Without hesitation, she wriggled one arm through the sleeve of her shirt, then gingerly brought the one with the cast around her wrist inside as well.
“Drop it over my head,” she said. I did as she instructed, and a second later, her arms popped out from the sleeves. She reached into the neck and pulled her shirt out over her head. “Can you unhook my boot?”
I released the various straps of Velcro along the heavy black-and-gray medical boot and eased it carefully off her foot, doing everything I could to avoid jostling her hurt ankle.
“Where’s that brace the doctor gave you?” I asked.
“In the bag,” she said.
“Be right back.”
I went into the living room where I’d deposited a black tote bag full of stuff from the hospital. When I got back into her room, Ally was wriggling out of the sweatpants Derek and I had brought her before she was discharged, while keeping the nightshirt down over her hips. She kicked her feet to get them the rest of the way off and hissed when the movement shook her ankle.
Leaning down I eased the cuff off her foot and put the pants aside. Ally looked at them, then at her nightshirt.
“You know, I probably could have just done that by myself like a normal person,” she said.
I smiled. “Probably. But it was fun watching you try to do it that way.” She shot me a glare, and I laughed. “Alright, let me get this on you before you hurt yourself more.”
I crouched down in front of her and put the brace on her ankle. When it was secured in place, I pulled the blankets back and waited while she eased into place before draping them back over her.
Now that she was finally comfortable, I went into the kitchen and made a pot of tea. I brought it back into the bedroom and held a cup out to her. She took it as I sat down next to her legs. She had everything she needed to get some rest, but I stayed there beside her anyway. I couldn’t seem to leave her now that I had her.
We had both apologized, but there was still so much to talk about. So much hadn’t been said when we were in the hospital, and I couldn’t stand the thought of it continuing to linger. I knew for certain I wasn’t leaving until I knew where we stood.
Ally took a sip of her tea, and I watched her shoulders relax. Her eyes fluttered, and I realized just how exhausted she really was. As much as I wanted to talk everything through with her, it was obvious she was tired. She had been through a lot, so I decided to just let her sleep. When she finished her tea and eased back onto the pillows to sleep, I turned off the lights and went into the living room.
Several blankets were piled onto a chair in the corner, and I stacked the throw pillows from the couch on one side to create a makeshift bed. I settled in on the couch and took out my phone to send out text messages to my brothers. I wanted them to all know what I was planning.
It didn’t take long for me to get responses from them. First up was Derek. Unsurprisingly, he all but threatened to castrate me if I hurt Ally again. Other than that little ray of sunshine, the reactions were good. My brothers seemed glad I’d found someone.
It was a surprise to see them reacting in that way. My messages hadn’t specifically said anything about Ally and me being together, primarily because I still had no idea what was actually going on between us. I didn’t want to say too much before she and I had a chance to talk and got everything out in the open.
But even without me saying anything about my feelings for her, my brothers latched on to the idea that I might be coming back to life. I let that sink in for a few minutes and realized it was true. The feelings I had for her were real. They were no longer just an attraction or a fantasy. It wasn’t just chemistry. And they weren’t only based on the reality that she was carrying my baby.
I was falling for Ally, and if I had a chance, I was going to do whatever it took to prove I was more than the asshole I had been acting like.
Pulling the blankets up over my head, I closed my eyes to try to get some rest. It felt like it had been a long time since I actually got a good night’s sleep. That night, though, I found myself drifting away more easily.
I always woke up early, so it wasn’t a surprise when my eyes opened and the sky outside the living room window was still a hazy blue. I got up carefully and peeked into the bedroom to check on Ally. She was still sleeping soundly, and I went to the kitchen in hopes of finding coffee. It seemed she hadn’t yet purged her place of the types of drinks and food she shouldn’t have during her pregnancy, and the search was a success.