How hard could managing a bath be? Soap, water, Elmer. Not a problem.
"If the AMA could see you acting like this." She muttered to herself before starting to speak to Elmer. "Okay, sweetie, it looks like I'm going to have to get you cleaned up now."
Lona shook her head, feeling her face suddenly turning almost as
red as Carrie's had as she spoke. Honestly, what was she letting herself
get worked up about? It wasn't as if she hadn't seen Elmer without
clothing before! Well, without anything but boxers, anyway. She smiled
slightly as she thought of it. He really, really hadn't looked that bad
without clothing, much better than you would guess he would look from first
appearances, anyway. She shook her head once more, trying to force those
thoughts away as she moved around the room, going into the bathroom for a
moment to gather the supplies that she would need. She just hoped that
Louis would take a nice, long time making arrangements for his patients.
She really didn't want to have to explain to him why she was suddenly
bathing his son.
Lona carried the basin of water back in and sat it down on the bedside table along with a washcloth, towels, soap and a razor. Now what was she supposed to do, though?
"You're losing it. You're seriously losing it." Lona muttered under her breath. "First, close and lock that door." No way did she want someone coming wandering in during this. She swiftly hurried across the room once more and fiddled with the door until she thought she would have at least a few seconds notice before someone could come barging in on them.
Okay, next check the water temperature. She smiled slightly as she
felt it. Nice and warm. That ought to feel good for Elmer. "Okay,
sweetie, I'm just going to get you cleaned up now, okay? Any time that you
would like to wake up for me and help out with this, you're more than
welcome to." She reached out, gently brushing his hair back from his
forehead slightly. Really, he was extremely cute and he would likely make
someone very happy some day. If he just wasn't so blasted young.... No,
she wouldn't let herself think about that. Elmer needed someone else,
someone besides her. The fact that he was in a hospital bed currently
proved it.
Lona forced her thoughts away from that firmly. She would make it
up to Elmer somehow, would find someone who could take care of him, who
could love him, like he deserved. "Okay." She hesitated for a moment,
scolding herself mentally for it. Really, she had seen him before and she
WAS a doctor. What was the big deal? She forced herself to reach out
despite her sudden embarrassment, pulling the covers back gently, and then
sitting on the bed, easing Elmer up into her arms a bit as she slipped the
hospital gown off. No underwear anyway. One good thing. She didn't know
how she would have managed those. She eased him back down once more,
tucking the covers around his waist, letting him have a bit of privacy.
"Okay, sweetie, I'll try to do this fast, okay? I don't want you to get cold." She felt tears welling up at the sight of the bandage on his shoulder. All her fault. "Elmer...." she whispered softly as she reached out, placing her hand over the bandage for a moment, having to close her eyes as pain washed over her. What could she really say about what he had done? Of course, she was more than grateful that she hadn't been shot but.... "Sweetie, I'm not worth it." she said quietly. "I know you think I am but I'm not. I'm mean to you and I stay locked up in that lab all the time and...." As she spoke, she forced herself to take the washcloth and dip it in the water, getting the soap and lathering it up before starting to run it over Elmer's arms. First do the arms and then the back and chest. Didn't that make the most sense?
"I don't mean to hurt you, you know." she said softly as she
finished washing his arms and gently ran the towel over them to dry him.
"I just know that you'll be better off with someone your own age, someone
who.... Elmer, I'm so not the kind of person you need to get involved
with, it's not even funny." She smiled slightly as she ran the washcloth
over his chest now. He really, really wasn't bad looking at all. "You're
going to make someone very happy someday, you know, and I hope she realizes
exactly how special you are. And I hope you don't try that head stunt with
her either, Elmer." Lona told him mock sternly. Lona felt a bit of an
ache inside as she spoke to Elmer but she firmly forced it down. Elmer
needed someone else and she was going to find that someone for him no
matter what. She carefully removed the bandage, being careful to make sure
that she didn't pull to hard on the skin as she did so. The wound looked
fine to her, she thought after a moment, could probably even have the
stitches out soon. She gently cleaned it and retrieved more bandages to
cover it with before rolling Elmer onto his side and starting to gently
wash his back.
"Elmer?" She called his name as she ran the washcloth over him,
trying to massage a bit as she moved. After fast approaching forty eight
hours of lying in a hospital bed, his back would have to be more than a
little sore. "Elmer, does that feel better?" Why wasn't he responding in
any way? Not even a twitch and she gently rubbed his back, making small
circles with her fingers now to try to ease out some of the tension. Okay,
she had felt more than a bit awkward about doing the bath when she had
volunteered but she had had a bit of hope too, had thought that maybe
somehow doing this for him might get through to him, might snap him out of
this.
"I'm going to see if there's any lotion in here when we're through.
Would you like that on your back?" Lona asked. Okay. top half was done.
Time to move on to the lower half. Now this was where she knew it would
get more than a bit awkward.
"Doctor, you're a doctor. It's not like he's the first man you've
seen naked." Lona muttered under her breath as she moved the covers back.
Do it fast. Just do it fast and get it over with before she burst a blood
vessel from embarrassment. "Elmer, any time you want to wake up and handle
this part yourself, you're more than welcome to." Did she see any sort of
response, maybe a twitch of an eyelid or something? No, she sadly shook
her head as she started to run the washcloth down his legs, rubbing gently
as she washed his claves and feet, easing the tension also present there.
"Does that feel better?" she asked once more, trying to keep her mind off of what needed to be handled next. She forced herself after a moment's hesitation to reach out though. She had to finish this before Louis got back and if he walked in and saw her.... Well, she would never be able to explain things if he walked in on that portion of the bath.
"There. All nice and clean." Lona said a moment later as she finished, her face feeling as if it was on fire. She reached out and snagged a fresh hospital gown, easing Elmer up into her arms once more as she slipped him into it. "I'll bet you feel much better now, right?"
Okay, the next part would be more than a bit awkward as well. She stood,
taking the water into the bathroom and changing it for clean, washing her
hands and snagging some shaving foam as well as a small bottle of lotion
before returning to Elmer's side.
"Elmer? I'm just going to clean your face up a bit, okay? You
don't want to end up looking as scruffy as Dr. Hook, now do you?" Lona
said with a soft chuckle as she put some of the foam on her fingertips,
gently rubbing it onto his face before picking up the razor. What did she
do now, though? Bathing she could work out. She did have a bit of
personal experience with taking baths herself, after all. Shaving,
though.... now would definitely be a good time for Louis to return.
"I hope you don't mind too much if this isn't the best." she
muttered under her breath as she ran the razor over his face after a
moment' hesitation. When she finished with his cheeks, reaching his chin,
she paused for a moment, thinking of exactly how he handled that little
scruff of facial hair before starting to slowly work once more.
"There. Not too bad." she said a couple of minutes later as she gently wiped the remainder of the foam off. She thought she had got everything right, anyway. "Now, let me get some lotion on your back."
Lona tugged the covers up to his waist once more, gently tugging the gown a
bit loose in the back as she rolled him onto his side so he was facing her.
She held a bit of the lotion in her hands for a moment to warm it before
starting to run it over his back, rubbing gently but firmly to try to ease
some of the tension in the muscles.
She felt the ache inside starting once more at the sight of Elmer,
lying there so still as she rubbed his back for him. Normally he would be
eating this up, basking in her attention, but now.... "I'm going to fix
this, Elmer." she whispered softly, leaning down and pressing a kiss onto
his forehead. "I'm going to fix this. You're going to be just fine. I
promise."