AN: I'm just going to make this statement. Sometimes innocent observations lead to hilarious and ridiculously inappropriate conversations. Sometimes those conversations may lead to fic ideas and sometimes I have a spare hour to write.
"Babe, I am so sorry," Henry pressed a kiss to Elizabeth's cheek. She offered him a small smile, while holding the towel to her head, her hair still hanging in dripping chunks leaving large wet spots on the back of her sweatshirt.
"It was an accident, and someday we'll probably look back on this and laugh." Henry raised an eyebrow. "Although right now, it's so incredibly embarrassing." She looked him over. "How's your ankle?"
"I'm hoping it's just a sprain. I'm okay. You?" She held up her arm, her wrist was officially twice the size it should've been, and her head was throbbing. She settled back in the rather uncomfortable chair to wait their turn. Looking around at the rows of wooden chairs with their cheap plastic upholstery, so wondered if all hospitals bought their seating from the same place. Every hospital she'd been in had similar seating.
"Elizabeth McCord," a nurse called from the doorway. They both stood and Elizabeth walked over to the woman.
"Can my husband come too?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, he's being seen as a separate patient. He'll be next." She offered Henry a slight smile as he sat back down and motioned Elizabeth back. "I'll see if I can get you in adjoining rooms though." Elizabeth nodded. That would be better than nothing. She was having trouble with the thought of going through something this embarrassing alone.
Once in the room, the nurse pointed to the exam table. "So what brings you in here tonight?"
"Um, I fell in the shower and cut my head and hurt my wrist," Elizabeth said softly
"Alright. Is that all that's hurt?" the nurse asked.
"I think so." Elizabeth said. The nurse gave only her a curious look and left. Maybe this would be easier than she thought.
A few minutes later, a man knocked and poked his head in. "Hello, Elizabeth. I'm Dr. Donelson. I heard you had a fall."
"Yes sir," Elizabeth replied, offering no further information. She was annoyed at herself that she was blushing. That wouldn't help her cause.
"How did you fall?" he asked.
"I slipped," she said, and added Down the wall and on top of Henry, in her thoughts.
"Okay. Let me look at your head first." He pulled back the towel that Elizabeth was holding to her head and removed it. He pulled Elizabeth's hair back a bit and she winced. She felt like there was a pretty good sized lump under the gash as well. "Yep that looks like about ten stitches. Surface laceration though, nothing too concerning. What did you hit that cut you like that?"
Elizabeth gave him a wide eyed look. "I'm not sure. Maybe the towel bar?" She shrugged slightly, and hung her head. She certainly wasn't going to divulge that her eyes had been closed, revelling in all consuming passion and then, out of nowhere, she was laying in a heap on top of Henry. The doctor nodded and proceeded to look at her wrist.
"I'm going to send you down for x-rays, but I'm going to check you over and make sure you have no other injuries. He bent and twisted her in all different ways, but when he pushed on her hip, she let out a squeal. Pushing down the waistband of her sweatpants just a bit, revealed a large bruise on her hip. "What happened here?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. I must have hit it on something," she said. Henry's knee perhaps?
"Alright then, the x-ray tech will be down in a minute. I'll be back."
Dr. Donelson walked down the hall and stopped at the nurses desk. "Can you please call someone down from social services. I've got a possible domestic abuse case."
The nurse grinned at him. "Why don't you wait a minute on that? Talk to the husband first. He's your next patient." The man raised his eyebrows at her. She shrugged.
Dr. Donelson rounded the corner and entered Henry's room. "Hello." He paused, glancing down at the chart. "Henry. I'm Dr. Donelson. What seems to be the problem?"
"I fell in the shower and hurt my ankle." The doctor looked down at Henry's ankle propped up on the table and it was most certainly swollen.
"I see. Do you have any other injuries?" he asked. Henry shook his head and the doctor checked his ankle first and then did a whole body check, finding a large bruise on Henry's thigh. "Any idea how that got there?"
"I can't say for certain sir," Henry answered, silently praying that would be in the end of the questioning.
"Hmm," Dr. Donelson said. "I'm sending you to x-ray to check out your ankle. I'm thinking it's just sprained, but I'd like to be sure. Henry nodded.
Dr. Donelson stepped out of the room. The nurse looked up. "Do I need to make that call to social services?" He grinned at her.
"I don't think it's necessary." He chuckled. "I'm going to go stitch Mrs. McCord up and maybe offer a few words of advice." He headed back down the hall and pushed the door open. The nurse already had the tray of surgical instruments laying out.
"So Mrs. McCord, it seems that both you and your husband had a rather unfortunate experience in the shower this evening."
Elizabeth couldn't keep herself from blushing a deep shade of crimson. "Yes sir." she mumbled. He now stood at her side, ready to stitch her up. "Do you feel this?" He poked around a couple times to see if the numbing agent had taken effect. She shook her head. He had her lean over and he scrubbed the cut thoroughly and rinsed the area before starting the stitches. "I'd like to offer you a bit of advice that may help you in the future. "If you are going to continue to engage in shower activities in which you could injure yourself, invest in a good bath mat. Not one of those little ones. Get a big one, with lots of suction cups on the bottom. You don't want one that's going to slide around." He finished quickly. "Only nine stitches. In ten days, go see your regular doctor and have those taken out. I'm going to check your x-rays." He disappeared.
Elizabeth wanted to crawl into a hole and die. How embarrassing? Where was Henry? He needed to be with her so she didn't have to go through this alone. Almost on cue, Henry came hobbling through the door on a pair of crutches. "Is it broken?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Just a bad sprain. I need to stay off of it for a couple weeks and make sure I ice it. How about you?"
"He hasn't come back to tell me about my wrist. Oh God, Henry. He knows and he told me that we should-"
"Get a bathmat?" Henry covered his face. "I know. So embarrassing. But guess what we're going to go buy as soon as I'm off these crutches?" Elizabeth giggled, leaning into him and giving him a kiss. Dr. Donelson strode back into the room and Henry and Elizabeth pulled apart quickly.
"Well," he smirked, "Glad to see there are no hard feelings after this evening's events." Then the doctor stopped and chuckled at his own pun causing Henry and Elizabeth both to turn beet red. "Sorry about that," he said offering a lop-sided grin. "I just came in to let you know that your wrist isn't broken, only badly sprained. You'll want to keep it wrapped for the next couple of weeks or so, unless you are sleeping and try to keep it elevated as much as possible and ice it three times a day for 20 minutes at a time. If you need to, you can take ibuprofen for the pain." Elizabeth nodded and Henry wrapped his arm around her back.
"I'll make sure she does it. Thank you Doctor Donelson," Henry said. Elizabeth nodded.
As he started to walk out the door he turned back to them. "The nurse will be in momentarily with your paperwork and he'll wrap your wrist. Then you're free to go." He walked out, but then immediately stuck his head back in. "I'm dead serious about the bathmat. Go big! Lots of suction cups. I don't understand why people don't put those on their wedding registries. Now that's a gift that keeps on giving." He grinned widely and let the door fall shut.
"Oh. my. God," Elizabeth said, burying her head in Henry's shoulder.
"I want to die," Henry finished. "If there's ever a next time. I say we just stay at home and forego medical care."
"Deal!" Elizabeth agreed.
The nurse came in, wrapped Elizabeth's wrist, handed them their discharge paperwork and pointed out the exit.
On the way home, Henry looked over at Elizabeth and chuckled. "What?" she asked.
"When we get ready to buy a house, I think the most important thing should be the shower," he said. "It needs to be big."
"Definitely," she added, "with the swinging doors, not the sliding ones. Towel bars on the outside." Henry nodded in agreement.
They both looked at each other. "With a bench!" they both said, smiling. Then Elizabeth giggled, "And a bathmat!"
Henry laughed and squeezed her hand. This would be a story that they had no intention of ever sharing.