Alpha Hero - Hope Ford Page 0,4

I’m still being pissy, she still just laughs. “Okay, tough guy. Your way had you knocking into the furniture. Just try my way and if it doesn’t work, we’ll do it your way.”

I think about it and realize she’s not asking much. “Fine.”

She releases me and comes back only a second later, grabbing my hand and wrapping it around the head of the cane.

She turns me around and tells me I’m facing the hallway. “Okay, so some people will tell you to count steps. In your house, it may be helpful, but there’s always the possibility of losing count. I want to help you develop your senses so you can get around more easily. We’re going to be using your visual memory, how you remember your house. But we’re also going to depend on your hearing – for example, you’ll know where you’re at by the sounds in your kitchen or even if you’re in a small space, you’ll have a closed-in feeling.”

“Since the moment I woke up unable to see, that’s the only feeling I’ve had… being closed in.” I grimace and as soon as the words leave my mouth, I wish I could take them back. All it makes me feel is that I’m weak. And I’m not weak. “All right, let’s do this…”

I start walking slowly and her soft voice fills my ear. “Take it slow. We’re not in any rush.”

I bang the cane against the walls of the hallway and by the way it hits them I can tell how many doors I’ve passed. When I get to my room, I stop. I turn and slowly enter the room and I swear I’m breathing hard like I just ran a marathon. Jane claps her hands again and I can’t help but smile. The action feels weird and unusual on my face. Immediately, I let the smile fall.

“Okay, what do you normally do to prepare for a shower?”

“Uh, grab a towel.”

I point to where I think the linen closet is and then walk over to it, opening it and grabbing a towel.

“You’re doing awesome, Mack. Okay, how about clothes for after the shower?”

“No… I usually come back into the bedroom and get dressed.”

She coughs a little. “Uh… okay, well, let’s go ahead and lay the clothes on the bed so you can find them afterwards.”

She helps me pick out clothes and lay them on the bed. She follows me into the bathroom and she must notice me stroking my unshaven face.

“Do you want to shave?”

“God, yes!” I tell her. I’m used to being clean shaven and I can’t stand the roughness of my beard.

“Okay, how about I shave you today and go over a few things and then you try it on your own tomorrow?”

Nodding my head at her, I tell her where everything is. When she’s about to start, she asks me for a stool. I tell her where I have one and she tells me she’ll be right back.

I pull off my shirt and throw it toward where the hamper is. Who knows if I made it or not.

I hear her footsteps treading lightly on the hard wood floor of the hallway and then the carpeted bedroom. A tiny gasp fills the bathroom, making me question if I should have taken my shirt off or not. When I’m about to question her, she tells me she’s putting a stool next to my feet and she turns me back around.

Her soothing voice fills the room, but there’s a static charge to it. It’s lower, almost husky, and I concentrate on it.

She tells me every step she makes. She turns on the electric razor. “Okay, you want to hold the razor in one hand and use your other hand to guide you.”

She touches my face gently. I want to tell her she can be firmer, but I’m enjoying her touch. Damn, I wish I could see her. Her body sways against me as she moves across my face, and I hold myself as steady as possible, waiting for each caress.

The feel of her soft curves is my undoing. It’s the first time I haven’t felt numb since I woke up in that damn hospital. Her large breasts press into the side of my arm as she moves the razor across my face. She’s talked to me the whole time, instructing me, telling me how to do this or that, but if I’m being honest, I don’t have a fucking clue what she’s said. My whole attention is