There was another possibility that might help.
“Reed, would you like to sit in a bath for a while? It might warm you up a bit, and you can get into bed, and sleep.”
He nodded slowly. Maybe he was aware of what she was saying, she wasn’t quite sure how much he was comprehending. He was definitely in shock. A shock that no doctor could cure. Only time, and eventually understanding, would help now.
“I’ll start the water in the bathtub, and I’ll be back to help you, okay?”
“Okay,” he answered. The tone of his voice was mechanical, automated.
She ran a gentle hand through his long, jet black hair before rising from the sofa. As she climbed the stairs once more, things became clear. She had no choice, she had to care for him, and eventually, if the Fates abandoned him, she would have to tell him the truth.
The light switch illuminated her bathroom. With its soft pink walls, vanity lighting and mirror, it reminded her of a Hollywood starlet’s dressing room. It was one of her favorite rooms. A welcoming place she could always retreat to.
She turned on the bath taps, and tested the water with the back of her hand. She reached on onto a glass shelf and opened an apothecary jar of botanical bath crystals. She poured a half handful of pastel colored crystals into her hand, before flinging them into the air, and pausing to watch them fall into the water like colored rain drops.
The momentary diversion was fleeting. There were more pressing matters to attend to. Namely, Reed.
He would be okay, she assured herself. He had to be.
When he found out the truth, there would be two choice for him to make. Accept what he was, or go crazy and be closed up in some kind of mental health facility, until he would wither, and maybe, eventually perhaps, cease to exist. Or worse, she thought, he could just go on year after year...forever. Unwilling to accept the truth, and lost to the demons that would fester within him. She seen that happen before. It was a fate worse than any hell.
She shivered at the thought of what could be.
Hopefully, he would accept.
After all, she had been on her own for decades, and forged a more or less tolerable life. She had a beautiful home, a successful business, and she still managed to bestow help and healing on others from inside her four walls.
But her walls were both her protection and her prison, as there were times she was desperately lonely. Yet she never ventured out, and with the exception of the occasional handy man or delivery person who was quickly ushered out when their task was completed, she never invited anyone beyond the threshold of her home.
Not until now, that is.
She blinked back tears. It wasn’t fair to be put into this position. What had she done to anger the Fates this time? How she wished her spirit wouldn’t have ventured out of bed when the accident happened.
In the next second after the thought entered her mind, she bowed her head forward and sobbed.
She hated herself.
She rested her forehead on her arm against the side of the bathtub, and cried. She cried for not only Reed’s predicament, she cried for wishing she never helped him, she cried for what was now an unpredictable future for them both.
At least the rushing water filling the bath drowned out the sound of her sobs.
“Why are you crying, Sara-Kate?”
Or so she thought.
She lifted her head, and spun her upper body in the direction of the voice.
Reed stood in the doorway of the bathroom, still deathly pale and hollow-eyed from his experience, he clutched the door frame.
Quickly, she stood up and latched on to his arm, amazed he had the strength to climb the stairs without falling. “Reed, what are you doing here? I asked you to wait downstairs.” She hoped her words didn’t come off as harsh and chastising to him. Still, he was invading her space.
“I heard you crying.”
He heard her all the way downstairs?
“Why are you crying, Sara-Kate?” he repeated.
“It’s not important, Reed. I’ll tell you about it someday. For right now, let’s get you into this bath while it’s still warm, and you can get into bed, and sleep.”
He didn’t move, instead he shivered and stared.
She really, really hoped he didn’t stay this way permanently. At the very least, he wasn’t violent, and she didn’t get the vibe he would become violent.
She took his icy hands into hers, and walked backward toward the vanity chair, pulling him along with her until she reached the chair. “Okay, let’s just sit you down, okay?” When he didn’t answer, she maneuvered the plush pink chair until it was against the back of his knees. With both hands on his shoulders, she applied gentle pressure downward until he sank into the chair.
Reaching out, she ran a gentle hand across his stubbled cheek, and used her hand beneath his chin to tilt his face slightly upward.
For a moment, her face inches from his, she stared into his dark eyes, and wondered what exactly was going on behind them. Fear? Confusion?
She took in a deep breath of courage. “Okay, Reed. Let’s do this,” she said, as she prepared to enter into unknown territory.
She reached for the hem of the long sleeved black t-shirt he wore and pulled upward, his arms raising with the motion. She tossed the shirt onto the hamper. His arms were muscled and firm, with a spray of dark hair. His belly was flat, hinting at regular visits to the gym. Dark, curly hair covered his chest. The kind of hair a woman could curl her fingers around at night in bed, when she was safe in his arms.
Enough of the crazy dreaming! She silently scolded herself before quickly going about untying, and removing his socks and sneakers.
Now came the most trying part of the
