the living room rather than at the table.
“Suck and sweet time,” Caulder says. He crosses his legs and scoots around to the opposite side of the coffee table so we’re all sitting in a somewhat circle that includes Lake. “My suck is that I have to go back to school tomorrow,” he says. “My sweet is that Layken’s finally home.”
She smiles. “Awe, thanks Caulder. That is a sweet,” she says.
“My turn,” Kel says. “My suck is that I have to go back to school tomorrow. My sweet is that Layken’s finally home.”
She scrunches her nose up at Kel. “Copycat.”
I laugh. “Well, my suck today is that my girlfriend made me rent six different Johnny Depp movies. My sweet is right now.” I lean over and kiss her on the forehead. Kel and Caulder have no objection to my sweet tonight. I guess they’re getting used to it.
“Well, my suck is obvious. I’ve got staples in my head,” Lake says. She looks at me and smiles, then her eyes drift to Kel and Caulder as she watches them eat.
“What’s your sweet?” Caulder says with a mouthful of food.
Lake stares at him for a moment. “You guys,” she says. “All three of you.”
It’s quiet for a minute, then Kel picks up a french fry and throws it at her. “Quit being cheesy,” he says.
Lake grabs the french fry and throws it back at him.
“Hey,” Kiersten says as she walks through the door. “Sorry I’m late.” She heads to the kitchen and starts making herself a plate of food. She’s about to be pissed again because I didn’t know she was coming over. Looks like she’ll have to eat bread again.
"You need some help?" I ask her. She's only got one good arm, but she seems to be adjusting pretty well.
"Nope. I got it." She brings her plate into the living room and sits down in the floor. We all stare at her when she takes a huge bite of a chicken strip.
“Oh my god it’s so gooood,” she says. She shoves the rest of it in her mouth.
“Kiersten, that’s meat. You’re eating meat,” I say.
She nods. “I know. It’s the weirdest thing. I’ve been dying to come over here since you guys got home so I could try some.” She takes another bite. “It’s heaven,” she says with a mouthful. She hops up and walks to the kitchen. “Is it good in ketchup?” She grabs the ketchup and brings it back to the living room and squirts some on her plate.
“Why the sudden change of heart?” Lake asks her.
She finishes chewing and swallows her food. “Right when we were about to be hit by that truck….all I could think about was how I was about to die and I’ve never tasted meat before. That was my only regret in life.”
We all laugh. She grabs the chicken off of my plate and throws it on her own.
“Will, are you still coming to dad day Thursday?” Caulder asks.
Lake looks at me. “Dad day?”
“I don’t know, Caulder. I don’t know if I feel comfortable leaving Lake alone yet,” I say.
“Dad day? What’s dad day?” Lake asks again.