Chapter 6: Recuperation

The next few days were spent on getting my body back to where it belonged.

I got better and better at going up and down the stairs. By Saturday, I could take them one at a time, my right foot on one step, my left on the next, all the way up or down. No need to rest at the end. My hand slid down the banister as I walked but I didn't need it for support.

I spent a lot of time out in the backyard. I just lay out as long as I could, working on my tan. I even spent some time without my bathing suit bottoms. The bandage got smaller and smaller each day, but I wished it was gone so I could tan there as well.

Jeff came in my room to see me Friday evening. I was lying on my bed in a nightgown. We'd talked a few times. He was pretty sure he was going to marry Mom, though he made sure we all knew that she was going to make the final decision on that, both by getting everything handled (by that he meant a completed divorce from my father) and by showing that she wanted him, not just to be married. He had no qualms about telling me what he expected from her as if she was somewhere else when she was right there with us in the room. And then he'd look at her and smile and wink. I'd never seen my mother blush before but he could make her do it. Every time. It was kind of neat to see. I felt good for her.

Anyway, the bottom line was that neither of us felt comfortable with me calling him Dad and Doctor or Doctor Bradley were just too formal. Doctor Jeff sounded too dorky. We settled on me calling him Jeff. He would mess up my hair and call me Half Pint. God I hated that for the first few days. And then it was OK. I eventually grew to love it.

So Jeff had me on my stomach, my bare ass looking him right in the face and he took the bandage off.

"Boy, this looks pretty gross."

"What's wrong. Nancy keeps telling me it's healing fine."

"Well, that's why Nancy wears a pink dress. And why I get to wear those spiffy white smocks."

"Am I going to have to go back into the hospital?"

"I think we can handle it here. That is if you don't mind a little pain."

"How little?"

"You know when you go to the dentist and he sticks that big long needle in your gums? There's some pain at first and then it's gone?"

"Yeah."

"Well, kind of like that needle prick. And then maybe some pressure. And then another prick, some more pressure. You should be able to handle it alright."

"OK. I guess. You're the doctor."

"Darn right, And I've got the toys to prove it. Let me go get them. Be right back."

He threw the sheet over my back, leaving my nightgown up to my waist. He went downstairs and I heard the squeak as he opened the trunk on the old Mercedes he drove. The guy could probably afford a Corvette, or at least one of the new Mustangs, but he drives this clunky old blue Mercedes four door. I heard the trunk slam.

He came into the room, pretending to pant. He had his old, black medical bag with him. "Boy, those stairs are something else. I don't know how you do it."

"Easy. I'm not a tired old man like you are."

He pulled the blankets down and swatted me on the butt. It stung and I reached back to rub it.

"Yeah, it'll sting about like that."

He dug around in his bag. I was watching, wondering what he was up to.

"You'd better turn around and bury your face in the pillow. You don't want to see this. I told you it was gross. Do you want me to try and find a bullet for you to bite on?"

I laughed. "No. I think I'll be OK without the bullet." I pushed my face into the pillow.

"Atta girl."

He put his hand down on my back I could feel his palm above the scar, his thumb just below. I heard a snip and felt a slight pull. He rested some tool of his on my butt and I heard him moving things around in his medical bag. The noise stopped and I sensed him turning around. I felt another tug and a slight sting. He put the new tool on my butt and picked up the other.

"You're taking my stitches out."

"Well, I told you you looked gross. Do you know how white this part of your back is? He ran his palm over my left butt cheek. You've got this nice tan butt and this white patch right above it. Gross."

I turned around, trying to see what he was doing.

"Come on. You're scrunching up your back. It's going to hurt more and I won't be able to do it properly. Turn around and lie down flat."

I did and he proceeded to take the rest of the stitches out.

He finished and then rubbed his thumb across the healed incision. "Any pain?"

"No. It feels fine."

"I'm afraid you're going to have a scar. It couldn't be helped. We were pretty rushed trying to handle Wes that night."

"I can live with it." I was disappointed. I'd never thought about getting a scar out of the operation.

I found out later what an ass Jeff can be. Yes, I did have a scar. It looked like a blond hair about an inch long was laying horizontally on the left part of my lower back. You have no idea how many people would see it at the beach, pool, whatever and try to pick up the hair that was on my back. For years complete strangers would walk up to me and say "Excuse me, you've got a loose hair on your back."

He swatted me on the butt again after he put his tools away.

"Well, Half Pint. It's about time you took a real shower. I want you to stand under the hot water and let it run all over your back. And if you need to use a brush to wash your lower back, do so."

I sat up and kissed my doctor. There wasn't anything sexual about it and there never was. In that respect, he was like Sam. You could just tell that he was taken and it would be a total waste of time to try anything with him.

I spent most of Saturday afternoon getting an all over tan. Nancy nor I had said anything regarding our bath and massage. She had been quietly efficient since then. Of course, I hadn't needed much from her now that I was up and about.

She came out to the back yard and we talked for a few minutes.

"Nancy. I haven't really had a chance to talk to you since the other afternoon. I want you to know that I really appreciate what you did for me."

"That's OK, Les."

"No, I don't think you understand. I was really hurting. The bath you and Sam gave me was wonderful. I've never felt so pampered and special. And then the massage was just fantastic. I had no idea I could get so relaxed. But what I needed more than either of those was to feel loved. And you gave me that. I know it only happened that one time and I don't expect it to happen again. But that day, it was exactly what I needed. You don't know how I felt before you took care of me."

"I think I do, Les."

"Oh. OH. I'm sorry Nancy. I didn't think. I'm not that way. I hope you weren't expecting me to do anything for you."

"That's OK, Les. It's my job to nurse you. To take care of your needs. I knew what you wanted that afternoon. I should say needed. When you asked me I was happy to do it. I'm glad I was able to help. I really didn't expect anything in return. I just wanted to make sure you were OK with what happened. I know Sam was a little weird about it."