Author's note: I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, and made this story a favorite. This started out as a tiny little one-shot but due to all of your support it's now five chapters with no signs of stopping. I do feel that your support and reviews are making me a better writer. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all.
After a decent breakfast that consisted of a fruit salad, oatmeal, and a glass of water, I slowly made my way to the shower. The short walk from my bedside to the bathroom turned out to be one of the more challenging parts of the day. Even though the injuries to my legs had fully healed two weeks previous, I still had to get them used to walking again. Dr. Chakwas insisted that I should, at the very least, use a cane to get around. Being the stubborn person that I am, I had to respectfully disagree. There would be plenty of time to use a cane after I was dead... Again. My stubbornness came with a price though. While I could stand up on my own and I could take a few steps, I couldn't do so for very long. That meant that what should have been a short trip from the bed to the bathroom took about three minutes.
When I finally got to the bathroom, I was relieved to see that the shower had a removable shower head, a small seat, and hand rails. After adjusting the controls to get the water comfortably warm, I removed the hospital gown and relaxed under the spray of the water. After a few minutes of letting the shower wash away some of my pain and tension, I reached over to grab some soap. I was pleasantly surprised to see that someone had managed to find my favorite body wash. I guess being the "galaxy's savior" afforded you some small luxuries. The smell was a blend of plums and flower blossoms. Having that familiar scent surround me made the last bit of stress flow right down the drain. I was slowly beginning to feel like me again.
As I washed, I took note of all the new scars I had acquired. There was a three inch scar that ran vertically from my collarbone to my left breast and a five inch one that ran horizontally on the same side along my ribcage. I had an intricate network of them on both my right leg and arm that looked similar to a spider web. There were a few straight, small surgery scars on my left leg and two gunshot wounds that had formed dark brown keloids. While looking at my scars, I came to realize I really didn't mind them. Each one of them came with a story. Some of success and others of failure. Each one of them detailed a very personal part of my history. For the first time since my "reawakening," I truly began to feel like a human again instead of some mindless war machine.
After what felt like about an hour in the shower, I figured it was time to get out and get dressed before someone came looking for me. I turned off the water and stood to leave. I was pleasantly surprised by how much better my muscles felt. While I still had a slight limp and couldn't walk too fast, getting out of the shower and getting dressed was much easier than getting in. I began to put on the outfit that was left on the counter for me. It was a simple gray t-shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and my favorite pair of black combat boots. After a quick brush of my teeth and hair, I finally felt like I was decent enough to be seen in public.
I opened the bathroom door and saw James sitting on the couch by the window on the far side of the room. He seemed to be lost in thought, typing something on his Omnitool. I cleared my throat and he looked up and smiled at me. "Lookin' good Lola. You ready to go?" He stood up, raised his arms above his head to stretch, and then started to walk towards me. If I thought he looked good in a tank top and sweatpants, I'd need a stronger word to describe how he looked now. He had on an Alliance t-shirt that did nothing to hide the muscles that lay beneath and the jeans he wore accentuated his ass perfectly. His hair was slightly wet, so I knew he probably just got out of the shower himself.
"You're not looking too bad yourself." I said with a smile. "Let's get out of here." I turned to leave, but he reached out and lightly grabbed my elbow. I turned to look at him and my breath caught in my chest for a moment. I hadn't realized just how close we were until that moment. My senses were slightly overloaded by his powerful presence. His earthy and clean scent, the tattoo that peaked out from under his shirt, his light brown skin, the scar that ran from his bottom lip to his chin, the stubble that ran along his jaw, his beautiful and expressive hazel eyes. It was almost too much to take. It took every bit of restraint I had to keep myself from closing the small gap between us and kissing him.
"I think you're forgetting something," he said while his eyes bored into mine.
"What would that be?"
"This." Out of the corner of my eye I saw something flash. I reluctantly took my eyes off his and saw that in his right hand he was holding the cane that Dr. Chakwas had attempted to get me to use earlier. I released a bit of nervous laughter and shook my head a bit in an attempt to clear it.
"You can kiss my ass if you think I'm using that thing." I said as I took a step back and looked back up at him.
"I figured you wouldn't but I promised Dr. Chakwas I'd try," he said with a smirk. "You sure you're gonna be ok though?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," I replied. "I have a big, strong man looking after me. If I pass out, I give you permission to carry me back here." He simply laughed and shook his head. "Now less talking and more walking. I wanna get the hell out of this room before Karin changes her mind."