“Hall linen closet. I have to go. I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay.” I let the phone fall as I close my eyes, trying to hide from the pain.
The next thing I know, Ethan is in front of me cursing. “Fuck, Holly, why weren’t you honest about how much pain you were in? I could hear it clearly in your voice.” Scooping me up, he takes me into his room then lays me on the bed. He comes back with a piece of buttered bread, a bottle of water, and a pill bottle. “Eat the bread, you need something on your stomach to take this pill.” Okay, he’s talking heavy-duty painkillers. I’m not about to argue. Although the last thing I feel like doing is eating. I watch him plug in the heating pad.
“Drink some water, sweetheart. Have you been drinking any water today?”
“I tried. I only got in a bottle, after that it made me nauseous.”
“Have you eaten at all?” He looks mad.
“Just toast and a boiled egg this morning. Every time I even felt like eating, I also got nauseous.”
His hand goes into my hair, pulling me against him. “Eat the rest of the bread and some more water, please.” I force it down; keeping in mind a pain pill on an empty stomach would be worse. When I’m done, he opens the pill bottle and shakes out one. “These are pretty strong, my doctor gave them to me when I tore my Achilles tendon. Just one, we’ll do the heating pad and see how you feel.”
I watch him set the heating pad on high and fold it in half as I take the pill and finish the bottle of water. Even though I open my mouth, I find it hard to ask him. “Ethan?”
“What, sweetheart?”
“Can we cuddle like we did the first night?”
“Whatever you want. Come here.”
“Why are you being so nice? Not that I’m complaining.”
Rubbing my back,
he chuckles. “Because I know how grateful you’ll be when you finally feel better. Also, because I can’t stand the thought of you in pain. If there’s something I can do to help you, then I’ll do it.”
His honesty surprises me, it also makes me want to cry, stupid hormones. He takes me in his arms, allowing me to settle against him, careful to keep the warmest part of the pad against my lower abdomen. His hard chest soothes my aching nipples. The scent of him is all around me, soothing me as much as the heating pad. Sinking into him, I don’t know if it’s the pill, pad, or Ethan, but I fall into sleep almost immediately.
I wake up alone, with the room dark. Checking the clock, I see it’s almost nine. I’m about to slide out of bed when Ethan comes into the room. “Stay in bed, sweetheart. Unless you need to use the bathroom?” Still a little dazed, I nod. “Okay, go use the bathroom then get back in bed. I’m going to warm you up some soup.”
In my bathroom, I take out the tampon, still next to nothing. I almost just go with a pad meant to absorb more, only I hate the way they feel. Even though I’m almost sure I could go without a tampon, I don’t dare. After the mortifying times my flow surprised me. As I wash my hands I almost do a double-take in the mirror, I look like hell. Ethan is taking care of me, and I look like hell while he does it. I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. Brushing out my hair, I braid it tightly to keep it out of the way. Then I brush my teeth and wash my face before heading back to Ethan’s bedroom.
He’s waiting for me, the soup bowl is on a tray at the end of the bed and the covers are pulled back. Picking me up, he puts me in the middle of the bed, pulls the covers back over me, then settles the food tray over my upper legs. Once I’m settled into bed, Ethan turns on the heating pad again and hands it to me. I lay it against my lower abdomen using the covers to tighten it against me. I’m comfortable, but pout when Ethan tells me he’s going back to work in his office to finish what he needs to.
“I’ll be right back.” He relents.
He comes back with his laptop and another food tray he sets up beside me. “This is yummy.” It’s old-fashioned chicken soup. Chicken, carrots, celery, spiral pasta, and green beans. “Whole foods, they know their soups. You seem to like chicken so I bought two containers of it and two containers of lentil spinach soup. There was a corn chowder but it didn’t look that appealing. I can go back for more of whatever you want.”
“I’ll be fine, really.”
“Maybe, maybe not. You are taking tomorrow off, and you are just doing my snack and breakfast the day after tomorrow. Cleaners are coming in tomorrow and the day after.”
I’m annoyed. “Ethan, I can do my job.”
“Holly, you were in so much pain you scared the hell out of me. Even after that pill, you were still moaning in your sleep. Absolutely not, you’re supposed to have days off. You haven’t really had a day off except Sundays, which you’ve also been spending with me. I want you in bed, reading the day away, until I come home. There’re also two rolls of cookie dough in the fridge, and two cartons of chocolate chunk brownie ice cream in the freezer. Per Amelia’s moaned requests, a few times.”
Despite him describing my version of heaven, I don’t want him thinking I’m not doing my part. “Ethan, the job isn’t really that hard. I don’t want someone in here with all those chemicals it took days to get rid of.”
“What do you mean chemicals?”
“The only thing you really need in order to clean a house is a cloth to dust, baking soda, white vinegar, lemons, and very rarely, bleach.”
“That’s all you clean with? No wonder the place smells so good.”
“I don’t want you bringing someone else in. I’ll take a nice pill and do my work.”