Leon followed suit as he kissed her too, but whispered, “You’ve hooked a wild one, doc. But I think he’s all right. If you can hold on to his wild ride and tame him at the same time, you’re gonna find what you been looking for.”
At this, Annie closed her eyes, letting the pain meds place her back on her float on the water in the warm sun.
Chapter 10
The next morning Annie woke groggy, but as she turned the stitches in her side were a stark reminder of what had happened. She lay on her uninjured side, but felt something at her back. It was too hard to be pillows. As she twisted her head around to look, she saw a large arm come around carefully and pull her back into his embrace. Shane?
“Mornin’, Annie baby,” came his sleepy voice. “Do you need some more pain medicine now before they discharge you?”
“Why are you in bed with me?” she asked, a blush firing across her face.
“You kept moving in your sleep and when you did, you would whimper in pain. If I lay here beside you, it would keep you from moving to your injured side.”
Annie warmed, not because of the blush, but because she liked his explanation. A lot. She still had not had time to process everything that he told her yesterday, but she understood his motives.
Dealing with the uncomfortable feeling of a full bladder, she tried to move herself to a sitting position, but found herself pinned down.
“Baby, you need to keep resting.”
“Um, I um…need…,” the blush came back as she tried to figure out how to get to the bathroom without telling him she needed to go to the bathroom.
Before she could decide how to get him to leave, she felt him leave the bed and walk around to her side of the bed. Leaning down he scooped her gently and set her feet on the floor, steadying her until he was sure she could stand, and then started walking with her toward the bathroom.
Looking up sharply, she asked, “How did you know what I needed?”
Smiling, Shane answered, “Baby, you’ve been hooked up to an IV since yesterday, and they took the catheter out last night, so it only figures you gotta go.” By the time he finished, they were at the door. “You need help?”
“No. But thanks,” she said softly as she let go of his arm, and hobbled into the bathroom.
A couple of minutes later, Shane knocked on the door. “Annie? The nurse is bringing in your discharge papers so I’ve got your clothes here for you. I’m gonna just set them inside,” he said as he barely opened the door and laid her clothes on the sink. Shutting the door quickly, he hovered in case she needed something.
After a moment, she cracked open the door and peered out. “Shane?”
“Right here, baby.”
“I…need…”
“Annie baby, let me in,” he said gently as he carefully pushed her back and slid into the bathroom. She was holding onto the sink for balance and had managed to get the hospital gown off, but was clutching it in front of her, blushing furiously once again. Bruises covered her arms.
Shane stepped up to her, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. One hand cupped the back of her head as he pressed her into his chest. The other wrapped around her body, holding her protectively. They stood this way for a moment, Shane offering comfort. Annie taking it.
She finally pulled back slightly and looked up to say, “I can’t get my clothes on.”
He peered into her tear filled eyes. “I’ll take care of you, baby. In all ways. Promise.”
Sucking air in through her nose to still the threatening tears, she nodded. She stepped back, still clutching the hospital gown to her front. “I can’t twist my body to even get my bra on and I can’t bend to get my pants on.”
Nodding, Shane reached over and snagged her bra off the counter, then turned her so that her back was to him. He held the bra out in front of her as she dropped the gown to slide her arms in so that he could pull the back pieces and hook them in place. It was not lost on her that he did all of this while preserving her modesty at the same time.
Grateful, she glanced over her shoulder, seeing his blue eyes full of concern. “I’m okay. Really.”
Growling, he replied, “No, you’re fuckin’ not okay. You’re strong. You’ll survive. You’ll get through this. But baby, what you aren’t, is fuckin’ okay.”
Pulling her lips in as she saw anger in his intense look, she just nodded and said nothing.
Shane took her scrub bottoms and helped her slide them on as well. Holding up her scrub top, he just shook his head. The material was shredded and bloodied. Tossing it in the trash, he left the bathroom and shortly returned with a white t-shirt. Seeing her questioning gaze, he explained, “Had Matt bring over a change of shirts for me early this morning. It’ll be big, but you’ll be covered.”