Darkness Series
Part 4: In Total Darkness

"Where have you been?" Jarod's voice demanded before Nicole even stepped into the room.

 

She leaned against the doorjamb with her arms folded on her chest. "I'm impressed you knew it was me."

 

"Lucky guess," he laughed, turning his face away from her to where the light streamed on to the bed. She walked over and sat beside him.

 

"Jarod, can you tell the difference between one side of the room and the other?"

 

"What do you mean?" His face bore an expression of confusion.

 

"There's sunlight coming in through the window on one side. Can you see it or do you only go by where the warmth is coming from?"

 

"Only by what I feel on my skin." Jarod's expression became sober as he turned to her. "Was that how you first knew?"

 

"One of the ways. Sometimes I could sense that it wasn't quite so dark in one place and we did a test to prove it." She placed one hand on his arm, one finger coming to rest on the bandage that held the intravenous needle in place, and then looked at him with narrow eyes.

 

"Jarod, why is this hand damp?"

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man muttered, shrugging. Jarod tried to pull his hand away, annoyed that she’d noticed, but she prevented it, pressing the buzzer pinned to his pillow and keeping his hand firmly in hers until a nurse appeared in the doorway.

 

"Yes, Dr. Austen?"

 

"Would you see if Dr. Barnard has a moment?"

 

"Of course."

 

The nurse left the room and Nicole couldn’t help laughing at Jarod's glum expression.

 

"I was wondering how you seemed so alert today. You did it, didn't you?" Placing one hand under his chin, Nicole forced his head in her direction so that she could see his face. Jarod shrugged for a second time, carefully keeping his expression neutral.

 

"What's up, Nicole?" queried a male voice from the doorway and Jarod cursed silently.

 

She gently tugged on the I.V. tube, so that it slipped free, and let it dangle from her fingers as her eyes danced. "Your patient decided he didn't feel like behaving himself."

 

"Jarod, did you pull that out?"

 

"And he tucked in into the bandage so that nobody would notice it unless they touched his hand." Nicole's lips twitched as she looked at her colleague but she managed to keep her voice serious. Hiding his own amusement, Dr. Barnard unwrapped the bandage and dropped it into the kidney dish that the nurse held out for him, keeping his voice stern as he looked at the other man.

 

"I hate to tell you, Jarod, but I will win this one, if we have to knock you out with a needle full of the stuff every four hours."

 

"I don't need it," the other man muttered in resentful tones.

 

"On the contrary, you do,” the doctor assured him. “That will give your leg its best chance to heal completely and without it you'll have to stay here a lot longer. It's also giving the rest of your body a break from the pain."

 

"I’d say he knows that already, Phil. I told you he was stubborn." She eyed the patient. "I thought you were keen to get out of here, Jarod, but I told you that you'd have to behave yourself before it was even considered. The only other option is to leave you in here until that leg is strong enough for you to walk on unaided and that could be weeks away." Nicole waited to see if he was going to comment, but he stayed silent, so she continued. "It's your choice, Jarod, but we don't want to waste either energy or time on a patient who won't appreciate it. Not to mention all the expensive drugs we thought we were giving you."

 

Dr. Barnard grinned at her and then turned back to the bed. "What's it going to be Jarod? I.V. or shots?"

 

"No third option?"

 

Nicole struggled to contain her amusement at his tones as her colleague answered the question.

 

"None."

 

A look of annoyance on his face, Jarod offered his hand, but before re-inserting the I.V. needle, Dr. Barnard hesitated. "I want you to promise me that you won't pull it out again."

 

Jarod's voice was sulky. "I promise."

 

Nicole removed the old needle from the tube and exchanged it for a new one before handing it to the other doctor. Jarod winced slightly as it was slipped into a vessel on the back of his hand and fixed with a piece of tape. All three staff members exchanged amused glances before the doctors left the room to enjoy their laughter in peace.

 

* * *

 

"How you'll cope with him when you get home is anybody's guess."

 

Nicole laughed. "I can manage him. But I thought, as you’re his doctor, you should be called in to see it."

 

He sat in the chair opposite her desk, eyes twinkling. "Well, it certainly provided a good source of entertainment anyway. How is he now?"

 

"The way he was before. Sedated. And when he has the energy to be, angry at me for noticing."

 

"He may not want to stay with you again," Phil suggested.

 

"He has no other options and he knows it."

 

The man’s face became serious. "How were you managing with him there?"

 

"It wasn't a problem. We changed furniture when I was brought home after my accident and that's all still there, so it's pretty convenient."

 

"And if he takes another tumble?"

 

"That could happen anywhere, particularly considering the fact that he likes getting up to wander around on his own. I'll just have to keep a better eye on him during my rescheduled vacation."

 

"When will that be?"

 

"As of whenever this new patient is released until Monday week, provided that it's at least seven days. And I can do with it."

 

He eyed the shadows under her eyes. "It looks like it. Did you get any sleep after leaving, before they called?"

 

"About three hours. But I'm going soon. Peter said he'd stay with the bull."

 

Dr. Barnard laughed and got up. "Well, I have patients to see. I suppose I’ll see you back here in the morning?"

 

"I'd say that's quite likely. Good night, Phil."

 

* * *

 

She stood beside the bed and watched him sleep, eyes dancing with amusement as she recalled the scene from that afternoon.

 

"Going home?"

 

"Oh, eventually." Nicole turned away from the bed, speaking quietly. "I was going to say goodbye, if he was awake." She walked towards the door. "And how's our bull feeling now?"

 

Peter Richards laughed as she pulled the door half-closed. "Can't remember a thing, which isn’t so surprising considering that he was almost four times over the legal limit. Apparently the police want to charge him, but they can't seem to stop laughing long enough to take notes."

 

"I'll bet." She grinned. "Do you need me for anything else tonight, Peter, or can I head off now?"

 

"Go home." Peter Richards gave her a gentle push in the direction of the elevators. "Catch up on the sleep you'll miss out on when Jarod's allowed back with you."

 

She shot a sharp look over her shoulder at him, but he had already turned away.

 

* * *

 

She lay awake for a lot longer than she thought she would, thinking over a number of things, but for some reason her mind always came back to him - to both of them. Her reason for inviting him to stay with her had been more selfish than he could ever realize. She couldn't bear the thought of losing the chance to get to know better the person who reminded her so much of Paul. But now she found that she was thinking about him more and Paul less and it was making her angry with herself. As soon as he was able to, he would leave. She knew it and she'd thought it hundreds of times, but it didn't stop her from thinking about him in the way that she hadn't thought about men at all since Paul had...

 

Finally, unable to take it any longer, Nicole reached over and picked up the phone.

 

"Ward 21. Sister Mackay speaking."

 

"Hello, Tania. This is Nicole Austen."

 

"Good evening, Dr. Austen. What can I do for you?"

 

"Just a personal enquiry about Dr. Barnard's newest patient on your ward."

 

"Jarod? Let me check."

 

A different voice came on the line. "Dr. Austen? Jarod's doing well, but he wanted to talk to you about five minutes ago when I went in to see him."

 

"If he's awake now, I'll say hello." She wrapped herself more firmly in her blanket and listened as the phone clicked over.

 

"You left without saying goodbye," a male voice protested drowsily in her ear.

 

Nicole smiled. "I'm sorry, Jarod, but I didn't want to wake you."

 

"It's okay."

 

"Are you behaving now?" she asked, trying not to laugh as she imagined the expression that was probably on his face at her question.

 

"I don't have much choice, do I?" Jarod returned somewhat resentfully.

 

She chuckled. "No, not really. As Dr. Barnard said, we'll always win."

 

"When can I come home?"

 

Her lips twisted but she resolutely kept the emotion out of her voice. "Only when Dr. Barnard says you can, but that will depend on how you behave." She listened as he yawned. "I think it's time for both of us to get some sleep."

 

"‘Kay." There was a pause. "G’night."

 

"Goodnight, Jarod. Sleep well."

 

Nicole replaced the handset and sat staring blankly at it for a moment.

 

Come home?

 

Why had he said that?

 

It had to be the medication. He was so doped up that it was no wonder his tones were those of a child, but he sounded so lonely and helpless that it almost made her want to go in and sleep next to his bed all night, the way she had…

 

She closed her eyes and willed the tears away. That was the bad thing about this whole situation - everything he did reminded her so much of Paul that it would only be a matter of time before she broke down in front of him and… no. Nicole shook her head. That was something that she couldn’t allow herself to do. There weren't too many people who knew the truth about what had happened between them, and a patient of hers with no last name certainly wasn’t going to gain admission to that special group, no matter how much he might remind her of Paul in everything he did.

 

* * *

 

It was somewhat warily that she approached his room the next morning and went in to sit beside his bed. After several seconds, as if her presence had woken him, his eyelids slowly lifted and his head turned towards her, his words announcing that he knew she was there.

 

"I was hoping you'd come."

 

"Hey, I couldn't leave you here alone, to the mercy of the staff and the food." She placed the book that she was carrying into his hand. "I thought, for the times that you were awake, you might want something to do and you never finished it."

 

Jarod smiled tiredly. "I was just thinking about that this morning after my regular six a.m. wake-up call."

 

"It doesn't look like it worked very well," she retorted as he yawned, and she saw that his eyelids were drooping.

 

"That's your fault,” he told her somewhat grumpily. “If you want me awake, you shouldn't tell tales about me to the other staff members."

 

"I never said I wanted you awake. And it has to feel better with less pain."

 

"Well, maybe..." His admission was as grudging as he could make it considering the way he felt, and he blinked drowsily.

 

"Did Dr. Barnard come to see you this morning?"

 

He nodded sleepily. "He said he'd... talk to you..."

 

Nicole watched as his eyes finally closed and stayed that way. After several moments, she stood up and put the book on the table, before slipping one of his arms under the blankets, leaving that on her side with the I.V. out to allow easy access. She eased the extra pillow out from underneath his head so he was lying flat, before stepping away and looking down at him as a stream of tears flowed down her cheeks. Nicole never noticed the few that fell onto Jarod's hand nor the fact that, as she turned to leave, his thumb moved to brush the damp spots away.

 

* * *

 

"Good morning, Jarod. Morning, Nicole."

 

"Hello Dr. Barnard."

 

Nicole couldn’t help smiling at the formality with which Jarod had addressed her colleague since the incident with the I.V. and the grin he shot at her told Dr. Austen that Phil was also enjoying the joke. His voice when he spoke to the man in the bed, however, didn’t reveal his amusement.

 

"How are you feeling this morning?"

 

The patient shrugged. "I don't know what I feel with this." He lifted his left hand briefly and Nicole struggled to contain her laughter.

 

"What say we take it out?"

 

"Really?"

 

The urge to laugh dissolved as the childish tones came into Jarod's voice and Nicole glanced at him sharply. Dr. Barnard continued as though nothing had happened.

 

"It's hard for you to leave with it still in."

 

Jarod's tones became more eager as he struggled up onto his elbows. "I can...?"

 

"I think so. If we were just sending you home I’d be more cautious, but as you're being released into the care of one of the best..."

 

"No flattery, Phil,” Nicole put in quickly, “or I'll rescind the offer to take him off your hands."

 

"Anyway, Jarod, I think we may as well free up the bed. Sound good?"

 

The patient nodded keenly. "When?"

 

"As soon as we get the paperwork sorted and signed. Probably about an hour."

 

"I'll be ready."

 

Dr. Barnard pressed the ball of cotton wool onto the back of Jarod's hand, sliding the needle out, capping it and passing it to the nurse, who wheeled the stand out of the room. The cotton wool was taped down before Phil Barnard, with a quick look at Nicole, also left the room. She watched him leave and then looked down at the man in the bed as Jarod turned his head in her direction.

 

"Did you...?" He broke off his sentence to yawn.

 

Nicole leaned forward, smiling. "Did I what, Jarod?"

 

"Did you organize this?"

 

"I thought that it might be a nice surprise for you - and that you might forgive me for telling tales."

 

He smiled sleepily. "But I'll still be like this..."

 

"The drugs will wear off in a couple of hours and we can use the time they're still active to get you home without much extra pain. But you'll still need to have painkillers once we're there for at least the next few days."

 

Nicole could see that, if he had the energy, he would argue the point with her and she placed one hand on his.

 

"Jarod, you have only three options, I'm afraid."

 

She smiled as she could almost see his mind working. "Here, there and what else?"

 

A small grin appeared on her face. "I tell the Centre that I made a terrible mistake and you aren't dead at all."

 

Awake immediately, he could feel the panic rising and he knew it would be evident in his eyes as he turned his head quickly in her direction. "You wouldn't!"

 

"You're right," she told him as she ran a finger down his cheek. "I wouldn't. But I just wanted you to be aware of it."

 

He relaxed at both her touch and her words, letting his eyes slip shut as he smiled. "I'll be good."

 

She closed her own eyes and fought to maintain her composure as his voice took on the childlike tones that affected her so much. The way Paul had spoken...

 

* * *

 

Jarod roused himself enough from the half-sleep into which the painkillers sent him to ask a question that had occurred to him earlier.

 

"What day is this?"

 

"It's late on Wednesday morning, Jarod. You came into the hospital on Saturday evening and did your little trick with the I.V. on Monday."

 

He nodded, lying on the stretcher in the back of the ambulance. Nicole exchanged amused looks with the officer sitting opposite her as she spoke.

 

"And when we get home...?"

 

"You're going straight to bed."

 

"I thought so." He paused. "Do you have to go back to work?"

 

"No, Jarod. My patient got released last night and now I have an extended holiday from now until the Monday after next. That's why you were allowed home early - so I can keep an eye on you."

 

"Mmm hmm."

 

He was asleep again when they finally pulled up into the driveway and Nicole saw Ann sitting on the porch. Getting out as soon as the door was open, she tossed the keys over to her friend and bent over him.

 

"Jarod? Hey, wake up. We're home."

 

"Hi, Jarod."

 

He turned his head at the sound of the new voice. "Doctor Stevens?"

 

Ann raised her eyebrows as she looked up at her friend. "Since when has he been this polite?"

 

"Since I've threatened him with all sorts of nasties if he isn't," Nicole laughed.

 

"You're a regular bully."

 

"I told her that, too," the man put in.

 

Ann laughed. "I doubt, Jarod, if you've been in much of a state to be able tell her anything."

 

He smiled sleepily but didn't respond, closing his eyes once more. Nicole nodded at the men who maneuvered the stretcher through the front door and into his room. Carefully they helped him into bed before leaving. As he listened to the vehicle pulling out of the driveway, Jarod slid his hands over the covers while Nicole made sure that the metal frame stopped the blankets from resting on his bandaged leg.

 

"You've changed the sheets."

 

"I did that on Saturday night, or, to be precise early Sunday morning, after I came home. I thought it might be nice for you, whenever you got back here."

 

"Thanks."

 

"Comfortable?"

 

He nodded wordlessly, closing his eyes with a small, grateful-sounding sigh. Nicole put a hand on his for a second before turning and leaving the room. She pulled the door almost shut and looked up to find Ann leaning against the wall beside her.

 

"Okay?"

 

"If he behaves himself," Nicole offered cautiously.

 

Ann grinned. "I was talking about you."

 

Nicole smiled. "I'm fine. I got a fair amount of sleep last night."

 

"He really does look a lot like him..."

 

"Please, Ann. I don't want to talk about Paul now."

 

They entered the kitchen and Nicole turned on the kettle as her friend sat up on the bench.

 

"I was thinking I might be generous..."

 

"You?" Nicole raised an eyebrow. "Are you sick or something?"

 

"Thanks!" Ann laughed. "No, but I don't have to be at work until later and thought I'd volunteer to stay here with Mystery Man while you did some shopping. You've got almost empty cupboards."

 

Nicole raised an eyebrow. "How did you know?"

 

"I looked, of course. What do you think I am, psychic?"

 

The home’s owner opened the fridge to look at the empty shelves. "You could be right."

 

"And you could go to the library and grab some more books for you both."

 

"Anyone would think you were trying to get rid of me."

 

Ann smiled. "I'm just trying to be concerned."

 

"Well, I'm going to take you up on your offer, so try to contain your disappointment at being left all alone with Sleeping Beauty for a few hours."

 

She listened to Ann's laughter as she picked up her purse and checked that there was sufficient money inside it, and collecting her car keys.

 

* * *

 

The man stretched lazily, feeling a pain in his leg as he moved. There was a dry, somewhat bitter taste in his mouth and he cautiously stretched out his hand towards the bedside table, hoping the cup of water that usually sat there was in its regular position. His fingers had just brushed against the smooth plastic when he heard a voice from the doorway.

 

"Jarod? Are you okay?"

 

He turned, wide-awake, towards the voice. Having expected to hear Nicole’s now-familiar tones, it took a moment before he could recognize the speaker. "Who...?"

 

"It's Ann, Jarod. Nicole went to do some shopping and I stayed to keep an eye on you."

 

Jarod heard footsteps crossing the carpet and raised an eyebrow. "Did you think I'd bolt while you weren't looking?"

 

Ann laughed. "Not exactly, but you don't have the best track record, do you?"

 

He grinned somewhat feebly, his drink forgotten. "Can I ask you something?"

 

She pulled up a chair beside the bed and sat down. "Sure."

 

"Who's Paul?"

 

Ann stiffened in her seat and stared down at him. "How did you know about...?"

 

"It was the last thing I heard before I fell asleep," he explained as she hesitated. "Nicole said she didn't want to talk about him."

 

"Jarod, I don't think..."

 

"Please, Ann," he urged gently. "Nicole's done a lot for me and I don't want to say something that might hurt her."

 

"It's not what you could say that's likely to cause her the most pain," the doctor retorted softly. "It's the way you'd say it. Not to mention what you look like."

 

"After saying so much, you can't leave it there." Jarod reached down for the pillow that usually sat by the head of his bed, but couldn't find it. Ann reached over to another chair in the room, seizing it and putting her arm around his shoulders. She helped him to sit up before returning to her seat.

 

"Paul was a close friend of Nicole's and to a lesser degree a friend of mine,” Ann began. “He lived here with her and he looked very like you."

 

"Was?"

 

"He died several years ago,” Ann admitted. “But he was the person who helped Nicole adjust to the changes in her life when she couldn't see. They were very close."

 

"Was this his room?"

 

"Yes." Ann leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "It was until they got engaged. After that he slept with her. Their engagement was a fact that not many people were aware of."

 

The man’s expression became curious, not wanting to cause his questioner pain but still feeling it important that he knew as much as she was willing to tell him about this particular subject. "They were... engaged?"

 

"They planned to marry some time, maybe a few months, after Nicole's accident, but then he was killed."

 

Jarod nodded silently, his eyes blindly staring down at the blanket, before raising his head. "How were we similar?"

 

Ann smiled sadly. "Just about everything - tones of voice, hand movements, hair and eye colors, the figures of speech you use..."

 

"So it's hard for her to have me here?" the man offered quietly as the woman stopped abruptly.

 

"In some ways." Ann brought her legs up, wrapping her arms around them, and rested her chin on her knees. "But..." She paused. "Jarod, I'll tell you the whole story because it’ll make it easier for you to understand. No questions until I'm done, okay?"

 

He nodded, turning to face her as she began to speak.

 

"Nicole and I met in primary school. One day, she fell off the swing and hurt herself. Paul was two years older than both of us and he helped her to the school nurse. After that, he’d come to see us every couple of days. He and I were always just fairly casual friends but with them it was like they found siblings they never knew existed. They became incredibly close very quickly, but it wasn't that they were in love. It was just a very deep friendship. I think Nic even studied medicine ‘cause he did. When she moved here to work, he was already living here and invited her to live with him. The hospital buzzed with rumors for about a week, until they saw them together and realized that there was no romance in the situation at all. When Nic fell down the stairs, Paul was the first person beside her and it was he who oversaw her treatment because that was his specialty. For a few weeks after that she was at a total loose end - hanging around the house and boring herself stupid. I think she said that she told you about that."

 

Jarod nodded wordlessly, his mind quickly presenting the scenes that she described, becoming a little frustrated when trying to imagine exactly what Nicole looked like. The soft voice continued to speak out of the darkness.

 

"Finally he told her off, said that she was wasting her life and he didn't want to have to put up with it. It was the only time I ever saw him angry with her, but clearly it was what she needed because she made an effort to learn Braille and do all she could to get her life back to some semblance of normality. When Paul found that she wanted to extend her medical knowledge, he helped her use resources to the best of her abilities, summarizing whole books into Braille for her. Often he’d get her to read books or notes aloud so he could be sure she understood."

 

Ann inhaled deeply and let out a shaky breath as the man nodded, recalling the day they had sat inside during the storm and Nicole’s directions as he read. After a moment of silence, the woman continued.

 

"A couple of weeks after she began studying, Paul was called out to a patient who’d already been released but seemed to have a recurrence of their injuries. As he was leaving to come back to the hospital, a car skidded, slamming into his, and that went into a tree. Paul had internal bleeding, a fractured skull, crushed spine – yet, despite all that, he was still alive. God alone knows how. But there was nothing we could do and each of us knew it. Nic stayed beside him for the last eighteen hours of his life, unable to see him but knowing that he was happy because she was there. I think she’d have sat there forever if he'd lived for that long. But he didn't."

 

Jarod heard her pull something out of her pocket and he guessed she was wiping her eyes so he remained silent. When she could go on, Ann changed the subject somewhat.

 

"When you were brought in, I'd already paged Nic to come down because we received a warning of your injuries. If I'd seen you first, I don’t think I would have called her, but by the time you got in, it was too late. Still, most of the similarities weren't so obvious until you were more alert and could speak. I happened to call on Saturday, just after you beat her at cards."

 

Ann saw the curiosity in his eyes and laughed, choking slightly. "She told me the game you were playing, before you ask. But it was the game that Paul taught her after she lost her vision and he often won it too. We talked about you and Nic said that in some ways it made it easier to have you here because it was like she had a chance to see Paul again. I think it's still a toss-up as to whether it's a good or a bad thing overall. It'll probably take longer before she can decide that."

 

"So I..." Jarod paused for a moment, his face turned to the bed, trying to work out exactly what he wanted to say. "I won't only cause her pain by being here? It might be helpful for her too?"

 

Ann leaned forward and covered his hand with her own. "You don't have to feel guilty about that, Jarod. If she hadn't wanted you to come back, she wouldn't have arranged it so that you could. It was solely her choice."

 

Jarod nodded slowly and then turned his head in her direction. "Would she have told me all of this herself?"

 

"I don't think so, but I'm not sure. Maybe some. Probably not everything."

 

"So I shouldn't change the way I behave towards her? I mean, I..."

 

"I know what you mean." Ann stared into the middle distance for a moment before looking back at him. "I don't think so, if you could avoid it. Firstly, as I said before, it's a form of comfort to her that you're the way you are - being so much like him. And second," she laughed suddenly, "it’d let her know you knew and I've copped enough for that kind of thing from her recently."

 

Jarod raised an eyebrow. "In what way?"

 

Ann grinned. "I mentioned to one person that you were going to stay with her. Unfortunately, I told the biggest gossip in the whole hospital and, as everyone was denied the nice little romance they all imagined when Nic moved in with Paul, I think lots of people have thought one up between the two of you. You’ve got to understand: Nicole's been very cautious around people, and particularly men, ever since Paul died. I think you kind of caught her off guard."

 

He smiled. "I'm good at that."

 

"So it would seem." Ann looked at her watch and stood up, trying to hide a grin. "Meanwhile, we need to stop this conversation."

 

Jarod raised an eyebrow. "For?"

 

"I think you can guess."

 

He rolled his eyes and threw his hands into the air. "Doctors!"

 

"Patients!" She laughed, walking over to the table, where she took the bubble sheet out of the top drawer. "But you can be happy about one thing - it's in tablet form."

 

"Well, let's all be grateful for small mercies then," he muttered.

 

"Complaining again, Jarod?"

 

Ann looked up to find her friend standing in the doorway, a basket on her arm and a smile on her face, and grinned. "He hasn't complained for the last half hour."

 

"Hey, a new record!" She laughed and put the things she was carrying down on the floor outside the door before coming in. "And there's a second benefit, Jarod. Those aren't quite as potent as what you had in hospital. You'll be awake in a few hours and I might have had a chance to make something decent for dinner in that time."

 

"Remind me,” he retorted wryly. “What's dinner again?"

 

Ann laughed and walked over to place the tablets in his waiting hand. "There's a cup of water on your bedside table."

 

"Where?"

 

Ann glanced over at Nicole with her eyebrows raised. "I don't..."

 

"Six o'clock, Jarod."

 

He picked up the cup, swallowed the tablets and then leaned forward so Ann could ease the extra pillow out from behind his head. Nicole picked up her things and headed down the hallway.

 

Ann spoke so that only he could hear her. "Don't forget, Jarod. Not a word."

 

He nodded. "I promise." Ann placed one hand on his for a moment and then also left the room.

 

"How did your tiny wreck of a car manage to carry all this lot home?" the blond woman queried as she walked into the kitchen and eyed the laden bench.

 

"With difficulty,” Nicole told her. “I wasn't sure it would make it up the last hill."

 

Ann laughed and walked over to the basket, picking up several of the books from it and looking at them. "Did you get anything for sighted people?"

 

"Nope. Why bother? We can both read Braille."

 

"And what's this?"

 

Nicole looked at a package Ann was holding up. "Spoken book. I used them a fair bit and thought Jarod might enjoy them as well."

 

"Very considerate," the woman retorted drily.

 

Her friend leaned against the bench and laughingly glared at her. "Are you trying to suggest that I only think about myself?"

 

"Well, I don't see anything in this bundle for me!"

 

Nicole reached into a shopping bag she was emptying and tossed a small package of chocolate-covered peanuts in her friend's direction. "That might keep you going tonight."

 

"Great. Now I feel guilty."

 

"Completely intentional, I assure you." She grinned and looked at the clock on the wall. "Don't feel like I'm throwing you out or anything..."

 

"…but I only have twenty minutes to get to work." Ann grabbed her bag from the bench, gave her friend a quick hug and then ran out of the house. Nicole followed her down the hall and locked the door, which had slammed shut.

 

"Is there an earthquake?"

 

Jarod's voice was drowsy and she walked into the room to stand next to the bed. "It was just Ann running late, as usual. What are you still doing awake?"

 

"I wasn’t awake, before," he told her sleepily.

 

She pulled the blankets more closely around him. "Is the room warm enough?"

 

He nodded languidly.

 

"Call me if you want anything."

 

"Mmm hmm." His eyes closed and she turned away, shutting the door behind her as she left.

 

* * *

 

"Hungry?"

 

He turned his head eagerly as Nicole’s voice came from the doorway, a light of amusement in his eyes, hearing his stomach growl. "How many adjectives would you like?"

 

She laughed and walked into the room. Jarod heard her place something on a table in the corner before she came over to the bed. After piling the pillows behind his head, she helped him to sit up and checked that the covers weren't lying on his shin. She picked up the tray and put it on his lap, unfolding the short legs so that they rested firmly on the mattress and lastly put a half-full glass on the bedside table, setting the capped bottle beside it.

 

"Roast chicken at twelve o'clock: no bones, roast potatoes at two, roast pumpkin at four, steamed beans between six and eight and roast carrot between nine and eleven. Stuffing in the middle of the plate. Dr. Pepper at six on the table."

 

Jarod arched an eyebrow, turning his face in her direction. "Slaving over a hot stove?"

 

She laughed, pulling a small folding table close to her. "Just so you'd notice. I wanted to come up with something that wouldn't be too messy or hard to eat and it seemed like a good alternative."

 

He eagerly picked up his cutlery. "I think you succeeded."

 

"There's not much of anything. I know you've been eating in the hospital, but that was never very much either. If you're still hungry then you can have seconds, but I thought a small amount would be better to start off with."

 

Jarod nodded as he swallowed his first mouthful and smiled. "You said you wanted expert tuition. I don't know why."

 

"Is that intended to be sarcasm?" Nicole asked wryly.

 

"No!" His denial was full of force. "I mean it!"

 

She laughed. "I can do plain stuff, but nothing fancy."

 

"And you do it well," he assured her.

 

"When you're able to get out of bed, I'll look forward to something more fancy. You can do quite a lot from a wheelchair."

 

He choked on the first mouthful of his drink. "A what?"

 

Nicole rolled her eyes, despite knowing he wouldn’t see it, her voice also revealing her frustration. "Would the doctor in you please recognize that you've had an open reduction and internal fixation with tibial intra-medullary rod inserted? In basic English in case you haven't read up on that one, cut into, opened up and fiddled around with, as well as making you extremely popular with metal detectors for the rest of your life. If you were the surgeon, what directions would you give to your patient?"

 

Jarod nodded slowly. "Bed for about a week and then up…"

 

Nicole raised an amused eyebrow as he hesitated. "Yes?"

 

"In a wheelchair,” he finished glumly. “Or maybe crutches."

 

She could hear the grudging admission as well as the hopeful hint in his tone and laughed. “We'll see. So do I get a better-behaved patient now?"

 

"I guess so." He paused to eat another mouthful. Then he lifted his head again, a grin on his face. "And what will you do while I'm preparing some fancy meal?"

 

She smiled. "Isn't it obvious? Watch and learn from the expert!"
 
Part 5

 

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