Saving Grapes - Madeline Kirby Page 0,57
up and looked around the table. “You’re all determined, aren’t you?” He waited for each of them to confirm their commitment to the plan. “Fine. I’ll register, but not until I’ve had a chance to talk to Thom about it.”
Jon beamed, “Excellent decision! I think this calls for a toast.”
Mindy hopped up and opened the refrigerator. “And I know just the thing for that!” She pulled out a couple of bottles of Ben’s homebrew.
Ben got four glasses out of the cabinet and poured a measure for each of them, noticing as he did so that this was from the over-carbonated batch that had started exploding. He forced himself not to think about what drinking this had led to before, and how happy and uninhibited Thom had been that night. They would get back to that point again, he would make sure.
He raised his glass with the others as they toasted and drank to the future.
Chapter 20
THE PHYSICAL therapist was perky, and adorable, and relentlessly cheerful. Thom wanted to punch him within three minutes of meeting him.
“You want to hit me, yes?” the therapist, Alex, asked as he helped Thom out of bed. He had an accent, maybe eastern European, and Thom decided he hated that, too, no matter how charming it was.
Thom was taken aback. He had been thinking that, and he was in too much pain to deny it. “How did you know?” he asked instead.
Alex laughed. “All my clients, even the little old ladies, they want to hit me on the first day.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Oh, I am used to it. No one has hit me yet, though! Please do not be the first. Okay?” He smiled again, and his dimples made Thom think of Ben.
“I’ll try.”
“Good! Let us walk to the kitchen together down this nice long hallway.” The therapist stood on Thom’s uninjured side and helped support him until they reached the hallway. He was shorter than Thom, probably barely five-foot-six, and surprisingly strong.
They spent the next half hour walking up and down the hall and practicing exercises that would help Thom regain his range of motion.
“Back to bed for you, yes?” Alex finally asked.
“God, yes.”
Alex sat next to the bed, making notes in a folder and asking Thom questions about his pre-injury activities and his goals for recovery.
“I see you are not taking the pain relievers the doctor prescribed.”
“No. Are you going to give me grief too?”
“No,” Alex shook his head. “But you will be very disagreeable for a while. Maybe someone will want to hit you.”
Thom laughed at that, in spite of his pain. “I’m sure you’re right.”
“But I can understand that you do not want to take them. They can help, but also they can be bad sometimes. I will not, as you say, give you grief.”
“Thanks.”
“Now, do you have any questions?”
“Um, no?”
“You do not sound sure.”
“I’m tired and I hurt. If I think of anything, I’ll ask next time.”
Alex closed the file and stood. “Okay, then I will see you the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow you will probably be sore, but get out of bed and do those exercises we practiced. The more you do, the more you can do, is that not what they say?”
Thom nodded, already half asleep.
Ben caught up with the therapist on the front porch.
“Alex, right?”
“Yes, that is right.”
“I just wanted to ask. Well, I had some questions.” Ben ran his hand through his hair and shifted his weight, feeling awkward.
“Yes? What is it you want to know?”
“Well, a couple of things. What should I… what should we be doing for him, to help him? How much should he walk, or not walk?”
“He can move around the room if he wants. He will probably feel restless. The main concern is that he not get too tired and fall.”
“And, um, what about, uh—”
“You are Mr. Caldwell’s partner, yes?”
“Um, yeah.”
“You want to ask about the sex?”
“Um,” Ben could feel himself blushing. “Yeah.”
“It is natural and important. The orgasm can be relaxing and releases endorphins. It is a natural pain reliever. Also, it is something you can give him that no one else can, you see?”
“Right, okay, so with his injuries, what’s okay? And when?”
“Of course, you do not want to do anything too strenuous. A handjob or a blowjob would be fine. Let his pain be your guide. Also, be careful of the stitches at his surgery site. If you are careful and take it slowly you can do these things now. This is what you wanted to know, yes?”
“Well,