“Am I strong enough to make it to the bathroom?”he asked because he really needed to take a piss.
“Likely, but I’d rather you have help,” she said before yelling.“Apollo.”
He heard heavy boots running up the stairs, followed by Apollo barreling into the room.
“What’s wrong?”He scanned the room, his dark, stormy eyes landing on Rocko, scanning him from top to bottom.The inspection felt like a caress, shocking Rocko.
“Nothing’s wrong, but I need someone to help Rocko into the bathroom.I don’t want him to fall.We’ve worked too hard to heal for it to be risked.”
“I’m sure I can make it on my own.”Rocko didn’t want to be babied.He could take a piss by himself.
“You had two crushed vertebrae,” Renee said.“There’s no way in hell I’m letting you risk setting your recovery back.”
“I’d do what she says,” Apollo advised.“When she gets that look, nothing will change her mind, and you really don’t want to piss her off.”
Renee gave him a look that dared him to argue the point.
“Noted, let’s do this,” Rocko said as he slowly pushed himself up off the mattress, leveraging his weight on his arms.
He was stiff, and his muscles complained with every move.Renee helped guide him to the edge of the bed, and Apollo reached under his arms to help lift him.Rocko couldn’t help the deep groans that escaped through his gritted teeth, but he figured in the grand scheme, it wasn’t bad for knocking on death’s door.Apollo put his arm around him, supporting his weight as Rocko stood.He braced himself against the bigger man to steady himself as Rocko’s head swam for a moment, and he waited for it to clear.Warmth rushed through his body, and looking back, Rocko found Renee with her hands glowing against his lower back.
She smiled and shrugged.“Just making sure everything stays in place.”
“Thanks.”
Slowly, he placed one foot in front of the other and the strange trio made their way to the bathroom across the hall.If he were honest, it was the longest damn walk of his life.Renee stopped following at the doorway, assuming it was to give him some privacy, but Apollo seemed to have no qualms about following him straight in.Once Rocko maneuvered himself in front of the toilet, he had to piss so bad he didn’t give a damn who was holding him up.
After stopping to wash his hands, they were soon on their way back out of the bathroom to find Ellen had joined Renee waiting in the hallway.She was carrying a tray of food, and Rocko’s stomach growled in appreciation.
“Thought you might be hungry,” Ellen said.“It’s soup and toast, Renee said you needed something light to start.”
“Thank you, Ellen.”
The more he moved his body, the better Rocko felt.Once he was settled upright in bed, Ellen placed the tray in front of him.
“I’m off to the barn,” Ellen said.“The animals are coming tomorrow.”
“Shit, sorry, I took you away from that.I guess I wasn’t much help after all,” Rocko chuckled, knowing Griffin would be pleased at his failure.“How many days have I been out in total?”
“This is day four,” Renee said.“You eat, and I’ll return later to do more work on your back.”
“Thanks for everything.I doubt I’d be breathing without you,” Rocko said.He owed his life to the amazing woman.
“You’re the one who saved me,” she argued.
“To-mayto, tomahto.”
His stomach growled again.He couldn’t wait any longer, so he dug in with vigor.Now only Apollo and he were left, but he was too hungry to attempt a conversation.The soup was hot, flavorful, and chock-full of veggies, while the bread was warm and crusty, perfect, and in that moment, all he could think about was getting that food into his belly.
By the time he’d spooned out the last drop and dunked all his bread, Rocko was exhausted.Recovering sucked, but the alternative was being six feet under, so he should count his blessings.
“I can’t believe I’m beat again when all I’ve been doing is sleeping for days,” he said petulantly.
“Your body is healing.You’ll be up and moving again soon,” Apollo assured him with a grin.
“I hope so.I’m not used to being useless.”He was sick of talking about himself; he needed to change the topic.“Which animals are coming tomorrow?”
“Chickens, a couple of cows, and a damn donkey.”
