"Hey, sis," Mel teased as Jess entered the room.
"Oh, you aren't still on about that, are you, Mel?" Jess asked, shaking her head.
Mel had initially been horrified to discover that Jess had been passing as her sister and Cole as her husband. Actually, the first part had not bothered her at all, just that Cole/husband connection. After a day or so, though, she had been much amused by the deception, and had applauded Jess for thinking on her feet so successfully.
"Me, I'd exploit it," she told Mel with a smile. "Your husband will be picking you up in a few minutes. You should have a good shag to celebrate your homecoming."
"Jess!" Mel laughed, shaking her head. "How many times do I have to tell you--"
"Just friends. Right. That's why he stayed with you in the ICU for three days and stayed up here with you for another four. The man is completely gone on you, Mel."
Mel flushed and bowed her head. "He just worries…"
"If you say so, Mel." Jess shook her head. "How are you feeling?"
"Better. Tired," she admitted. "But better. How's Isabel?" she asked, leaning back and resting her suddenly-aching head against the pillows.
"A lot better, Mel. Going to class, ready to come back to work part-time."
"Good, that's good. You guys making due okay without me?" she asked.
"Well, it's hard, but we're managing. Cole helps when he can, but I guess work's been backlogging for him since you got sick, so he's got his hands full."
"I'll bet," Mel sighed. "Don't worry. I'll be able to get back to work in a day or two."
"Right away, Mel? Isabel wasn't nearly as sick as you, and she's still really weak…"
"Jess, relax. I just… I need to get back to work." She did, too. She was getting a serious case of cabin fever just laying around all day.
"Yeah, just… don't overdo, okay, Mel?"
Mel smiled at her friend's obvious concern. "I won't, Jess. I promise."
"What was it like, Mel? Being that sick?"
"I don't know." Mel shrugged. "I honestly don't remember, with some of the drugs they had me on. Just asking Cole to bring me in, then… waking up and being scared. And then hearing a familiar voice and knowing that it would be okay."
"So, what? It's like two and a half days are just… gone?"
"Basically." Mel nodded. "It's like when you're asleep, I guess. You just don't really know what's going on around you. Or you don't remember. There are… bits and pieces, but not really that much." She shrugged again.
"What kind of stuff, though?"
"Cole bringing me in, the spinal tap… voices."
"Voices?"
"I might as easily have dreamed it," Mel admitted. "Just… snatches of conversation. Nothing really distinct or recognizable."
Which was not entirely true since she was sure that she remembered hearing Cole talking and singing to her more than once. She was not about to admit to Jess that she had 'dreamed' about Cole while unconscious, and she was more than half-sure that it was only a dream. After all, she had never heard Cole singing before. She was less sure that she had dreamed the other things she thought she had heard from him, less sure she wanted those things to have been a product of her imagination. Come back to us. We need you. I need you…
Jess nodded. "Guess you can't be expected to remember too much. The nurse said something about the drugs being amnesiacs or something?"
Mel nodded. "That's what the doctors said. They use them a lot, I guess, for more serious illnesses." Mel exhaled deeply and shook her head. "It's still kind of hard to believe that I was on death's door for two days and I don't remember…"
"The doctors and nurses say that it is good that you can not remember everything, Mel," Cole announced gently from the door. "Are you ready to go?"
"More than," Mel assured him, nodding firmly. "Ten days in the hospital is ten days too many, Cole."
He nodded, frowning faintly. "But you are well now, so it's okay."
"Yeah, well," she sighed, nodding. Well… Except for the headaches, fatigue, and dizzy spells. "Well," she repeated.
"Everything is going to be fine now," Cole promised, looking up as a nurse entered with Mel's discharge papers.
***
First night back, and it definitely felt good to be home, Mel reflected.
Cole was being an absolute doll about things, fetching and carrying and being incredibly patient with her in spite of all the things that she could no longer do on her own. He had gone shopping that morning and the fridge and pantry were fully stocked with all of her favorites. Just as well since she had lost some weight in the hospital. Cole seemed dedicated to putting it back on her. Lunch and dinner had both been huge and he kept urging seconds on her and trying to feed her snacks.
She had just finished dinner and retired to the bathroom for a nice long soak. She needed one after almost two weeks in the hospital. Just one minor problem with that plan, she realized, blowing out the candles she had scattered around the room. The doctor had warned her, but she had not taken him seriously. Too weak to climb into the tub? That was just silly. She may have been weak, but she was not that weak. Except that she was… She might have managed to make it in, but the odds were better that she would fall and crack her skull in the attempt. And even if she got in, she knew there was no way she was getting out.
Shaking her head in frustration, she pulled on her bathrobe again and left the bathroom. She could try again after she woke up in the morning, when she was not drained from a long day. She wanted to go to her room and climb into bed, but the living room couch was closer and she was too tired to go much farther. Sighing and batting at her tear-filled eyes, she sank on to the couch.
"I thought you were going to take a bath, Mel?" Cole asked gently from the kitchen, walking into the living room and sitting next to her on the couch. "Is something wrong?" he added, frowning as he noticed that she was near tears.
"Just really tired," she sighed, leaning against his shoulder.
"You decided to go straight to bed without your bath?" he guessed.
"Um… something like that, yeah. Will you walk me so I have someone to lean on?"
Cole frowned. "You should take your bath first, Mel."
"I'll take it in the morning," she answered quickly.
"Personal hygiene is extremely important, Mel," he told her gently.
"Do not throw my own words back in my face, Cole!" she snapped.
"You can't get into the tub by yourself, can you?" he said quietly, and it was no question. "Mel, why didn't you call me? The doctor said you might need my help."
"The doctor thinks we're married, Cole," she reminded him, shaking her head. "I'll do it in the morning."
"I don't understand, Mel. Why won't you let me help you?"
"Because this is not like you getting me another blanket or a glass of water or cooking dinner, Cole," Mel sighed.
"You're shy? Embarrassed?"
"A little," she admitted, shrugging. "But it's not just that either, Cole. I just… have you ever been so weak that you can't do anything for yourself?"
He nodded. "Yes, Mel. And I understand how frustrating it can be, but you should not let that stop you from accepting the help that you need, either."
"I can have Jess help me tomorrow. I just need a hand in and out."
"Mel, there is no reason that I can not provide that to you," Cole pointed out.
"Cole, we can't." Mel shook her head, blushing.
"Human modesty," Cole realized, shaking his head. "Mel, there is no reason for you to be shy with me. Not over this. It is caring for the sick, that is all. It is no different than anything else I have done for you today and no different than you helping me in the beginning."
Mel sighed and looked up at him, gentle and reasonable as always. If there was a man that she could trust not to take advantage of a situation like this, it was Cole. She was no less embarrassed, of course, but a little more comfortable all the same. And she really could use a bath.
Cole smiled gently as he saw the acceptance in her eyes. He rose and helped her to her feet. "If it is a comfort, Mel, I have cared for sick adults before," he reassured gently as he walked her into the bathroom. He put down the toilet seat and sat Mel down before turning his attention to the tub and filling it.
"You have?" she asked. "I didn't think you guys got sick."
"Not often," he allowed, finding a bottle of her favorite bubble-bath and pouring a few capfuls into the warm water. "But it is not unheard of. Nallyn, before she became my sister-in-law, she became very ill with a Vardian disease, sometimes lethal to my people. Most other Cirronians were afraid. I stayed with her and cared for her until she was well." He dipped his hand into the water, testing its temperature and nodding to himself.
"Weren't you scared of getting sick?" Mel asked quietly.
He nodded. Noting that she had the candles out, as she often did when she planned on a relaxing bath, he retrieved the lighter from the medicine cabinet and lit them. Candlelight would be better for Mel than the fluorescent glare of the overhead lights.
"Of course I was. It was a dangerous disease among my people. But Nallyn is my friend and she had no one else to stay with her at the time. Her husband could not come and leave the children alone and her family was not on the planet. Someone had to stay with her." He approached and offered her his hand.
"You are amazing," Mel whispered, letting him help her to her feet.
He smiled faintly and shook his head. "No, Mel. I just care about my friends. You would have done the same, I think."
"She's your sister-in-law?"
"She was not at the time. We were simply close friends then. She introduced me to her sister years later."
"Oh." Mel nodded, staring at her bare feet, stalling. "So… did you date?"
"Nallyn and I?" Cole asked, smiling and staring at her. "Mel, Nallyn is married, I told you. She has been since before I knew her."
"Oh, yeah. Guess you did say she was married. Sorry. My brain's not working like it used to yet."
Cole nodded his understanding and gently touched his fingertips to her forehead. "It will," he promised. "You just require time and rest to recover."
"Yeah." Mel nodded weakly. "I know. Thanks."
"Your water will get cold," he pointed out, not unaware that she was stalling.
"Oh, you're right." She nodded slowly.
"I can not help you into the bath while you are still wearing this robe, Mel," he pointed out gently.
"No, guess you can't," Mel agreed, still making no move to take it off.
"Would it make you more comfortable if I took my clothes off as well?" he offered.
"No!" Mel gasped, staring at him. Trust Cole to totally miss the point in a situation like this. She supposed that it should have been comforting.
"Mel," he whispered, taking her hands in his. "It's going to be okay. I promise you."
He held her hands for a moment before moving them to the belt of her robe. He could easily have taken the robe off of her and had her in the tub before she could protest, but he knew better. Mel was more than a little nervous with the whole situation and she had to be the one to make the decision. If he took that from her hands, he was killing the trust between them. He waited, his expression reassuring.
"I'm being really silly, aren't I?" she whispered after a moment.
Cole shook his head gently. "No, Mel. You are just acting the way your culture tells you that you should. It's not right or wrong, but exceptions must be made when necessary. Right now, it is necessary. Will you let me help you?"
She nodded shakily and unbelted the robe with a muttered, "I can't believe I'm doing this."
"You said the same thing the first time we met," he pointed out gently, gathering her into his arms and transferring her into the tub. Knowing that it would make her uncomfortable to have him looking at her body, he kept his eyes firmly fixed on her own as he lowered her into the water and the visual barrier which the bubbles provided. "Do you remember?" he asked, settling her before pulling his arms out of the water and grabbing a towel to dry himself. "Right before you offered me that ride." He dropped to his knees next to the tub. "I like to think that it was a good decision that you made, Mel," he told her gently, touching her forehead again. "It hasn't all been bad, has it?"
Mel smiled shakily and glanced hesitantly into his beautiful eyes. "No, not even mostly bad. Definitely one of the better decisions I've made where men are concerned," she admitted, swallowing hard.
"It's going to be okay, Mel," he whispered, giving her throat a gentle caress. "Will you be able to bathe yourself?" he asked gently.
"I think so." She nodded slowly.
The idea of Cole bathing her was both nerve-wracking and compelling, a reaction that surprised her. She was past being nothing but uncomfortable about things like nudity and sexuality where Cole was concerned. Instead, more and more, she found herself experiencing the kind of nervousness that came from anticipation and expectation. What would it be like for Cole to bathe her? Even if his intentions were innocent, she knew that her body's reaction would be less than. But when had that happened? And why? Was it just that she viewed Cole as a human now, or was there more to it? That she viewed him not as a human but as a man and potential lover? She resisted the urge to let out a nervous laugh at the realization that this last one was closer to the truth. No, Cole was definitely not bathing her tonight…
"You will call me if you need help," he told her firmly. "And you will call me when you are ready to get out."
Mel found herself on the receiving end of a look that made contradiction or defiance impossible. She was suddenly well able to believe that this man had once been a school-teacher.
"Okay," she murmured, nodding.
She smiled to herself as she watched him go. He really was something else. No wonder she had to work so hard to keep herself from falling for him. No wonder all that hard work was completely failing to work. Shaking her head, she reached for a sponge.
***
"Wake up, Mel," a gentle voice whispered in her ear.
Warm fingers rearranged her hair and caressed her cheek and forehead. She smiled and leaned her face into the touch but refused to open her eyes. She was too warm and relaxed.
"Come on, Mel," Cole ordered more firmly. "This is no place for you to sleep. You're not Nodulian."
"So?" she asked languidly.
"So the fact that you can not breathe water makes sleeping in a full bathtub without anyone to watch over you a bad idea."
"Mmm, guess you're right." She nodded weakly. "Let me just wash my hair and--"
"I'll do it," he offered gently. "You go back to sleep and I'll wake you up when I'm done."
"Oh, Cole. You don't have to…"
"I don't mind, Mel," he assured her, reaching for her favorite shampoo and the shower-spray. "This way you can rest some more."
Hard to resist that gentle tone of voice, or the opportunity to spend a few more minutes relaxing in a warm bath. She nodded and closed her eyes again, allowing Cole's hand to support her head as he wet her hair. She refused to let herself think about what an intimate thing this was, focusing instead on how amazing Cole was to do it for her. And how wonderful his strong fingers felt as they massaged the lavender-scented shampoo into her hair.
Cole smiled when Mel let out a soft purr, pleased that she had overcome enough of her discomfort about the situation to be able to enjoy his touch. Humans were a very tactile species, thriving on physical contact. If his touch could provide her with some measure of comfort, then he was happy to be able to provide that. Besides which, caring for Mel was a very pleasant activity. It spoke to something within his soul, reminding it of a life almost forgotten. Taking care of Mel was like having a wife and daughter to look after again.
Mel craned her neck and smiled back at him. "I appreciate this, Cole, I really do."
He smiled back at her, his soapy fingers finding her throat. "It's not something I mind doing, Mel," he told her honestly. "I like being able to help you."
"And I really appreciate having you here to help me."
He smiled warmly and spent a few more minutes lathering her hair, just enjoying the way it felt to touch her in this new way. Mel relaxed into his touch, drifting in and out of sleep as she enjoyed having those amazing hands massaging her scalp. She let out a soft sigh when he turned on the shower-spray.
"You okay, Mel?" he asked gently, testing the temperature of the water with his hand before moving it to wet her hair.
"Fine," she assured him, letting Cole maneuver her head so he could rinse her hair without getting water in her eyes.
"Okay, Mel."
He smiled and finished rinsing her hair, letting the water run through her hair for a few more moments just to be sure. He gently squeezed out most of the water with his hands before reaching for a towel.
"Oh, I can do that, Cole," Mel said, reaching up.
He wordlessly batted her hands away and set about drying her hair. When he had mostly dried it, he reached for a comb and began brushing. More than once he had seen Mel sit on the couch after her evening shower, fighting with the tangles in her hair. He did not want her to tire herself that way, so he gently worked through the snarls in her hair as she dozed beneath him. It was an activity he could see himself getting used to, and he resolved to offer to assist Mel the next time she seemed to be having trouble with her hair.
When he was done, he gave her a gentle shake. The water was beginning to get cold, and it would never do for her to lay in a cold bath. "Wake up, Mel," he whispered.
"Five more minutes?" she yawned.
"Come on, Mel."
She felt a hand brush her ankle and heard water begin to drain from the tub. Her eyes shot open and she started to sit up. Changing her mind, she tried to sink deeper under the rapidly-dropping water.
"It's okay, Mel," Cole reminded her gently, draping a large, fluffy towel over his shoulder before reaching into the tub and pulling her to her feet.
Mel shivered in the cold bathroom, grateful that Cole kept his eyes fixed on her face as he wrapped the towel around her and lifted her into his arms. He carried her to her room and sat her down on the edge of her bed, searching her drawers until he found a pair of warm pajamas. Mel quickly dried herself while his back was turned and accepted the pajamas with a smile, managing to stifle the worst of her embarrassment over the whole situation. Cole was only trying to help, after all, and that help was needed, no matter how much she might wish to believe otherwise.
Cole, seeming to sense that it might be stepping over a recently redrawn line, made no attempt to help her change into her pajamas, waiting in the hall instead, his back to the open bedroom door in case he was needed.
"Okay, Cole," she told him when she had finally managed to get her top buttoned properly. With her fumble-fingers, it was no easy task.
He returned to the room and helped her into bed, his eyes searching her thoughtfully.
"What?" she asked, shifting uneasily as he tucked her in.
He smiled reassuringly at her, shaking his head and caressing her throat as he turned off the light. "Get some rest, Mel," he directed. "What would you like for breakfast? Pancakes? Waffles?"
"Whatever you feel like making is fine, Cole," she assured him, snuggling under her blankets and trying to reclaim the drowsy state she had experienced in the bathtub.
He nodded and dropped to his knees next to the bed, resting his chin on the mattress. "I will be in the war-room if you need anything at all," he assured her.
"Cole? You were with me in the hospital for… what, a week?"
"Almost, Mel." He nodded easily. "A little more than six days, I think. Why?"
"You went that long without working?" Mel whispered, surprised. Cole was always working. He never went more than a day or two without doing something related to his Tracking.
He nodded and absently caressed her throat. "Yes, Mel. I had other concerns."
"But everything's… okay?" she asked, looking up at him.
He stared blankly at her for a moment before smiling and nodding. "Yes, Mel. Nothing went wrong because I was too busy to Track. Everything is fine."
"Will you keep me company for a few minutes?" she asked hopefully, closing her eyes as she confessed, "I really don't think I'm going to be able to sleep right now. It's strange, but sleeping alone is really hard now…"
Cole gazed down at her thoughtfully. "I will stay when you need me to," he told her simply.
She opened her eyes and smiled up at him. "I really do appreciate it, Cole," she told him honestly.
"Rest now, Mel," he ordered gently, moving to sit next to her. His caresses changed from affectionate to relaxing and he could feel her life-force respond accordingly. "There you go," he encouraged as she yawned. He smiled as he watched her face relax. "I'll take good care of you, Mel," he promised tenderly. "And I'll stay for as long as you need me to," he added.
His smile faded slightly as he absorbed what he had just said. It was innocuous, but laden with additional meaning. Would he really have stayed if she asked? On Earth? After his job was done? Shaking that off, he returned all of his attention to the lovely creature relaxing under his touch. She was quite near sleep, but he would stay with her for some time after she slept, comforting and protecting her. Her life-force seemed to have developed a minor dependence on his own.
It would have worried him more if he had not recently become aware of a similar problem with his own.