Page 29 of Dark Shaman: Love Found
"When you wake up, things are going to be different. It will take time for you to adjust to your new body. I'll be there to help you with your physical rehabilitation, and I hope you are not going to be too much of a pain in the ass during the exercises I will force you to do."
His brow furrowed, and she could swear he was trying to frown at her. The Tim she'd met sixteen days ago would definitely object to being called a pain in the ass, even while knowing it was well earned.
"Oh, you don't like that? Too bad. Unconscious people don't get to argue. It's one of the few perks of being the conscious one in the room."
His lips parted again, and this time she heard something—not words, just a soft exhalation that might have beenattempted speech. The monitors responded with increased activity across the board.
He was really waking up.
"Okay," she said, decision made. "I'm going to call Bridget now."
She reached for the call button, then paused. "But, Tim, before the circus begins, I want you to know that I'm really glad you're coming back. It's been too quiet without you."
She finally pressed the button.
His throat worked, swallowing with obvious effort. His fingers flexed again in hers, and she could feel the strength there. He would have to relearn his own body, recalibrate every movement.
But that was for later. Right now, all that mattered was guiding him back to consciousness by being the steady presence he could orient himself around.
"Come on, Tim," she coaxed, leaning closer. "I know you can hear me. Time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty. Wake up and rejoin the land of the living."
Any moment now, those eyes would open, and she hoped that it would happen before Bridget arrived.
For these last few seconds, he was still hers alone.
She cut off that dangerous line of thought. Professional boundaries. She needed to remember those existed, even if sixteen days of intimate caretaking had blurred them beyond recognition. She'd played a double role, that of hisnurse and his significant other, even though they were not in a relationship.
Tim had no one else.
"Whenever you're ready," she whispered, thumb still stroking across his knuckles. "No pressure. But I've been waiting sixteen days to see if you still think I'm a fifteen, and patience has never been my strong suit."
10
TIM
The struggle to consciousness felt like swimming up through molasses—thick, dark, and impossibly heavy. Tim could hear a familiar voice somewhere above him, the lifeline that he desperately tried to grasp. Her words came in waves, sometimes clear, sometimes muffled, but always there. Always pulling him upward.
"…impressed with your progress. Says she's never seen anyone gain so much height so quickly without showing signs of systemic stress. You're apparently setting all kinds of records."
He knew that voice. Had been listening to it for what felt like forever, cataloging every inflection, every laugh, every sigh. Hildegard. His nurse. His beautiful, sharp-tongued nurse, who'd been reading to him while his body tore itself apart and rebuilt from scratch.
He could feel her hand in his.
Was it real?
The warmth of her fingers wrapped around his felt like the only real thing in the surreal world of dreams and fantasy that he was submerged in. He tried to squeeze back, to let her know he could hear her, that he was fighting his way back to her, but his body refused to cooperate, and the void below sucked him under again.
"I should probably call Bridget," he heard her say from deep down the swamp of semi-consciousness.
He didn't want Bridget. He wanted more time with just Hildegard, more of her voice washing over him and her hand warm in his.
He managed to move fingers, curling slightly around hers.
"That's it," she encouraged, her voice dropping to something softer, more intimate. "Take your time. There's no rush."
But there was. He needed to see her, needed to tell her—what? That her voice had been his anchor in the darkness? That he'd memorized the sound of her laugh? That would sound completely insane, even by his standards, and it would drive her away.
"Did you enjoy the stories I've been reading to you?" she asked, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "I finished that entire series about Marcus the Magnificent Bastard. In book three, he totally should have let the villain win. Would have been a better ending."
