With a shake of her mass of auburn hair, she stepped closer. “You’re the handsomest guy I know. I bet you’ll feel better in regular clothes. How about we give it a try?”
He twisted in bed, trying to escape the burning feeling traveling up his missing leg. At least his IV was gone, no longer trapping his movements.
“Aw, crap.”
“What’s wrong?” Sascha asked, alarmed at his contorted expression.
He grasped the side rail and sucked in a breath. “It’s phantom pain. The cut nerves are looking for the missing limbs and sending back messed up signals. My foot feels like it’s on fire. Ironic when I have no leg, right?”
“I’m sorry. Can I get you something?”
“This isn’t something an aspirin is going to fix.”
Her cheeks flushed. “I am so inconsiderate. I should go. I’ll tell Caleb to let you rest.” She scooped up the folded laundry and walked across the room. With one hand, she yanked open an empty dresser drawer.
Oddly, he suddenly felt the absence of her concern. “It’s okay, don’t go.”
She paused putting the items away.
“Let’s try it,” he said, gesturing at the abandoned outfit on the bed.
“You don’t have to do it to makemefeel better. I’m supposed to makeyoufeel better,” she replied.
“Actually, you might be onto something,” he admitted, sitting up. “Do you know this gown opens in the back?”
She came over to peer behind him. “Wow, this hospital gown look is so not your thing. The boxers underneath show promise, though.”
“Untie this sack while you’re back there, would you?”
She yanked at the knots from top to bottom. “You want some privacy while you get dressed?”
He shook his head. “It’s no more than you’d see at the beach.” He shrugged out of the surgical green fabric and tossed it onto the ground.
Her gaze traveled from his chest to his abdomen. “Oh my, you’ll have to tell me which beach.”
“Bad girl.” He pulled the shirt over his left, then right arm and over his head.
She handed him the shorts. “Don’t tell Caleb. He gets jealous enough.”
The bottoms challenged him. He shimmied the shorts up over his uninjured leg, and over the swollen mass of a knee. Then, he balanced his left elbow on the bedrail to inch up one side at a time until he’d wormed the waistband over his hips.
Sascha stepped back to assess the effect. “There’s the Phoenix I know.”
He exhaled. “The better half, anyway.”
“You ad guys, nothing’s sacred.”
“We’re not above going low for a laugh.”
“Speaking of ad guys, you know that guy from your office was here right when you were first hurt?”
“You mean Dex?”
“Yeah, I think so. Big guy? Looks like a human teddy bear?”
“Ha, yeah, sounds like Dex.”
“And your aunt spent two days here with your mom.”
