Giving Paul a look, she stripped her blue scrub shirt over her head. She wore a pale pink t-shirt beneath that would probably turn translucent when wet, but oh, well. Kicking her clogs to the side she bent over and stripped off her socks. She would leave the T and the blue scrub pants on, which was perfectly modest. Her hair… ugh. It was such a heavy mass… Drying it would take forever. Whatever. It would dry eventually.
Turning, she walked deeper into the tile room and stepped beneath the shower. She rocked beneath the hot water for a while, letting it soak everything, even her face, then she looked at Mr. Dart expectantly. He was watching the water rain over her but he managed a step toward her open hand. Then his hand was gripping hers and he was very slowly letting the water inch up his arm. Raine made sure not to pull him or do anything unexpected, just stood there waiting for him to move closer. He didn’t look at her body at all, and she didn’t look at his more than to monitor how much he was accepting the water.
Then he was standing beneath the shower, the water flowing over his shoulders as he looked down at her. There was a tremulous look in his eyes, like he expected to be hit or dunked. Raine knew she needed to distract him.
“I used to show meat cattle at the county fair,” she said clearly, “and we used to have to bathe them the same way.”
His eyes widened the slightest bit. “You brought them in a staff locker room and showered with them?”
Raine tilted her head and chuckled, loving the flash of humor. “No, but by the time we were done we were as wet as the cattle. They hated the water and did everything they could to get away from us. Trying to control a thousand pound animal who doesn’t want a bath isn’t fun. My brother and I knew we were going to be wet by the time we were done.”
Amazingly, Mr. Dart’s lips tilted up slightly. “It sounds like you enjoyed the process.”
She hummed as she took a washcloth from Paul, who was standing outside the circle of water. Wetting the cloth she added shower gel, then she handed it to Mr. Dart. “I did. Start scrubbing. Those fairs were the highlight of this young farm girl’s life. Even though they were a lot of work they built a lot of pride and ethic in me. Did you have fairs in your country?”
He paused from washing his face. “Ukraine? Not exactly. We were a rocky, angry country and we prided ourselves on our horsemanship and our warriors.”
As he talked he began rubbing it up and down his arm, then over his body. Raine didn’t even think he noticed, and she certainly wasn’t going to draw attention to it. “Did you have market days or something like that?”
He nodded, a light entering his eyes. “We do have Ivan Kupala day, a day of celebration of youth. It is like an American fair, I believe. We dance and sing and drink too much.”
Raine grinned, nodding. “We don’t drink at fairs, necessarily, but it is definitely a celebration of youth.”
One side of Mr. Dart’s mouth tipped up in a smile and he tipped his head back into the water, running his soapy hands through his hair. “I haven’t thought about those days of my youth in a long time.”
Raine blinked. The guy couldn’t be anymore than thirty-two or three she thought. She would have to look at his file later. Right now she was too excited to correct him, fearing that he would stop what he was doing.
“It sounds like a blast. Do you celebrate Christmas like we do? I’m planning on decorating a room down the hall from yours.”
He nodded, eyes closed. “Yes, we do celebrate Christmas. And St. Nicholas day the week before.”
Raine noted the name. She would have to look it up.
Mr. Dart abruptly went still, and looked down at her. Most of the soap had rinsed out of his hair so clear water ran down through his eyes. Abruptly he jerked out of the water, blinking.
Raine kept the gentle smile on her face and Paul stayed just as calm. “You’re okay, Mr. Dart.”
He blinked and seemed to straighten. “I… you…” He looked at the running shower. “I didn’t even think about the water after a while.”
Absently, he took the towel Paul handed him, wiping at his face.
“You know we’re not going to drown you,” she said gently. “And when you go back to your room today, you’re going to watch TV or do whatever you want to do. You’re not going to be experimented on.”
He nodded, looking down as he held the towel against his chest. “I know that in my head, I promise you.”
She nodded. “Paul will help you get dressed if you need.”
He looked up at the very patient male nurse. “I think I can do it, Paul. Thank you.”
They watched as he wrapped the towel around his waist and headed to the pile of clothes on the bench. Again, with no modesty, he toweled off and dressed, then he crossed the room, dropped the towel in the bin and left the room. His demeanor screamed bemusement.
Paul looked at her, brows raised, then he held out a hand for a high-five. Grinning, Raine smacked his hand with her own. “That was amazingly non-traumatic,” he murmured. “Good job. I thought you were nuts getting in the shower with him, and I’m not sure that you could get away with that in any other job than this one. I’m not sure that I would even tell the doctors here you did that, but well done Nurse Walters.”
He glanced down her body and the tips of his ears turned a little pink. “Uh, you might want to um, run to your rooms.”
Raine looked down and realized that the pink shirt had turned transparent, as she’d expected,
