Tales from the Bathroom Floor
"Tom? Tom? Are you okay?" Sybil frantically tried to untangle herself from her husband who was now lying in an uncomfortable heap on their bathroom floor. "Tom, seriously talk to me…." She was starting to worry and desperately needed him to open his eyes and say something, anything.
"I think you broke me." He opened one eye and peaked up at her, trying to contain a strained smirk.
Wrapping a towel around herself, she started giggling and shut off the shower. "Well, you did say you wanted to spice up our sex life. Besides, in the movies, they always have sex in the shower. 'Course, normally the shower door doesn't give way." She touched her forehead noticing that there was rather a tender lump there. Tom started to roll over when he stopped abruptly and froze in position.
"Um, Sybil."
Sybil turned immediately to him hearing an unfamiliar tightness in his voice, "What?"
"My back is, um really stiff, kind of …wow, I don't think I can get up by myself." He grunted out the words practically between clenched teeth.
"Ok…." Sybil started to panic and she came around to his side and kneeled down. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I …can't get up. I think I wrenched my back." Each word was gruff and tinged with pain.
"Um, ok," Sybil started to go through her options in her mind. Who should she call? She can't exactly call the hospital; she works there for Christ sake and they will never let her live that down. Her husband threw his back out having sex with her in the shower. What's the protocol for dealing with that exactly?
"I think you should call for an ambulance."
"It can't be that bad. Maybe if you just lie here a minute…" She was rambling and she knew it, grasping for straws, for any solution that did not involve total humiliation.
"Get the phone."
"Tom, we can't, what will they say when they find you here?"
"I don't really care right now!" Tom tried to keep from shouting at her; he knew she was embarrassed, but the pain was overwhelming. He took a shallow breath, "Sybil please, this hurts like hell. And it's either call for an ambulance or you call Matthew to help heave me off this floor."
Sybil could tell from the almost frightened look in his eyes that she needed to get him help as fast as she could; humiliation would have to take a back seat to making sure he was okay. "I'm sorry, you're right. Of course I'll call. Be right back."
She ran through the bedroom quickly collecting underwear, shorts and a t-shirt and then she tore through their living room looking for the cordless phone.
Finding the phone, she reassured herself that this would all be alright, "C'mon Sybil, this wont be the worst thing they've ever seen, they're paramedics." She slowly dialled the number.
"999, What's your emergency?"
"Um, well I don't know if it is really an emergency," she drew out each syllable, "but my husband has thrown out his back and can't move."
"I see, is he in pain?"
"Yes, I think it's bad."
"Is he conscious? Is he bleeding?"
"No, but I don't think I can get him into a car."
"I understand miss. I'm sending an ambulance, is your address 49 Chamberlain Crescent, W1?
"Yes." Sybil wondered for a moment how the operator knew that? Was she psychic? Did she already know how Tom threw his back out? She shook her head, smirking slightly, as she remembered that the address comes up when you call.
"Alright, sit tight, they'll be there shortly."
"Ok, um, what should I do while we wait?"
"Keep him warm miss."
"Oh, of course. Thank you." She knew that. She was a bloody nurse after all. But why when it came to looking after her own husband was she forgetting the simplest of things?
Sybil slammed down the phone, and ran back to the bathroom, realizing she had left Tom laying there wet and naked. "I am so sorry, I forgot you were, um, naked in here." She took a big towel and put it over him, tucking the ends under him. She took another towel and tucked it under his head. Kneeling down next to him, she smoothed the hair back out of his eyes, "How are you doing?"
"Well, I've been better." He tried to smile to ease her concern and he turned his head into her hand, kissing her palm. He looked up at her and, blinking several times, finally realized that he wasn't the only casualty. "Hey, your forehead? Did you hit your head on the way down?"
"I'm okay."
"Sybil, seriously…" He reached up to touch the red mark on her head and he noticed her flinch, "You're hurt too."
"I just hit my head on the frame as we crashed through, it's no big deal."
"It is a big deal, go get some ice for it." He desperately wished that he could move right now so that he could take care of her.
"Really, I'm fine." She loved that he was worried for her, but she just wanted to get him seen to and for this day to be over with. She also had no idea how she was going to explain to the paramedics this situation in their bathroom.
"Wow, I really wish I had my boxers on."
"Yeah, um, I could try to..uh…put them on, if you want." Tom was astonished how shy Sybil had suddenly become when they were just having sex not fifteen minutes ago.
"I don't know if that's gonna work, but, yeah, let's try anyway."
"'Kay." Sybil got up and quickly went to retrieve the necessary boxers and gym pants. As she knelled down at his feet, she put the boxers inside the pants thinking that if she were actually able to do this, she surely wouldn't be able to do it twice. "I think this might hurt. Are you sure?"
"I'm pretty sure that I don't want to be wheeled through the hospital car park naked, just do it."
Sybil was not sure how to do this, but she was certain this was really going to cause him a lot of pain. Her dad had thrown his back out once and she remembered how every little movement was painful for him. She took a deep breath and decided that whatever she did, she should do it confidently and quickly even if that wasn't how she felt. She scooped up his feet in her arms and lifted about 6 inches off the ground. She could feel Tom's body tense up as he let out the most horrible sounds, "I'm so sorry, should I stop?"
"No," he grunted, "ugh, keep going."
"Two more seconds." Sybil was surprised by the even sound of her voice. But she knew she could do this, and that Tom would be happier not being quite as exposed. "Just breathe deep."
"What?"
"It helps. So just try it."
"O-kay." She heard him try to keep a deep breath while she eased the pants up to his knees and gently put his feet down.
"So ….that was terrible." She leaned against the wall, "And I'm not sure how to get them past your knees, you're really kind of heavy all frozen up like this."
Tom tried to calm himself, but that had hurt worse than the expected. He started to wonder how embarrassing it could possibly be to just go naked. "I'm starting to get flashes of what this might be like when we're old and gray."
Sybil couldn't help but reply sarcastically, "Yeah…this is fun."
Tom decided that lightening the moment would be a good thing. "Hey Sybil?"
"Yeah?"
"I've fallen and I can't get up."
"Oh shut up." Sybil giggled and swatted his arm playfully, grateful for the release.
His heart lifted seeing her laugh at his little joke, he loved how her smile could warm him regardless of the situation he was is, "What I'm naked, wet, and in pain, clearly I'm allowed a few jokes."
"So true. Okay, they're gonna be here soon, what do you want to do?"
"Well, I guess we could say I fell off the toilet." They both erupted again in almost giddy laughter.
"That's so much better, Tom."
"Well I think this shower door sort of blows our cover."
"Yup." Sybil smiled shyly at her husband, realizing that even after all the years; their relationship still had its most essential quality. They were best friends; and today, more than ever, she realized what an asset that was. They could deal with this. She took a resigned breath and leveled her stare on him, "Ready? I think one more try and we have it."
"And then I have pants, sounds like a plan."
Sybil got up and stood over him, bending at the waist to start shimmying the pants up. She tried very hard not to disturb him too much, but stopped momentarily when she heard Tom start to laugh, or cry, she wasn't sure.
"What? Are you okay?"
"Oh I'm fine, you're giving me an incredible view right now."
Sybil looked down at her chest realizing her v-neck was allowing Tom quite the sight, "What, urg, Tom! Quit staring down my shirt."
"Please I'm a dying man!"
"Shut up." She had managed to get the shorts almost the entire way without disturbing him too much. She made a final push to finish the job. "I don't know that I've ever tried this hard to get your pants on. Not that I really have to try too hard to get your pants off." She crooked an eyebrow at him and they both started to laugh again, unable to suppress their amusement at their current situation.
"Glad you're starting to see the humor here, I mean really this is classic. Humiliating and painful, but classic."
Sybil nodded happily thinking that this would be a story they could laugh about for years to come. They were startled by a hard pounding on the front door.
She opened the door to a man and woman with a stretcher; Sybil fumbled for a moment realizing she had no idea how to greet paramedics, "Uh, Hi, he's …this way."
She motioned for them to follow her into the bathroom, bracing herself for the humiliation that was sure to follow. Because the bathroom wasn't very big she stayed in the doorway so that they would have the room to get to Tom.
"Hello sir, I'm Olivia and this is Edward, how are you doing?" Olivia had a stern and commanding voice and demeanor. She surely ruled every room she walked into.
"Well, my back sort of tensed up here and, honestly, it hurts to even think about moving."
"Hmm." Olivia was fingering the back of his neck, checking that nothing seemed broken or out of alignment. "Did you fall?"
Tom glanced at Sybil and said, "Yeah, uh, I slipped coming out of the shower." Tom braced himself for more questions and felt relieved as he watched Olivia nod absentmindedly as she took his vitals. She asked him a few more questions to assess his condition and then nodded to Edward to get the stretcher ready.
"Alright Tom, looks like nothing too serious; probably just a really bad muscle spasm. We're going to put you on this stretcher and then the hospital will give you some wonderful drugs to make this little mishap just a memory."
Sybil watched as the man rolled Tom to his side just enough to slide a back board under him and the two made quick work of getting him unto the stretcher.
"Miss, I assume you'd like to ride along?"
"Yes I would, is that ok?"
"Absolutely."
Sybil squeezed Tom's hand and quickly brushed her lips across his knuckles, "I'll be right down, just let me grab keys and a t-shirt for you.
"Thanks." Tom's voice had lost its ragged edge; he was relieved now that he knew that help was close and he wasn't going to die on the floor of his bathroom. As they wheeled him out of the flat, his mind wandered a little thinking of what his obituary would say if he had died in that bathroom. 'Man withers away after bizarre accident involving shower sex?' His brother Kieran would probably deliver some eulogy saying, "At least Tom went out with a bang, doing what he loved…or who he loved…"
Once again, Sybil scurried through their flat collecting what seemed like necessities and putting them in an old duffle bag. She felt fuzzy, like she couldn't quite think of what she should be putting in the bag. The adrenaline from earlier had worn off and left her tired. She grabbed a shirt, socks and a pair of Nikes for Tom and a hoodie for herself. She reached for her keys and phone off the kitchen counter and fled out the door. Halfway down the stairs she realized that she had not locked the door. Shaking her head in frustration she ran back up to lock up the flat and then quickly headed back down to the waiting ambulance.
As she climbed in, she was struck by the fact that she had never been in an ambulance before; it seemed so small and severe. Her heart fluttered at the sight of Tom; she wanted to hold him, to comfort him, to somehow get back to the morning they had spent together before all this had happened. Ever since they had crashed through that stupid shower door, she hadn't been able to think clearly; she just went from moment to moment figuring out what to do next, like she was checking off a list. She never stopped to consider that Tom might really be hurt, that it could be serious. But now, looking at him lying under the sterile looking blankets, she was so incredibly thankful that his injury appeared to be just a bad sprain.
Tom looked up at Sybil and gave her a small but genuine smile as if to reassure her that under the blanket and tubes, he was still the same Tom, "Get lost on the way down, did ya?"
She sat down next to Tom and took his hand, "I forgot to lock the door."
"Ah, good thinking." He grasped her now shaking hands, trying to calm her. "Seriously Olivia, I'm thinking my wife needs some of those lovely drugs you were talking about."
"Oh yeah, that's exactly what I need." Sybil laughed uneasily and pushed an errant curl behind her ear. "How are you doing? Does it still hurt like hell?"
"Yeah, kinda, but more stiff than anything. I think if I just don't move ever again I'll be fine. How's your head?"
"It's not bad."
"Actually, Olivia will you look at her forehead while we're here?"
Olivia looked at Sybil's head and then looked at Tom. She tried to suppress a smile as she began to examine Sybil, "How did you say you hurt yourself again?"
Author's note: I'm new to fanfiction. So I really hope I did this okay. I'm from the US, and even though I did some research, I'm not 100 percent everything is accurate when it comes to things they would say etc. Please review. Should I continue writing or just stick to reading?