The next morning he was woken by the nice nurse who had taken care of him the day before the surgery.
"Good morning Luca, mind if I switch the lights on?"
He yawned awake, "Yeah, go ahead."
"How was your night?"
Luca stretched his back, "Actually, one of the best I've had in a long time."
"That's good." Jasmyn grinned, "Any pain?"
"Nah, I think the painkiller I got late last night is still working." Luca tilted his head from side to side, as if contemplating whether that was true or not, "It's not a 100 percent like the epidural thing, but it does the job."
Jasmyn nodded, "Yeah, the pill you got at 10p.m. is usually good for 12 hours. But you feel like the dosage is adequate? Or are you toughing it because you're a big, tough, SWAT guy?"
Luca chuckled, "Nah, laying still this is pretty much eliminating my pain."
"Have you tried moving around a little?"
"Not exactly tried, but I 'forgot' that my hip and knee went through, and I shifted and…" Luca trailed off a bit, "Let's just say that I might need something more before attempting to hobble around."
Jasmyn nodded, "Alright, then I'll make sure you get some extra before the physio gets here."
"Thanks."
Jasmyn lifted the pre-prepared wash bowl off the shelf, took the washcloth and towel and fresh set of mesh underwear and placed it on a free spot on the nightstand, before filling the bowl with warm water. "I bet you want to wash up a bit?"
Luca nodded, then remembered that she had her back turned towards him, "Yeah, I think I've got like four pounds of sleep-sand in my eyes."
Jasmyn chuckled as she turned off the water and lifted the wash bowl over to the nightstand.
Luca sat up and his breath hitched.
"Okay, that hurt?"
"-Not bad."
Jasmyn was obviously not convinced, "You just went a shade paler."
"Well, it's already passing." Luca shrugged, and grabbed the washcloth and dunked it in the water.
Jasmyn nodded, still not convinced. Then she reached for the remote to adjust the back of the bed so that Luca could lean against it.
Luca washed the parts of his upper body he could reach on his own, then he handed the washcloth to Jasmyn who washed his back.
"Could you scrub a bit harder over the…" Luca sighed, "over the… The spine thing…"
"The bandage covering where the epidural catheter goes in?"
"Yes!" Luca nodded.
"Is it itchy?"
Luca nodded again, "Just where the bandage is."
Jasmyn nodded and rubbed over the bandage.
"Thank you."
"Do you feel itchy anywhere else?"
Luca shook his head, "Nah, just there…"
Jasmyn nodded and dried off Luca's back, rubbing extra hard around where the epidural went in, but not directly on top of it. "So, would you like to wear your own clothes or this neat hospital gown?"
"Nah, I think I should try to get back to normal as soon as possible." Luca smirked, "One of my friends brought me a bag of extra clothes yesterday. It should be in a gym bag in the closet."
Jasmyn nodded and opened the closet and took out the bag, then handed it to Luca. Luca took out a t-shirt and a baggy pair of sweatpants.
"That should do…" Luca nodded, "I don't think tighter fitting pants would be an option right now…"
Jasmyn nodded, "It's often easier to just opt for what you know will work at first instead of trying to force something."
Luca chuckled, "Yet, sometimes the only way past is through…"
The nurse nodded, "Got a few good examples of that, or?"
"Nah, just some crappy ones."
"Alright?"
"Been roughed up a few times through my years in SWAT, this being the latest." Luca shrugged, "Plus I didn't really learn to read properly before I was in high school or something."
"You couldn't?"
"Well, I could, really badly." Luca shrugged as he put on his t-shirt, "More like I was reading like a 2nd or 3rd grader by the time I was in 9th grade. Dyslexia. Finally got some good help."
Jasmyn nodded, "And how are you doing now?"
"Better, still hate to read out loud for people." Luca shrugged, "And I think people don't exactly enjoy listening to me reading either."
Jasmyn chuckled, "My sister has dyslexia. Seemed like we had world war 3 going every time it was homework time…"
Luca chuckled, "Well, mom just gave up helping me in second grade. It seemed like the best thing for all of us. She helped my brother though… Maybe because he never screamed bloody murder or anything because he had to read something out loud."
Jasmyn nodded, "Well, that might be the reason she treated you two different."
Luca nodded, "Yeah, that was definitely the reason."
After he had cleaned up as well as possible with a wash cloth and a water bowl, he had Jasmyn help him get the sweatpants on his left leg.
He knew he could have done it almost just as easily on his own, but she offered and he was grateful.