Chapter 4

I woke again after midnight when the nurse made her rounds. When the nurse walked in, Nina woke up and stood by me. My fever was drastically down and I was feeling much better.

Morning came, and so did my regular doctor. "Well, Mister Dan, you had one raging case of strep throat. Could've been really bad if you hadn't gotten to the emergency room."

Nina interjected, "I found him almost unconscious ... He missed our date..."

Doctor Regan laughed. "He'd HAVE to be unconscious to miss a date with YOU." He turned to me. "Keep 'er, Dan."

"I have to," I said. "She saved my life." Nina sidled up to me and put her hand on my cheek.

"He's MINE," she announced.

The doctor smiled wryly at that pronouncement. "Well, he's gonna go home today. He's gonna be weak for a few days. You see that he's taken care of, okay?"

I looked at Nina. Nina looked at me. She smiled. "Sure will!"

Doctor Regan said, "I'll go sign your charts and get you checking out. You'll have some prescriptions for a week or so. And if you start hurting again, call me and come back in. Don't wait until you're hallucinating this time."

"Okay," I said.

"Is he contagious?" Nina asked.

"Have you shared a drinking glass or something in the last week?" he asked.

"Yes, something like that..." Nina smiled. Me too. I remember having her tongue searching the inside of my mouth two nights ago.

"Then he's not contagious to you."

"Good. Thank you, doctor!" She watched him leave and then came to me and kissed me lightly on the lips. "I'll take care of you," she said.

An hour later I was walking, still shaky, out of the hospital, Nina carrying a bag in one hand, her other arm wrapped around mine like she was supporting me. She sat me in the foyer and went for my car, parked it, and came in to retrieve me. "I'm NOT helpless," I complained.

"Doctor's orders. Said to take care of you." She held the door as I got in the passenger seat, closed the door, then climbed in the driver seat. "Let's go home," she looked at me, smiling. On the way home she drove through the pharmacy drive-thru and dropped off my prescriptions. "I'll come back and get these for you after I get you home, babe," she said.

We got home. I wasn't used to being a passenger in MY car, but Nina did a perfectly good job of driving. And I was still riding down off a Demerol haze, and that helped. She got out first, unlocked the front door, then helped me into the house. "Go get in bed," she ordered.

I went in the bedroom and undressed myself, then crawled under the covers. I was immediately joined by Sam the cat. He formed a cat loaf beside me, waiting to be petted. I obliged. Even old yellow tomcats need love.

I heard Nina on the phone talking. "Yes, Grandma," she was saying, "I brought him home from the hospital. No, he's gonna be okay. The doctor told me to take care of him. Said he's gonna be shaky for a few days. No, ma'am. I'm gonna stay here. My guy's sick. I need to be here. Okay. I love you, Grandma. Thanks for worrying about me. Bye."

It sounded like I had around the clock care. She appeared in the bedroom door. "Are you okay, babe?" she asked.

"Better. Sweetie, I'll be alright by myself. Really. Don't get crosswise with your grandma."

She giggled. "She ASKED me if I wanted to stay here and take care of you. Didn't sound surprised when I said I was." She approached. "D'you mind if I sit on your bed?"

"Uh, no," I answered.

She picked up the pants I'd discarded on the floor and hung them on a hanger, depositing my wallet on the dresser. "We can't be messy now," she grinned. And she sat on the edge of the bed and stroked my face. "Yesterday you were burning up, babe. And turning colors. I was SO worried."

"You handled things very well," I said. "I don't know what would have happened without you."

"You're my guy, babe. It's what I'm supposed to do." She leaned over and kissed my cheek, pulled back, then returned, kissing me lightly on the lips. "Mmmmm," she said. She sat back up. "Can I get you anything? Coke? Juice? Soup?"

"Maybe later, babe. I'm tired." I was. I let my head sink into the pillow. Almost a surprise was Nina kicking off her shoes and laying down in the bed beside me, although she remained on top of the covers, I underneath them.

She kissed my cheek. "Rest, baby. I need to go get your medicine at four. I set my cellphone. I'm tired, too." She snuggled against me and against all odds I was too tired to react. We went to sleep for the first time together.

Two hours later we both awoke to the sound of the alarm of her cellphone. I told her to take my wallet with her to pick up my prescription.

Heading out, I heard her holler, "Root beer float?"

"Yes!" I hollered back. She remembered a treat we'd shared together on a previous Sunday outing.

I sank back down into the pillow and drifted on the edge of sleep for a while longer. I must have drifted a bit deeper because I was gently stirred by a soft hand on my shoulder and a gentle "Babe?" in my ear. I opened my eyes.

"Can you sit up? I brought you a root beer float."

"Uh, lemme get to the table, babe."

"You feel strong enough?"

"Yeah. I'm getting better." I stood up. And realized that I was clad only in my skivvies. "Oops!" I exclaimed, turning my back to her.

"Here's you some shorts, babe. And don't get all embarrassed. I dressed you yesterday. I saw you closer then..."

"How close?"

Giggle. "I couldn't get your shorts up until I pushed things in place."

I turned red.

"Oh, don't be embarrassed. It was all very clinical." She smirked as I pulled on my shorts and buttoned and zipped up.

We headed into the living room. "Sit in your chair and sip this, babe," she smiled. "I'll get your pills."

I sat down and kicked the recliner back and let ice cream and root beer sooth the soreness out of my tortured throat. Nina handed me three multi-colored pills and I chased them down with more for the drink

"So," she said, "since I'm spending the night, where do I sleep?" She had a sweet expression and a look I was trying to decipher.

"Uh, that's a problem, babe," I said. I only have the one bed. One of us gets the sofa. Or this chair. Or..."

"Or I could just quit being silly and we BOTH sleep in our ... uh, YOUR bed."

"Sweetie, You know I love you, but I'm a bit sick, not dead. Both of us in bed..."

She touched my lips with her fingers. "Shush! I think I know what I'm doing..."

"B-but..."

"But nothing! I just spent twenty-four hours with you. I looked at you in a hospital room with IV's in you and worried about you. And I got to thinking. I asked myself some questions. And I answered them. You only have to answer one..."

"Question?"

"Yes. One question."

"What, baby?" I looked at those improbably blue eyes. She could ask me to slit my wrists and I'd do it for her.

"Are we..."

I jumped ahead. "Nina. Will you marry me?"

"That answers my question."

"Answer mine."

"Yes," she said. "I told Grandma last night that if you were okay, I'd ask YOU."

"You planned to ask ME?" I, well she DID tell me she loved me. But marriage?

"Yes. I planned. I mean, it's been a month ... some people wait years. And some people get married after meeting overnight in Vegas. And we're not even drunk."

I took a long sip of my drink. She sucked on her own straw and looked at me, eyes twinkling.

"You've talked to your grandma? About me?"

"Yes. About you. She and I talk about stuff, Dan. Everything. My mom. Her life. Her mistakes. Men. Grandpa died seven, no eight years ago. He was quite bit older than Grandma. She said she never regretted marrying an older man, that they'd had the greatest life together."

"Really?

"Yeah. But she told me like she tried to tell Mom. Not just ANY man. I told Grandma that in all the time we spent together, all you ever did was kiss me and hold me, and she said that meant that you weren't after sex with an eighteen year old girl. That you must love me."

"I do love you."

She smiled sweetly. "Not lust?"

"Babe, it is easy to lust after you. You're pretty. But love first ... If I never laid a hand on you, never kissed you, I'd adore you anyway."

I heard her straw sucking dry. She got up. Took my own empty cup from me and went to the kitchen to dispose of them.

She returned. "Is your lap okay?"

"Yes, my love," I said.

She scooted into my lap and kissed me lightly. Her nose wrinkled.

"What?!?!?" I asked.

"Babe, I forgot. You were doing chills and fever yesterday. You sweated. A lot. My baby's pretty rank. You need a bath. I'm sorry..."

"Oh, I'm sorry, too, babe. I should've known."

"It's okay, babe," she said. "I've smelled you sweaty before. That's okay ... kinda musky ... I dunno, almost, uh, sexy. But this is different."

"Because I was sick, babe."

She looked thoughtful. "Yeah. Makes sense. "D'you think you're up to a shower?"

"I think I can do a shower." She got up out of my lap and I lowered the recliner and stood. I was feeling better. MUCH better.

"I'll go take a shower, baby," I said.

"Call me if you get woozy," she said.

I grabbed a change of clothes and went into the master bathroom and started the shower. I undressed and got in. For minutes I stood there, breathing the steamy air in, letting hot water push some of the achiness out of my body.

And the door slid open. And a naked Nina stepped in. Completely nude. Deliciously, wildly unclothed. Her arms folded across her breasts.

"Nina!" I exclaimed. "You..."

"I thought you might need help."

"Oh, god, Nina!" I wrapped her naked body in my arms.

"This is a big step, Dan, my love ... You gotta know..."

"I know..."

She grabbed a washcloth and soap. "I really AM going to help you." She slathered up the cloth and started. Giggle. "A lot more to you than Jimmy..." Jimmy was her babysitting charge, now maybe five years old. She sat on my shower bench. It was BIG shower. I'd bought the house from an older couple who'd put in amenities for old age, and old people don't do tight showers. And for the first time, I thanked my lucky stars for the goofy seat in the shower.

Water spray slicked Nina's hair against her head. "Leg," she said, slapping my left leg. I lifted it. She soaped and washed my left leg. My dick was about two-thirds hard by now, inches from her face, and she was studiously ignoring it. "Right leg." She repeated the ablutions. She washed my back, my arms, my stinky pits, reached up and shampooed my hair, and I was beginning to wonder exactly what manner of girl I'd gotten.

Then she sat back down and hooked a hand behind my thigh. And lathered... "I'm thinking that I don't want to use a washcloth here." And she gently lathered my balls and my dick. "Turn around." I didn't want to turn around. I wanted her to touch me forever. But I turned around. And she lathered my butt, running fingers inside the crack. "Gotta get you clean," she smiled, turning me around. She took the telephone showerhead and rinsed me.

"Can you wash me?"

Oh, man, could I. But I replicated her careful indifference, no more lingering over those "B" cup titties, I lathered over quarter-sized areoles and noted that the ministrations of the washcloth and soap perked her pink nipples up like little strawberries. I noted, too, the soft dark hair sparsely sprinkled on her mons, and as I lathered washed her pussy, I heard her draw a sharp breath when my fingers first touched those puffy, pink lips. After shampooing her hair, I carefully rinsed her off.

"Time to get out," she said. "I hope I helped okay."

I got out behind her, fully erect. I opened the linen cabinet and pulled out towels, handing her two, one for her hair, one for the rest of her. And another for me. I didn't make a move to get out of the bathroom, and neither did she. As I dried off, I was overrun with mixed feelings. This was truly unique. We were both absolutely nude, seeing each other for the very first time.

"Let me get your back, Dan." I let her.

"Your turn," I said, and I dried hers. She'd done her best on her hair. It was still wet, but she reached into her purse and pulled out a brush.

"I'm gonna need a hair dryer if I do this again," she smiled. She brushed her hair to clear the tangles, but short hair doesn't tangle badly.

"Just a sec," I said. I rummaged in the back of a cabinet. "Here's one. Hasn't been used for hair, though.

She looked at me questioningly.

"Seriously. I dry wet boots with it."

She laughed. "Okay. I don't want a second-hand hair dryer." And she plugged it in, and I said, "Sit!" She perched on the bathroom's stool and I dried and brushed her hair.

"That's good," she said, turning around. And when she turned around, my semi-hard dick was just a bit below her eye level. And her eyes looked down. And she looked up. And stood and draped her long arms lovingly around my neck. "You're feeling better, huh..." and kissed me. And her body formed against mine and the semi-hard dick disappeared, replaced by one that could possibly cut diamond.

"Uh, babe," I said, "I am fast running out of self-restraint."

"Me, too," she purred into my ear. "But I'm a little scared, Dan..."

I didn't let her out of my arms. "Babe, you're beautiful, the most beautiful creature I've ever held in my arms, more beautiful to me than I ever imagined. But if ... We don't have to do anything. Not until our wedding night."

She whispered in my ear, "Dan, this IS our wedding night. I love you."

"I love you, Nina. D'you really mean this?"

One word escaped her lips. "Forever."

"Forever it is, Nina ... Mrs. Gleason." I followed as she walked back into the bedroom.

"Are you feeling okay, Dan? I mean, you were really sick."

"And I feel really okay, Nina."

"I don't want you to die on our wedding night, babe."

"I promise I won't die."

She pulled back the covers and slid to the middle of the bed. "I don't think I could've kept my hands to myself tonight if I slept with you, babe."

"Me neither. And I was afraid that I'd scare you or something." I crawled into the bed beside her. She took my face between her hands and stared into my eyes.

"Babe," she said. "I just said I was going to spend the night in your bed. Don't you just think that I might expect things to happen from that?"

"I see you as so innocent, Nina."

She smiled. "I love that, Dan. And in a lot of ways, I am. But I ... I know about sex. And love. And the difference. And I know that you and me, we're putting them together. There is no "sex" for me. And you. Only love." And her hand touched my hardness. She kissed me and I kissed back, our tongues weaving intricately together. "Mmmmmm, Dan..."

I stroked her shiny, sweet-smelling hair. "My Nina. Really my Nina." My hand slid down her back and over the smooth, succulent curve of her butt. I couldn't help but squeeze.

"Mmmm ... I've wanted you to OWN me, Dan. I want to be YOUR woman." Her hand, her fingers explored the shaft she held.

I groaned. "Oh, god, Nina. I've wanted you. How I've wanted you. This way, too..."

She pushed me gently onto my back. "Dan," she said, "I don't know what I'm doing, babe. I'm serious. You're the very first. When I touched you in the shower, that's the first time I've touched one over four years old. I don't know anything except what I've heard."

"Oh, god, Nina ... You just turned me into a virgin myself. Your hand ... it's perfect. Let's learn each other together." I looked at her face, seeing her glow, and I kissed her. Then her neck. I knew her neck. I felt shivers run down her body from my lips touching, sucking gently. She returned the favor, except she knew that I liked to feel her teeth biting into me.

"It's throbbing," she whispered. "Did it do that before?"

"Every time you kissed my neck, little one."

"Oh, Dan ... I didn't know..."

"Baby ... It's a GOOD thing..."

Her fingers left my dick and explored my balls. Gently. Curving, cupping, tugging lightly. "Like that?"

"Yes, like that. Don't squeeze hard. They're sensitive."

"I've heard that. I'll be careful."

"I know you will." I cupped one delicious breast, letting my thumb gently circle the nipple. She moaned. "Oh, Mmmmm ... Dan..."

My lips moved from her throat, softly down her chest to nuzzle the soft mounds. Her hand went to the back of my head and gently urged me. My lips found a nipple. Waiting. I kissed. "Mmmmmm ... suck..." I sucked. My tongue circled and teased. I felt her shivering. I gently moved a hand down the softness of her belly, my fingertips lingering in the soft hair on her mons. I kept working on her titties, first one, then the other, then my lips moved downwards to feast on her navel. Then a kiss lower...