~~~~Just To See Her~~~~

Chapter 18


Kathy had scurried back into the hospital room once Nick was standing and had his robe on.

"Kathy?"

She was busily taking things out of his backpack and returning them to it. Anything to keep her mind off of what it was currently occupied by.

"I�m here by the bed, Nick. Just getting your things together."

He moved gingerly over to the bed, grasping the mattress and sitting down slowly. "Yep. I definitely hurt the leg again." he moaned. "And the toes. They really hurt."

Kathy looked down at his foot, and then knelt beside him. She carefully bent each toe, checking for signs of injury. Nick moaned loudly at every touch. "They�re not broken, you�re lucky there. But they probably will be black and blue before the day is out." She made a notation on his chart, for now, he was still officially a patient here. "I�ll get you down for an x-ray so we can make sure your leg isn�t broken again."

Nick nodded his consent. "Can you help me get dressed?"

Kathy made a funny noise in her throat and finally squeaked out a yes.

"Look, Kathy. What happened in the bathroom..."

Kathy paced around the room. "I�m sorry Nick. It was very unprofessional of me."

"What do you mean? You were very professional. You looked after me very quickly and repaired the damage."

"And then I ogled your private parts." Kathy added, ashamedly.

Nick giggled, embarrassed. "You�re gonna see me naked occasionally, I guess, as hard as that is for me, and you, to realize. Especially if I have broken my leg again, I�m going to need help. But even aside from that, I will need help getting dressed and shaving and stuff. Things that require us to be close together. And probably once in awhile I will have a, um, I will be, uh....um..."

"Happy?" Kathy added, helpfully.

Nick smiled weakly, "Yeah, happy. So, are we cool with this? I�m nothing special to ogle anyway."

Kathy looked into his face, which had turned several shades of pink. "How wrong you are Nick." she said to herself, smiling slightly. "I think we�ll work through it, but, let�s try not to fall out of the shower again, okay?"

Kathy helped Nick into his new clothes, careful to look aside as he stepped into his boxers, and then back into the bathroom to shave. She gently wiped the shaving cream across his cheeks and then dipped the razor into the warm water in the sink. "I�ve never shaved a guy before....well, not a guys face, anyway!"

Nick was silent for a moment and then burst out laughing. "You mean to tell me you�ve shaved a guy, um, down there?"

Kathy nodded. "Yes, prep for surgery, you know."

"So why did seeing me freak you out?"

Kathy continued to drag the razor across his cheek in silence for a moment. It was because he was so damn good looking, but she couldn�t tell him that. "I don�t know. Maybe just the context of it. Maybe because I�ve gotten to know you and I didn�t know the others that well. I have no idea." She finished shaving his face and wiped the remaining cream off with a damp cloth. "There, check out my handiwork, sir."

Nick rubbed his face with both hands. "Pretty good for a first timer!" he laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bag packed and x-rays taken, the leg was just badly bruised fortunately, Nick waited for Kathy to come and escort him to the airport. The guys had called earlier to let him know that they would meet him at the airport to say goodbye. His family, of course, was here with him.

"Nick, how are you doing?" Aaron touched Nicks arm and climbed into his lap.

"Hey Airbear! Where have you been?" Nick hugged his brother tightly.

"Well, I�ve been snorkeling and stuff. I didn�t want to say anything, cause I knew it would make you feel bad."

"Aw, Air, it�s okay, really. You would have been crazy not to take advantage of being here." Nick ruffled Aarons hair. "So how was it? Tell me all about it!"

Aaron began telling Nick about his adventures in the Bahamas and neither one of them heard their parents enter the room.

"Hey guys!" Jane called out. "Almost time to go."

Nick indicated okay with his hand and continued listening to Aarons story.

"Hi there!" Kathy exclaimed, as she entered the room a few minutes later. "Everything is all set." She handed Nick a small bag.

"Is this what I asked for?"

"Yes, I picked them up last night for you."

Nick reached into the bag and pulled out a pair of black Ray-bans. "Terrific! Thanks Kathy!" Nick exclaimed, as he placed them carefully on his face.

Jane shot Kathy a dirty look. "We could have got those for you yesterday, Nickolas. Why didn�t you say something?"

"I forgot." he replied, simply.

"Now you look normal!" Aaron joked.

Kathy clapped her hands together. "Okay, we need to get rolling. The car is waiting outside. Nick, you need to be wheeled out, hospital policy!" she added, before he could complain. "Bob, or Jane, one of you need to go sign him out and round up the girls."

Kathy checked her list as Bob brushed past her. "I�ll sign him out."

"Okay, Nick, I�m told there are some fans at the airport. I have no idea how many. There are ways to avoid them, if you want to, just let me know, okay?"

"Where are your things?" Nick asked her.

"What I need right away is in the car and the rest can be shipped to me if I need it." She smiled down at him. "Thanks for asking!"

Kathy glanced around the room. Bob had returned with the girls, Aaron was still sitting with Nick and Jane was throwing her death looks every chance she got.

"Okay, let�s get this show on the road!" She turned toward the wheelchair and was pushed aside by Jane.

"I will push my son, if you don�t mind!" she said coldly.

Kathy backed away without comment, even though there were several running through her mind. They all filed out of the hospital room as Aaron hollered out.

"We�re going home, Nick!"

next page-----previous page

home

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1