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When she next woke, the windows were dark. Had she seriously slept through the entire day? Her full bladder said she had, and she reached for the button at the side of the couch. Unfortunately, she reached with her right hand, not even thinking about the injury. She gasped and tears started in her eyes.
“I’ll get it,” Brian said, appearing from the kitchen. “Too bad this isn’t one of those with the control on the cord. Then we could put it on your good side.”
“Didn’t know I was going to need it when I bought the couch two years ago,” she said dryly.
Once the foot section was down, Brian reached for her good arm. He helped her up and didn’t let her go until she was steady. Sage hobbled into the bathroom and kind of fell onto the toilet seat. But she did her business. Then she had to finish her business with her left hand, which was incredibly awkward to do, and she had to laugh at herself.
Leaning forward, she pushed up with her left leg and pulled her sweat pants up, then moved to the sink to wash her hands. Hand. Such normal things were now so hard. She couldn’t imagine being permanently disabled. Then she felt guilty, because Brianwaspermanently disabled, andhewas helpingher.
That was what she was going to remind herself of when things got hard.
She hobbled out into the kitchen and sank down into one of the chairs.
“Are you hungry?”
Her stomach growled in response and Brian grinned at her. “I guess so.”
Reaching for the microwave, he pressed a button. He must have had a plate in there waiting for her.
“Adam already ate. He’s in his room doing some light astrophysics reading, it looked like.”
Sage grinned, though she knew it was lopsided. “He reads stuff for fun you couldn’t pay me to get through.”
Brian nodded. “Your voice is sounding better.”
“Well, that’s something, at least.”
When the microwave beeped, he removed the plate and set it before her. Sage was surprised to see cut up pork chop, some kind of noodle side dish and a pile of broccoli. “This looks good,” she murmured, reaching for the fork.
“While you were sleeping, I went out and got your meds filled. I apologize. I had to go through your wallet to find your insurance card.”
She snorted. “Don’t apologize for anything. Hell. I’m sorry you got roped into doing all this. I promise you, tomorrow I’ll be better.” Maneuvering the fork around with her weak hand, she stabbed a piece of pork and got it into her mouth. “Oh, this is good.”
Her body needed the protein. It had been a long time since she’d eaten, and her body needed fuel to heal.
Brian was watching her, and she wondered what he was thinking. He was probably counting down the minutes before he could get the hell out of there. Any attraction he’d had to her at one time had surely been burned away. He was staying because he was an honorable man, and not the type to leave a person stranded.
“I think you need to take it easy and not create an unrealistic timeline in your head. Because you’ll only be disappointed. I can tell you that from experience.”
Yeah, he was probably right. She wasn’t superwoman. And no matter how much she wanted to get better, it was up to her body to heal when it could. She wondered how long it had taken him to heal and if she should ask him. He seemed to sense what she was about to do, because he stood from the table. “I’m going to go check on Adam.”
Sage finished her meal, chewing slowly. Even that hurt up through her cheek. Brian had given her a glass of water, along with her next dose of pills. She’d slept through the last dose, and the pain was gaining quickly. She had a feeling she was going to get done with this meal and head back to the couch for another nap.
Diamond came over, nudging her gently with her nose. “I’m okay, girl.”
Once she was done, she carried her plate to the sink, washed it one-handed, set it in the drainer, and refilled her water glass. Very carefully, she walked back to the couch, her knee screaming with pain. Adam came out to tell her goodnight, and she let him push the button to lift her feet again. He kissed her on the forehead and Sage wished she could wrap him in her arms for a big hug. She would never take that tiny thing for granted again.
Then, completely drained, she closed her eyes.
* * *
Brian was tired.He wasn’t used to caring for other people like he had today. Strangely, though, he found he liked the way he felt. He feltneeded. It had been a long time since he’d been a part of a family environment, and he’d certainly never lived with a child. Adam was an experience in itself and the boy touched his emotions in a way that he hadn’t felt before.
Years ago, he’d planned to marry and have a family, but his circumstances had changed. Once he’d been blown up and released from the military, he’d had to put those dreams aside. Yes, he’d seen men find partners after they were injured. His buddies at LNF were perfect examples of that. But the partner they found had to be exceptional.
He glanced at Sage. She was passed out in the recliner at the end of the couch, snoring lightly. After she’d taken her pain pills, her face had eased into sleep, which had to be the best thing for her, and it gave him leave to watch her. Adam had gone to bed, and now it was just the two of them in the living room, on the big sectional couch. He’d like to lay down at take his prosthetics off, but he also wanted to be available in case she needed anything.
She was so deeply asleep, he doubted she would be waking for a good while, so he stripped down to his athletic boxers and removed his legs, setting them to the side where he could pull them on quickly. Then he removed the sleeves and liners from his stumps to let them breathe.
