“Then my room it is. Come on.” I headed down the hall toward my room and called out over my shoulder to Josh. “You can come too, if you’d like.”
“Ali, are you okay with me being in there too?” he asked.
“Yes, come on.”
I walked directly through my bedroom to the master bathroom and flipped the lights on. I told them I’d go get them some toothbrushes from the guest bathroom and offered the shower to them. I jogged to the guest room to get a couple of the spare toothbrushes. I knew Ali would most likely want a shower. It was a common desire among many sexual assault victims to want to feel clean and get the dirt off of them. It was as much psychological as it was physical.
When I got back to my bathroom, they were standing closer to one another and leaned against the bathroom counter. I set the toothbrushes on the counter and gestured to the shower.
“Well? Did either of you want to take a shower?”
“I definitely want one,” Ali spoke up. I nodded and stepped into the large shower to turn the water on.
“Josh?” I prompted.
“Yeah. I could use one too.”
I wasn’t about to suggest that all of us take a shower, but I was certainly thinking it. They were comfortable around one another naked. They had seen each other from head to toe and had, had their mouths on one another. So a shower would be somewhat tame, and it might not even be something new to them. Ali felt very safe with Josh, that was evident to me. She immediately started to remove her scrubs and turned sideways to look at her hip. Red and purple contusions had already colored her skin and would last for a little while. Thankfully, there hadn’t been any injury to her head aside from a large bump on her forehead.
“I’ll go to the guest bathroom,” Josh announced and headed out of the bathroom.
“Josh!” I called out after him and then held a finger up to show Ali that I needed a minute.
I went into the bedroom and found that Josh had stopped at the foot of my bed and was waiting for me. I went to my dresser and pulled out a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt and held them out as I walked toward him.
“I know you weren’t planning on crashing here tonight—”
“Crashing here tonight is the least of my worries, Sam.”
I put my hand on his shoulder and shook him gently.
“It’ll be okay, Josh. Try not to stress. We will help Ali.” I put the clothes in his hands and told him to come back to the room when he was done with his shower.
I rejoined Ali in the bathroom where she was still standing by the counter, examining the bump on her forehead. Fully aware that she could see me in the mirror, I watched her mess with her forehead for a few moments.
“Maybe a horn will sprout from the bump, and I’ll look like a unicorn,” Ali suggested.
“I suppose it could happen,” I replied and played along.
Honestly, considering what she had been through in the past six hours, I was pleasantly surprised to see her rebounding. It wasn’t an act or a fake front that she was putting on to show me that she was doing better; she truly was. I knew that because of how carefree and confident she was with her naked body. She hadn’t tried to cover up and wasn’t bashful. Ali was a naturally strong young woman. Anyone who went through what she had tonight and was still comfortable to stand there naked with me was as tough as nails.
“Ready for that shower?” I asked her calmly.
The fog on the mirror from the shower steam had almost closed in on her. Ali turned and leaned her butt against the counter and looked at me. She pulled her arms back and gripped the edge of the counter. The placement of her hands caused her breasts to jut out, showing off her hard nipples. I willed my dick to be calm and not embarrass myself or make her nervous.
“I am. Would you mind giving me a hand?” she asked.
“Of course.” I pulled my shirt off, undid my pants, and then crouched to remove my socks and boots. I could feel her eyes on me just as I had in the club earlier tonight. I removed my pants but left my black boxer briefs on.
“Good. I’m glad they’re not red,” Ali murmured.
I motioned to her to step into the shower while I grabbed a few washcloths and set them on the towel bar beside the shower. Ali didn’t hesitate and stepped into the shower and under the warm shower spray. I poured some shower gel onto a damp washcloth and worked it into a lather while she washed her hair. As soon as she was done washing her hair, she stood there under the water, somewhat at a loss. I understood that what she was feeling was uncertainty of what to do. It was in part due to being in an unfamiliar shower, but mostly because of the evening’s events.
“Would you like me to clean your back?” I offered. I’d see if my voice helped her to regroup. Under normal circumstances, I would have approached her and washed her on my own accord. After all, any woman who was in my shower would be here of her own free will. While Ali wanted to be here, given the situation that brought her here, I wanted to pose everything as a question for her to consent to or know that she had a choice concerning.
“Yes, please,” she replied.
I placed my hand on the side of her shoulder to keep her steady, and I gently massaged the sudsy washcloth along her back. Her voice sounded okay, but she still hadn’t moved much. The warm water would help the muscles relax a little.
