Nathan rubbed a hand over his face, then paused in surprise. He had at least a week's growth of facial hair. It had been years since he'd had a beard, and he wasn't sure he liked it.
Elizabeth roused from her spot on her chair, and she laughed softly as she saw him scratching at his face. "Would you like a shave?" she asked, her eyes dancing.
"Yes, please," he said, thankful that she offered. "I'm not a fan of having a beard."
She chuckled as she went to gather shaving supplies from the bathroom. With a twinkle in her eye, she gently ran a hand down his cheek. "I kind of like it," she said with a grin. "Though I do prefer your clean shaven look." She set to work, gently coaxing the hair from his face with the razor. Within five minutes, Nathan's face was hair-free, and he smiled at his wife. "Thank you, Elizabeth."
She pressed a kiss to his smooth cheek. "You're welcome, sweetheart."
Nathan caught her hand as she turned to put the supplies away, suddenly feeling the need to hold her. He held her hand tightly in his as he tugged her toward the chair. She smiled tenderly at him, her eyes full of understanding. "I just need to put these away, Nathan. I'll be right back."
He knew his desire to be near her was in reaction to what had happened in the cabin, those moments he had feared he would lose her. Slowly letting go of her hand, he watched as she briefly disappeared into the bathroom, then came back out and sat beside him. He gripped her hand again, taking comfort from the feel of her hand in his. He looked into her eyes, allowing himself to get lost in them. "I love you, Elizabeth."
She smiled, her eyes soft. "I love you, Nathan." She kissed his hand. "My brave hero."
"I don't know about that," Nathan said solemnly. "I never should have allowed you to be in a position to get kidnapped like that."
Elizabeth arched a brow. "It wasn't your fault, Nathan. You can't protect me 24/7. Bad things can still happen, as we well know." She smiled. "That doesn't make you any less a hero. You literally took three bullets meant for me." She pointed a finger at his chest. "Hero."
Something nagged at Nathan's mind, and he frowned. "How did Wyatt get away from Lee?" he asked. "And how did he break his handcuffs and get a gun? And please tell me he's locked away somewhere awaiting transport to prison."
Elizabeth paused, her eyes shadowing. Nathan immediately regretted asking. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "You don't have to tell me. I can ask Bill or Lee…"
"No, it's fine," Elizabeth said with a shake of her head. "First of all, Wyatt is dead."
Nathan's mouth fell open. "He is?"
Elizabeth nodded. "Bill shot him to stop him from shooting you."
Nathan processed that information. "I have to admit, I'm relieved," he said quietly. "I don't know what that says about me, but I can't help it."
Elizabeth squeezed his hand. "You're not the only one." She was quiet for a moment, then continued. "Wyatt set up an ambush, Nathan. He knew if he got to me, you would abandon any plans you'd had and come to my rescue as soon as possible."
So Bill had been right. It was a trap. Nathan closed his eyes, mulling it over. Trap or not, he would have done the same thing all over again if it meant saving his precious Elizabeth. He opened his eyes and looked at her. "So he had an accomplice?"
She nodded. "He came in and literally started shooting at Lee and Hickam. In the confusion, Wyatt got away from Lee, broke his handcuffs over the door of the squad car, and stole Lee's gun. Then he came into the cabin." She shuddered. "Thank God Bill showed up when he did. He drove up just as Hickam and Lee apprehended the other man, and chased right after Wyatt." She ran a finger down Nathan's cheek. "You would have been killed for sure if Bill hadn't come when he did."
Nathan smiled, making a mental note to thank Bill for saving his life. "He was against us changing our plans," he said. "He warned me that it could be a trap. But I wouldn't listen. I couldn't let anything happen to you."
Elizabeth tightened her hold on his hand. "I'm glad you came when you did." She shivered involuntarily. "I hate to think what would have happened if you hadn't."
Nathan felt a jolt of relief go through him that he had gotten to her in time. "Me too, sweetheart," he said. "But thankfully we don't have to think about that anymore. You're safe."
"And you're alive," Elizabeth said. "That's what matters."
A knock sounded at the door. Dr. Yost walked in, clipboard in hand. "Hello, Nathan," he said with a smile. "It's good to see you alert again today." He glanced at the chart, then looked down at Nathan. "I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
Nathan lifted a brow. "Let's start with happy."
"Alright, then," Dr. Yost said. "You get to go home this afternoon."
Nathan felt pure joy wash over him. "Really? That's great!" He frowned. "So what's the bad news?"
Dr. Yost adjusted his glasses before clearing his throat. "You are not allowed to do any physical activity until further notice. In fact, you need to stay on bedrest for at least three weeks."
"What?!" Nathan exclaimed, staring at the doctor as if he'd lost his mind. "Three weeks? I can't be inactive for three weeks!"
The doctor stared him down. "You can and you will. If you want to recover and get back to your normal self, you'll follow orders, Detective. I don't need you reopening any of those internal injuries we managed to patch up. You need to be as still as possible for quite a while. Zero physical activity allowed." He raised his brows. "And I mean none." He held up a hand to stave off Nathan's protest. "You are allowed to walk from the bed to the couch. That's it. And that is only with someone's help." Dr. Yost glanced at the clipboard. "We can assign a nurse to you…"
"Oh, no," Elizabeth said, shaking her head. "I'm a nurse. I'll look after him."
Nathan swiveled his head, looking at her with raised brows. "Can you take that kind of time off work?"
She nodded. "I have a lot of leave saved up, and I know Carson will let me take it. Florence and Molly will be fine without me, and they've been training a couple of new nurses anyways to help fill in. It shouldn't be a problem." She placed a soft hand on his cheek. "I want to take care of you, Nathan. You're my husband and I love you. And I'm qualified to care for you too."
Dr. Yost looked between them. "Who's going to give you a break, Elizabeth? Caring for someone all day every day, for any length of time, isn't easy work. You're going to need time to yourself."
"I can ask Colleen for help," Elizabeth said breezily, waving a hand. "She works from home, so she can come over anytime, and I know she would want to help out. She and Steve and Allie have been worried sick about you since they got home. Colleen told me she wanted to help in whatever way she could." She nodded with a smile. "So it's all settled."
Dr. Yost cracked a smile. "That went easier than I thought it would."
"Now hold on, doctor," Nathan said. "About these three weeks of bedrest…"
"Whoops, I'm late for another appointment," Dr. Yost said, backing toward the door. He pointed at Elizabeth. "You can take it up with your wife." He laughed. "But she will side with me."
Nathan wrinkled his nose, then looked at Elizabeth. "Will you?"
She nodded, a serious look on her face. "I most certainly will." She smiled at the little pout that formed on his face. "Nathan, I want you to fully recover. And to do that, you need to follow doctor's orders. Carson would tell you the same thing." She enfolded his hands in hers, caressing him with her eyes. He couldn't think straight when she looked at him like that. It completely melted away his reservations. "Do you trust me to take care of you, Nathan? No matter how much you don't like it?"
He let out his breath, resolved to cooperate for her sake. "Yes, Elizabeth. I trust you."
Elizabeth gathered together the items she needed to give Nathan a sponge bath. He'd been home for two days, and the lack of activity was making him a little grumpy. She had smothered a smile at the mutinous look he gave her when she said he needed a bath. Clearly Nathan Grant had not been made for an idle life. It was one thing to be together and doing things on their honeymoon; it was a whole different story when Nathan could do literally nothing.
She brought the bath materials into their room where Nathan was lying flat on his back. He was under orders not to lay on his side or his stomach while the wounds healed, and he had said multiple times that he was tired of staring at the ceiling. He lifted his head as she walked in, pressing his lips together in consternation. "I am perfectly capable of bathing myself," he said stubbornly.
Elizabeth just looked at him with a raised brow. "No, you are not. Not right now. I know this must be a rather humbling experience, but you need to let me do my job. And right now, that job is getting you clean." She carefully slid his shirt over his head, then took off the bandages to expose the jagged red wounds that had been stitched together in a painstaking manner. The sight still made her heart hurt, a blatant reminder of how close she'd come to losing him. The thought made her nerves a little raw, and when Nathan tried to take the sponge from her, she snapped. "Absolutely not!" she said through gritted teeth. "You are not doing this yourself!" She could feel her eyes blazing, and she knew she was overreacting but couldn't stop herself. "Your insides were shredded by those bullets! It took the doctors hours to put you back together! Cleaning these wounds is a precise process, and they need to be kept clean to avoid infection. Now pipe down and get used to the idea of being bathed because I am not going to lose you to a stupid infection because of your stubbornness and pride!"
It was the loudest she'd ever raised her voice with him, and she could see the shock in his eyes. Elizabeth could feel herself trembling, and tears filled her eyes. "I can't lose you," she whispered, a few of the tears sliding down her cheeks.
Nathan's remorse shone from his eyes. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I'll try to stop being so stubborn." He reached up, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "I'm sorry for being a terrible patient."
She gripped his hand in hers, pressing a kiss to his palm. "And I'm sorry for yelling."
Nathan eyed her lips. "I don't suppose we can kiss and make up?" he asked, half-jokingly.
Elizabeth laughed, her tension releasing. "Since our kisses tend to light a fire in both of us, and since we can do absolutely nothing about that for quite some time, that's probably not a good idea," she said wryly. She gave him a little wink. "I guess all that self-control we practiced before our marriage is going to come in handy here."
Nathan grunted as Elizabeth began bathing him. "Never thought we'd have to worry about that after we got married." He sighed. "This is going to be difficult."
She smiled, pausing and looking him in the eyes. "Yes, it will. But if it will help you to recover, it's a small price to pay." She leaned forward, kissing his cheek. "And we need you to recover fully."
"We?" he asked. "What do you mean by 'we'?" His eyes widened. "Are you pregnant?"
Realizing how her comment sounded, Elizabeth shook her head regretfully. "No, I'm not. Though I wish I was." She sighed. "I am so ready to have your babies." She wrinkled her nose. "And we're in our thirties. We're not exactly getting any younger. Time's ticking."
Nathan laughed, reaching out to rest his hand on hers as she moved the sponge around his injuries. "We're not that old," he teased. "We still have plenty of time left for having children."
Elizabeth stopped, looking into Nathan's eyes. "When you're better and the doctor clears you for it, can we start trying right away? I know we've been going by 'if it happens, it happens' since we got married, but I'm ready to intentionally start trying for a baby." Her eyes suddenly became vulnerable. "If that's what you want."
Nathan smiled at her, and the look in his eyes melted her heart. "That's absolutely what I want," he said softly. "And yes, I'm all for intentionally trying for a baby."
Relief swept over Elizabeth. "Oh, good. I'm glad we're on the same page." She resumed his bath, being careful not to hurt him as she went over the areas that were stitched together. After a while, she finished bathing him, then looked at him with a little sympathy as she got out the medical supplies for cleansing his wounds. "This might not feel very good," she said as she doused some cotton in hydrogen peroxide. "Just breathe, okay?"
Nathan sucked in a sharp breath as Elizabeth pressed the cotton to his abdomen. The peroxide foamed and bubbled on his skin, and Elizabeth waited for it to stop before adding a honey ointment. She rebandaged him, then smiled. "There. That wasn't so bad, was it?"
He raised a brow. "You're not the one forced to lay in bed all day, every day and have someone else provide for your most basic needs. I wouldn't call this fun." His eyes softened as he took her hand. "But I am so thankful that you are caring for me, Elizabeth. Thank you for putting up with me." A twinkle lit his eyes. "Who would have thought we'd come to the 'for better or worse' part of our wedding vows so quickly?"
She laughed, picking up the washbasin. "At least we know we can go through fire and come out stronger for it." She grinned. "Two days down, nineteen to go. Unless Carson or Yost extends your bed rest after the three weeks."
Nathan shot her a wide-eyed look, something akin to panic on his face. "Don't jinx it!"
Still chuckling, Elizabeth headed into the bathroom. The road had gotten a little bumpy, but she knew that she and Nathan would get through it as long as they were together. She relished the chance to care for him. It meant they got to spend more time together, and there was nothing she valued more than being with him. Even if the circumstances weren't ideal.
