Colby sighed with relief when everyone left for dinner. It was difficult to hold it together when all he wanted to do was rest his head against Hannah and sob like a baby. Get a grip, Granger, he chided himself.
He'd brought some of her Gardenia Lily cream. He didn't want the hospital's antiseptic smell to take over. The soft fragrance of her was one of the things he loved about her. He had helped the nurse and nurse's aide turn Hannah earlier, trying to learn everything, so that he could tend to her after she regained consciousness and could go home.
She would have laughed, he reflected. He'd been adamant about staying away from her floral stuff, as he'd called it. Manly man, she'd teased him, when she saw his Ivory soap. He smiled. She was always laughing about something.
The nurse had also told him to massage her legs, keep the circulation going. He didn't know how much it would help her regain her mobility, but using the cream while he massaged her legs would at least keep them moisturized. He laughed at himself. That was definitely a Hannah thing. He couldn't remember when he'd ever worried about moisturizing.
He focused on massaging her feet and legs. He started to relax, himself, with the gentle rhythm.
Alan Eppes watched him from the doorway. He stayed quiet while Colby continued what he was doing. He didn't want to interrupt this quiet time. He thought Colby had begun to forgive himself, and was beginning to heal. Alan was glad, he thought Hannah was going to need a strong Colby.
"Mr. Eppes, I didn't hear you."
Alan smiled, "I didn't want to interrupt."
Colby returned the smile, "Thank you."
"I can stay with her while you go get something to eat. You need to eat," Alan insisted, when it looked like Colby was going to refuse.
Colby nodded, albeit reluctantly. He didn't really want to leave Hannah's side.
"You'll have to go back to work sometime," Alan said gently, correctly interpreting the look.
Holding up his hands in surrender, Colby sent Alan a wry smile, "I won't be long."
"Okay," Alan nodded, returning the smile. He wondered if Colby had let his own family know about Hannah's injury. He settled in and began to read to Hannah.
-----
Things had finally settled down. The out-of-towners had gone home. All the little details had been taken care of. Colby was grateful to Robin for handling most of the legal things. He wouldn't have known what to do. And Rilla, for handling the insurance stuff. Megan had organized it so that someone would be there with Hannah most of the time. He'd gone back to work, but spent his nights at the hospital with Hannah.
He was reading the play-by-play to Hannah. He wished that there was an internet connection so he could actually play the audio for her. But he did the best he could.
"Please tell me we beat the Astros," Hannah's soft voice, hoarse with disuse, whispered the words.
For a split second, he thought he was hallucinating. "Oh, God! Hannah!" he exclaimed, fumbling for the nurse's station call button.
"Hey," she said softly, looking at the dark circles under his eyes. He looked thinner. "I bet my hair's flatter than a pancake," she said with a sigh.
He laughed, knowing she'd meant him to. He held on to her hand, barely keeping his tears of relief in check. He was really going to have to do something about this tendency to cry. It wasn't going to do.
The nurses bustled in, checked some things, and said the doctor was on his way, and bustled back out.
He rolled his eyes.
"How long was I out?" Hannah asked curiously.
"Four days. You just missed your sister and brother-in-law. And the rest of the musketeers."
Hannah grimaced, "Prick was here?"
Colby eyed her sternly, "He's not as bad as you make him out to be."
"Probably not." She paused, reflecting on it. "I'm not even sure if I remember what started all of it."
He left it alone. She was going to have more to deal with than her strained relationship with her brother-in-law.
"Colby."
"Yeah?"
"I can't move my legs."
A fist of ice clutched his heart. He swallowed hard. This was it. "Why don't we wait for the doctor, sweetheart."
Her lips were trembling now, and she looked scared, "Okay."
-----
The doctor had come by with a physical therapist. By the end of the session, they'd determined that Hannah had full upper body mobility, although she was a little weak. She'd been able to move her toes, and flex her feet, but very little else. The doctor was optimistic, because she was gaining mobility with each motion. She was going to need a lot of physical therapy.
"Well. At least I'll be able to park in all the premium spaces," the slight tremor in Hannah's voice belied the light words.
Colby sat in the bed and pulled her into his lap, making her laugh. "What's so funny?" he demanded.
"I don't know. It just seems funny, sitting in your lap, in a hospital bed."
"Hmmm." He kissed her on her temple.
She nestled closer, needing the warmth and the comfort. She was more afraid than she'd ever been in her life thus far. She didn't know if she had the strength to go through the rest of her life in a wheelchair. She was afraid she would lose Colby. Maybe not right away, but eventually.
"Stop that."
"What?"
"Stop worrying. I'm not going anywhere."
"Psychic now, are we?"
"You know I don't believe in that. Just reading the cues."
Hannah sighed. "I'm scared."
"I know. So am I. But we'll face this together."
She slid her arms around him and hugged him tight.
-----
They decided to move into a larger, ground floor apartment together. One with a pool. David had cracked up when he heard that, but he refused to say why. Everyone pitched in to help them move, which largely consisted of moving Hannah's stuff. Colby had very little in his apartment. He'd never realized how much stuff she had in hers. Because Hannah still wasn't mobile, everyone had also pitched in to help with the packing. There'd been a lot of giggling in the bedroom. Colby wasn't sure if he wanted to find out what they were giggling about. Then there'd been the giggles at the nude sketch. He sighed. He wished he'd remembered to move that himself. Alan had patted him on the shoulder and said encouragingly, "We should all be so lucky to have the same problem."
Olivia had become even more reserved after the shooting. She and Hannah hadn't spoken to each other much. Colby hadn't thought very much about it at first, he'd assumed it was because Hannah had been busy with physical therapy. But watching them today made him wonder. He glanced at David, who shrugged. No help there. Colby wasn't sure if he knew and didn't want to talk about it, or just didn't know anything about it.
They'd even helped with the unpacking at the new apartment. Larry had even brought a couple of bottles of champagne to christen the new apartment. The man knew his champagne. Colby saw the smile on Megan's face and grinned. There was definitely something going on there.
The furniture was arranged to allow Hannah room to use the wheelchair if she wanted to. Colby was determined to get her out of that wheelchair as soon as possible. She'd already started to use the crutches, and he wanted her using her legs as much as she could. She seemed in good spirits and her physical therapist had been encouraged by the progress so far. Colby hoped that the progress would continue and that they wouldn't encounter any obstacles.
When everyone had left, Colby picked Hannah up and headed into the bedroom. "I think we should christen the bed too. What do you think?"
Hannah hesitated, "I don't think I'm ready for that, Colby." She saw the worried look on his face and said hurriedly, "I'm really sorry. I just... I just can't."
"It's okay, honey," he kissed her tenderly. "Whenever you're ready."
She hugged him, returning the kiss. Then nestled her head in her favorite place on his neck.