I shut my eyes for a split second before nodding. “I have abottle of pain medicine in my bathroom cabinet. I just need two of those pills with a glass of water.”
“OK. I’ll get the medicine and water. Then I’ll draw a bath for you. I saw you have Epsom salts on your sink counter in a jar. That helps, right?”
He remembered.
I nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“OK. I got it.”
Within seconds, he was on the move, gathering everything I could need. He drew me a bath and helped lead me to the tub. I had to admit, it was a lot easier to get around when Ash was holding me up. I undressed in front of him before sliding into the scalding-hot water.
Good.
That felt good.
“You don’t have to stay with me the whole day, Ash,” I said as he stood in the doorway of the bathroom. “Truly, I should be feeling better after this.”
He smiled at me, walked out of the bathroom, and then came back with a book in his hand. He took a seat on the tiled floor, crossed his legs, and began to read me a story.
Throughout the day, he read me a few chapters each time I had to get into the bath that he’d drawn me. He read a few more after he prepared me some meals. He read a few more as he put me into bed that evening.
And he read a few more before my eyes grew heavy.
Then he wrapped himself around me, the same way we’d been that very morning.
“Ash?” I whispered as my face lay against his chest.
“Yes?”
I wanted to tell him I loved him. I wanted to tell him I’d always loved him. Instead, I became a little too scared that myconfession might push him away. So instead, I thanked him for taking care of me.
His lips fell to my forehead, and he kissed me ever so gently. “Always.”
I cried again, but this time it wasn’t from pain. It was quite the opposite.
48Ash
She gave me Rian’s red toy truck.
She kept it after all those years.
A part of me felt silly for pushing her away at first. What was I so afraid of? I liked what Karla did for me whenever she was around. I liked feeling alive with her. I liked feeling as if life had some kind of meaning again after years of emptiness.
I didn’t know things could feel so good with Karla. So right. I knew the first time I met her all those years ago that Karla was going to be a big part of my life. I just never knew we’d end up back together in the way it came about. And ever since we took things to the next level, I’d been falling for her even more.
I made love to her multiple times that week, taking in all of her. Every piece of her was so stunning to me. Her smile, her lips, her collarbone, her hips.
Her legs. Her beautiful, strong legs that carried her through life. I loved trailing my kisses all across her thighs, tasting every piece of her, praising every inch of her being.
Beautiful legs, beautiful body.
Any down time I had meant I was with her, and any time I wasn’t with her, I was thinking about her.
About us.
About our future.
I’d never really dreamt about a future with another personafter my father passed away. Yet somehow Karla made me dream again. She brought me back to life.
