Page 32 of Dark Shaman: Love Found
"Because now I'm about to be completely at your mercy in the most undignified way possible?"
Because now he had feelings for her.
Because now he was a new man and could become exactly what she wanted.
"Tim." She sat on the edge of his bed. "There's nothing undignified about receiving medical care. Besides, I've been taking care of you for two weeks. There's nothing I haven't seen." She winked and started removing the many stickers holding tubes attached to his chest.
It made sense that she'd handled his privates before, and the thought should have been reassuring. Instead, it just madehim more aware of how vulnerable he'd been, and how completely dependent on her he was now.
"Ready to try standing?" she asked when she was done.
"Do I have a choice?"
"You always have a choice. You could keep the catheter and spend even more time in this room. Though I suspect that's not the kind of extended stay you had in mind."
"You know me so well." He intended sarcasm but was startled by the truth of it.
She stood and positioned herself beside the bed. "I'm going to help you sit up first. Take it slow. Your body's been horizontal for two weeks, and with the added height, your center of gravity has shifted."
She'd just given him motivation to get up. He couldn't wait to see himself in the mirror.
Bracing himself, Tim let her help him to a sitting position. The world tilted alarmingly, and his stomach did a slow roll that had nothing to do with hunger.
"Breathe," Hildegard instructed, her arm steady around his midsection. "In through your nose, out through your mouth. Let your blood pressure adjust."
He did as instructed, focusing on her voice, her presence, the solid warmth of her against his side. Gradually, the spinning sensation eased.
"Better?"
"Yeah." He took another careful breath. "I'm weak as a newborn kitten. How am I supposed to make it to the bathroom when I can barely sit up?"
"That's what I'm here for." She adjusted her position, sliding one arm around his waist. "I'm much stronger than a human female, so you can lean on me without worry. In fact, I could carry you to the bathroom, but I don't think you would like that. Besides, Bridget's condition for removing the catheter was that you make it there on your own two feet. We'll take it slow. Ready?"
"No," he said honestly, but he let her help him swing his legs over the side of the bed anyway.
The first thing he realized was that his feet actually reached the floor. Flat. No dangling, no stretching. Just...reached. The second thing he realized was that standing was going to be a lot harder than he'd anticipated.
"Easy," Hildegard murmured as he swayed dangerously. She was indeed strong, practically holding him upright as his legs trembled like a newborn colt's. "I've got you."
"I feel pathetic," he muttered, clutching at her shoulders as the room spun again. "I can't even stand on my own."
"You've been unconscious for two weeks while your body completely rebuilt itself," she reminded him. "Cut yourself some slack."
They made it three steps before his knees buckled. Hildegard caught him easily, practically carrying him the rest of the way to the bathroom. Despite his mortification at beingso pathetically weak, he couldn't help but notice how perfectly they fit against each other.
She was a tall woman, and when he'd woken up before, he'd been worried about the time he would have to stand next to her and look up to meet her eyes.
When they made it to the bathroom and he saw his reflection in the mirror, what greeted him wasn't what he'd expected. "What happened to my hair?"
He tried to lift his arm to touch his scalp, but it wouldn't go all the way.
Hildegard smiled at him in the mirror. "It fell off, but don't worry. It will grow back full and rich, just like it was when you were a teenager. You look good."
"I look like a bald skeleton."
His eyes were sunken, his cheeks hollow, and he had stubble, but his double chin was gone, and what was more important, he was the same height as the beautiful nurse, even though he was barefoot and she was wearing sneakers. That meant he was a little taller than her now, which was worth every moment of misery he'd gone through.
"Look," she said. "We are the same height."
