Chapter 162: Afterglow

"Become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid." – Lady Bird Johnson

"Happiness is a Swedish sunset; it is there for all, but most of us look the other way and lose it." – Mark Twain

"Complain to one who can help you." – Yugoslav Proverb

"As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, keep it." – Mahatma Gandhi

"Put duties aside at least an hour before bed and perform soothing, quiet activities that will help you relax." – Dianne Hales

"You can't help someone get up a hill without getting closer to the top yourself." – H. Norman Schwarzkopf


Vaughn woke before Sydney did Wednesday morning, their tryst from last night still evident in the room, the air, the light, the smell, the feel of Sydney's naked body intertwined with his; everything was as it should be.

He watched her sleep, her features twitching in a completely adorable manner. He realized it'd been a long time since he'd heard her talk in her sleep. He wondered if maybe she was too exhausted for talking or perhaps he just slept through it. He'd relished that day he lay across from her in the sick bay. Their cots so close, the space between them only a matter of mere feet, yet, at that time, an ocean was still in front of them. It spanned wide, keeping them apart. He smiled as he recalled her peaceful, sleeping face, her hands folded underneath her head. She had looked so innocent, so pure…so angelic. She'd asked him if he slept, and he told her he had, but that was a lie, he hadn't closed his eyes once. He was afraid that if he did, she wouldn't be there when he opened them again, and he'd never get to see her like that again.

He smiled while thinking back; he'd loved her so much even then…

He felt her stir in his arms, her head nuzzling his chin.

She groaned sleepily and he pressed his lips into her hair, "Morning…"

She turned her head and kissed his chin before moving up, her body moving with her, to kiss his mouth. His scratchy morning stubble grazed across her cheek, the sandpaper feel sending synapses firing. The stubble used to bother her; she remembered getting a rash when they'd first started. Now, it seemed her face had become accustomed to and even enjoyed the rough texture of his scruffy cheeks. She hadn't had a rash in months, and that made her extremely happy, because the sight of his facial shadow was just about the damn sexiest thing she could think of.

"Morning," she hummed back.

He smiled at her, his hand coming to rest in her hair, running his fingers through the strands. "It's nice to be able to feel you…"

She smiled and grabbed his hand, kissing each finger in turn, gently peppering his pinky with more kisses than the rest received, "I know…what were you thinking about last night?" she asked.

"You…I was just thinking about what I almost lost…and that I'm not going to waste one minute I have with you…ever again…I want to move past this…"

Sydney smiled proudly at him, tears in her eyes. She tried to find something to say, but words fell short. She settled instead for running her hands over his stubbly cheeks and kissing him gently, both of their eyes falling shut at the sensation of losing themselves in each other.

Sydney snuggled back into his embrace, their warm cocoon in the bed too tempting to venture out of at the moment. Neither complained when they spent most of the morning just that way, holding each other in bed, soft whispers and phrases, soft words filling the room already filled to capacity with the love they shared.

The sound of her man's stomach growling pulled Sydney out of their relaxing, surreal space.

The necessity of food would have to take precedence over cuddling for the moment.

Sydney giggled, "You hungry?" she asked.

"Mmm…yeah, but not hungry enough to make you get out of this bed to do anything about it."

"Aww…really honey, I'd love to stay here all day, and we will…we'll do that soon, but…" she looked at him sadly, sorry she had to be the one to bring him back to the reality of the day, "You have therapy today…and we have to eat and exercise…I'm sorry baby."

He smiled, "It's ok…"

"I'll go see what we have to eat, alright?"

"Yeah, ok…" he said, watching her go, grabbing her robe on her way out the door.

She chuckled when she finally saw the clock in the kitchen; it was after noon already. She looked through the cupboards, and then the refrigerator before returning to the bedroom door.

"You just want leftovers from last night?"

"Sure," Vaughn said in agreement.

Sydney nodded and went back to the kitchen, throwing the leftovers in the microwave and grabbing things for them to drink. She brought it all back and sat the tray on Vaughn's lap. She got out all the pills he needed to take and then started to alternate giving each of them bites of food. She grabbed the stress ball off of the nightstand and handed it to him.

"You can do this while we eat," she said.

He smiled and looked over at her as he started to squeeze the ball in his right hand. "This is gonna be like part of the routine now, right?"

She nodded, "Yep."

He nodded back to her, and switched to the other hand. His left, both could tell, was going to give him trouble. He sighed while Sydney gave him more bites, trying to force the unforgiving muscles back into the state they had once occupied.

Sydney watched him while he determinedly and found herself smiling at him.

He turned to look at her, "What?"

"Nothing…I just…I love you, I love everything you do…everything about you…"

He smiled, his face softening immediately. He said softly, his gaze settling on her eyes, "The feeling is quite mutual."

She cupped his cheek, her hand scraping across his stubble again. She ran her hand down his whole face before sweetly placing her lips over his and reminding him of all the reasons he loved her all over again in panoramic color.

When they parted, foreheads resting against each other, they were smiling and breathless. Sydney moved back slightly, "Honey…we should really get dressed…finish your exercises…really, Barnett's gonna be here in just a little while."

He kissed her once more and pulled back, nodding, "K."

She moved off the bed and took the tray out to the kitchen, then came back and started to dress herself. She moved back to Vaughn then, dressing him in comfy blue boxers, sweatpants and his favorite hockey shirt.

He smiled when he looked down to see the Kings logo proudly displayed across his chest.

Sydney nodded approvingly, "Ok, all set…now let's do some exercises," she told him.

He nodded and they did crunches first, and then were about to start breathing exercises when Sydney chuckled.

"What?" he asked.

"We should have just left the shirt off…we have to do breathing exercises and I have to check the bandages."

He smiled, "We can put it back on…"

She nodded and took off the shirt again and completed the breathing exercises with him before starting on the bandages.

The long bruise that covered part of his back was starting to heal already, and that made Sydney feel much better, if not somewhat vindicated for their lawn-chair-breakage.

She peeled the bandage off of his infected wound and inspected it, "Looks better baby," she said.

He smiled and turned to look at her, "Well…love does that."

She replaced the bandages and then wrapped her arms around him from behind, her chest gently pressing into his back. "Love can do a lot…"

"Yes, yes it can."

She moved to face him and replaced the shirt, then handed him the stress ball again.

He accepted it and worked on the right hand, the finger already regaining some of its dexterity.

She smiled as she watched him, happy that at least that hand seemed to be progressing well.

He got frustrated fairly quickly with the other hand. The fingers would just not work the way he wanted them too. He sighed in resignation, "Damn fingers…"

Sydney was moved with compassion for him and sat down on the bed. She coiled her fingers around his and started to squeeze the ball again.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

She smiled up at him knowingly, "You're welcome."

He watched as she aided him with so much care and tenderness. She always knew when he needed her; when he needed help, he scarcely had to ask, "You know," he said as he thought, "I know a way I could exercise both hands at once…"

Sydney looked up at him, "What's that? Get another ball?"

"No…we practiced last night…" he said.

She crunched her face in confusion, "You mean like when we did this last night?"

"No…later…"

She searched his face.

"When you helped me touch you…" he said slowly.

Realization hit her and she smiled at him slyly, "Ah…I see…you want me to help manipulate your fingers by letting you grope me…feel me up – is that it?"

"Well…you said once you'd do anything to help me get better…just think of all the exercise I could get…"

"We'll see Vaughn…we'll see…" She moved to sit with him more on the bed and handed him the remote.

He smiled at her and turned the TV on, "You care what I turn on?"

"Nope, whatever you want honey."

He flipped to ESPN and settled into the bed while he watched the plays and scores flash across the screen.

"Aww…Mets lost!" he said sadly.

Sydney chuckled, "Sorry…try to flex your fingers now…" she instructed.

She let go of his hand and he let go of the ball and tried to move his fingers in the same way Sydney had done seconds ago. He managed to mimic the action but it didn't last very long, and soon his fingers were rather stiff again.

He sighed and Sydney took his hand again, "Does it feel better when I do this?" she asked.

"Yeah, it does…"

"Ok, I'll keep doing it then…"

He smiled and watched for a few minutes as she tried diligently to help him.

"You can stop Sydney," he said finally, "I don't think they're gonna loosen today."

She smiled sheepishly, "Well…no, but I want them to feel better for you…"

He tilted her chin towards him, "Thank you."

She kissed him sweetly, "You're welcome."

The doorbell rang and Sydney got up to answer the door, leaving Vaughn the stress ball.