Earlier that day.
Twelve hours prior to his proposal, Harry had been to see Doctor Roberts for his monthly chat and for his last physio session until the start of the New Year. He knew that he was doing well and moving more freely, in fact the young physiotherapist had been using expressions such as push yourself more, go on and well done for some time now. He had battled through the pain and had done everything that they asked of him, his first objective was to be standing up at Christmas so that he could hold Ruth in his arms. He was angry that he had wasted so much time and that it had taken something of this magnitude, to make him realise what really mattered in his life. The plus side being, that it helped to drive him on.
'You're doing so much better than you imagine Harry,' said his ever cheery doctor, 'but there is something that I need to discuss with you, which I hope you'll feel able to answer.'
Despite the fact that he was assured that the questions were asked of all patients who had sustained lower body injuries such as his, discussing his sexual capabilities, not only now but before his accident, wasn't something that he was prepared to talk about. What he and Ruth did or didn't do in the bedroom or anywhere else for that matter was private and it felt like a huge invasion of their privacy.
'This is very important Harry,' said the doctor, 'so I'll try and make it easier for you.' He then went into a yes/no session of questions which Harry had to answer with no more than a nod, or a couple of words. Question one was 'did he and Ruth have a healthy physical relationship before his accident and was it enjoyable,' rated yes and yes very much, but Harry stuck to yes, followed by 'did they have one now and was it the same or more difficult or complicated,' left Harry without an answer, or certainly not one that he was prepared to give.
The ever patient Doctor Roberts, had over the years been required to have this conversation with hundreds of patients, most of whom had been just as understandably tongue tied as Harry. He went on the explain, that if as he expected, Harry and quite probably Ruth were concerned that having conjoined sex might cause him further injury, it was in fact quite the opposite.
'Trust me,' he told a now smiling Harry, 'An injection of sexual activity, on a not too frequent basis, might well result in a sooner rather than later response in your legs.'
Bedtime.
Having locked the doors, Ruth had been into the kitchen to let Scarlet out for the final time before going upstairs to say goodnight to Catherine and to make sure that Nico was in bed. Since Catherine had been staying, they had created their own little domain up there which Catherine kept pretty tidy, so in the main Ruth had left them to it. Nico had really taken to Catherine and she seemed to thrive on the responsibility of keeping an eye on him, but there was always the chance that he would talk her into letting him stay up late, which was fine every once in a while, but not every day. Catherine was asleep as was Nico, with what appeared to be a new book of children's Christmas stories lying on his bedside table. He loved to read and it was probably something that Catherine had bought him during their evening out, which was a sweet thought, which Ruth appreciated.
She wasn't tired at all in fact she felt ridiculously excited, her head still swimming with the memory of Harry's unexpected proposal. It was laughable really and so like him to have blurted it out after his request for a Christmas tree, but it was the way they were, they had never done flowery either of them. What she now wanted, was for them to go out on their own for a celebratory meal. It didn't matter where and it certainly didn't have to be fancy, but it would be so lovely to spend an evening together away from the house without the thought of being interrupted all the time. If Catherine was busy, then she felt sure that either Malcolm or maybe Jo would look after Nico, she just had to decide where and more importantly when.
Harry was wide awake and had wriggled himself under the covers, impatiently waiting for Ruth to come to bed. He had planned to make his proposal a romantic one but had somehow managed to make it sound like something on a shopping list. Idiot, he thought. Never mind, it was original if nothing else and Ruth had said yes. The thought of planning a whole new life together was uppermost in his mind, well that and his discussion with his doctor.
'Hi,' she said, in that gentle way of hers, that made his heart melt and his body respond in a way that gave him an uncontrollable urge to touch her. She was lovely, she took his breath away and on this oh so special night, she had agreed to be his wife. He was at war with himself, part of him just wanting to tell her he loved her and to gaze at her until they fell asleep and the other side of him wanting to make her his, for as long as he could. In the end Ruth made the decision for him, when he told her what the doctor had said. With all the gentleness in the world she straddled him, supporting herself with her hands and knees so that she wouldn't crush him. All the shyness that they had once shared was gone, his accident had seen to that and they had built an understanding that was special and all of their own. As she leant forward to kiss him, her breasts glided enticingly across his chest as for the first time in what felt like an age, he was able to touch every part of her. As their kissed deepened and Ruth relaxed, his hands which had been on her shoulders moved slowly downwards until he was holding her breasts. God he thought, how he had missed this. He could feel her responding to him as he feathered his fingers around her nipples and then slowly downwards until her reached the warmth between her legs. By now, his mind was crying out with the need of her as she slowly lowered herself on top of him and set up a rhythm that suited them both. Neither of them could make it last but that didn't matter and any pain that he may have felt, was obliterated the moment that he shuddered inside her.
'We know that there's no miracle cure, it's just a case of time,' he said, 'but if this is good for me and part of my therapy, then it's certainly the most enjoyable that they've come up with so far,' he kidded her, kissing her again.
Harry was more than happy that they go out for an evening and if possible in the next couple of days, before the rush of last minute shoppers on Christmas Eve.
Catherine would be happy for them, Harry felt sure about that, but they needed to keep their news to themselves, until Ruth had spoken to Nico.