A/N: What a good group of readers I have! Your many reviews have successfully motivated me - boy was this chapter fun to write!
A Time to Nurse
"So when will the sled be ready to pick up?" asked Georg, keeping his eyes averted from the Chinese screen in one corner of the bedroom, behind which Maria was changing. It was something he had garnered from his travels to China years ago, and he brought it down the night Maria had moved in so she would feel more comfortable.
"The salesman said three days, unless the weather turns ugly at that would delay the shipment for a day or two. Either way, it will arrive before the 21st, which is all that matters." Her voice was a little muffled as she pulled her nightgown over her head.
"Mm-hm," said Georg. He sighed. "It just occurred to me that I will still be confined to this bed on his birthday…"
Maria smiled to herself when she heard the regret in his voice. "Don't worry about that, Georg. We'll have it set up in here, the gift-opening and even the dinner, if you like. If there's one person Frederich will not leave out of his birthday, it's the father he looks up to."
Maria came out from behind the screen, dressed in her nightgown, just in time to catch his humble almost-smile. It grew into a real one when he met her eyes, and she returned it.
The young woman was about to get into bed when she paused, looking Georg over from head to toe. "You certainly won't be able to sleep very comfortably like that, will you?" she stated.
The question was unexpected, but Georg understood when he realized he was lying on top of the blankets and sheets, still dressed in a white shirt, belt and pants. At least his shoes were off. "I'll be all right," he said, shrugging. "I'm stuck like this, so I'll have to make due."
But this answer did not appear to satisfy his wife, who looked a cross between worried and thoughtful for a few moments. Then, Maria walked over to his bureau and searched through his drawers carefully until she pulled out his folded, silken navy-blue pajamas.
Georg realized what she meant to do as she walked back to the bed, carrying them, and he held up his hands, feeling a nervousness rise in his chest. "No, no, Maria, you don't have to do that, I'm fine."
Maria stopped when she reached his side of the bed. "No, you're not, Georg," she said bluntly. "If you're going to be in bed for a week, you should at least be as comfortable as you can be while your back heals."
Georg sighed, still looking nervous. "You're right, but…I wish that didn't have to put you in this position."
Touched by his concern, Maria smiled softly and sat down carefully on the edge of his bedside. "Dr. Falk asked me to help any way I could, and I have no problem with that, Georg. Don't worry about me, I'm fine." When she saw that his face still looked nervous, she asked concernedly, "You don't think I'll hurt you, do you?"
For a moment, his nervousness melted as he laughed. "That's the last thing I expect to happen, Maria," he said.
"I don't understand, then."
He sighed and said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to hide how much I…I…" He couldn't bring himself to say the words, not while she was looking at him with those innocent blue eyes.
Thankfully, she seemed to understand without words. "Oh…" she said softly, lowering her gaze to her folded hands in thought. That day by the fountain, when Georg had told her as delicately as he could about the desire he felt for her, she had been frightened and confused by it. Now, being reminded of it again, she did not feel frightened but she still felt confused, along with some other things. She no longer felt fear because she knew that, even if he were able to have all of his mobility back, he would keep his word to not take advantage of her. But her confusion remained, not only as to why he could ever desire her so much, but because she could not name her own feelings at the thought of undressing him, perhaps touching his skin.
Pulling herself together and bringing her head up, she said in as calm a voice as she could, "We'll just remember you are a patient, and think of me as a nurse; purely clinical."
Georg winced for a moment at the word, but then nodded. "Then proceed, Nurse Maria."
Maria snorted at that then wondered were to be begin. Well, if anything else, that belt has to go. So she reached out and carefully undid the buckle, careful not to look at his face, both afraid of what she would see in his eyes and afraid of what she would feel in her stomach. Gently, she pulled the undone belt and it unwrapped from around his middle until she was holding it like a dangling snake. Hastily she put it on the bed. That was the easy part.
From the moment she undid his belt buckle, Georg knew he was in trouble. She hadn't even touched him but she certainly had done an intimate act, no matter what the circumstances were. She's undressing me…AS A NURSEMAID! Keep it together, man, keep thinking of that word she used: clinical. That's all it is.
But as he watched her hands beginning to undo the button and fly of his pants with slightly trembling fingers, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, just in case she ever did look up at him, so she wouldn't see the arousal in his eyes. Dear God, if you are as good as my wife believes you to be, you will put some reason into my body just as long as she's doing this. Is that too much to ask?
Maria worked in as clinical a mind state as she could, especially when she got to his pants. As she slid them carefully down his legs – being very careful not to touch his skin in the process – she chanced another glance up at him. He lay with his eyes closed to the world, but his posture couldn't exactly be called relaxed, especially not when his hands were clutching the duvet just slightly. Her own heart beat a little faster – was she really capable of inspiring such reactions in a man with his experience?
Refocusing on the task at hand, she neatly folding the pants and placed them on the bed and her eyes avoided looking at him below the waist now – which was probably just as well. But she had to look when she put on his pajama bottoms, at least a little. They came on easily, and Maria sighed in relief.
Georg, after having felt the silk fabric on his legs, had started to unbutton his shirt on his own. "I'll save you the trouble," he said, quietly. "But you'll have to help me turn over so this can come completely off."
"All right," said Maria, a little breathlessly. Her eyes could not be torn away from his chest now, no matter how much she tried. What frustrated her and kept her eyes was that it was still covered; though he'd unbuttoned fully he hadn't opened the shirt. His arms now rested beside him, and she knew he wouldn't. She didn't expect to feel so…curious then disappointed. What was happening to her?
When Maria felt his eyes on her face, she couldn't help but meet them with her own. He saw what was in her eyes that she couldn't define before she could mask it, and he gave the ghost of a smile, letting his eyes quietly smolder.
Shaking her head slightly, needing to regain her senses, Maria lifted her hands and waved them a bit. "Um, where should…how should I help you turn over?"
His smile didn't disappear. She may not be able to define what he saw in his eyes, but he could, having felt this feeling quite a lot: attraction, even desire. It elated him so much to know that, not only was their friendship blossoming and her old spirit returning, she had begun some of the feelings he felt for her. No matter that she couldn't define them right now; his physical condition prevented the both of them from exploring these feelings physically further even if they were both ready. "Just gently push me over by the side."
She did, and he managed to roll over quite easily onto his stomach. Again, careful not to touch his skin, Maria took off his white shirt. This time she could not help her eyes: they remained on his naked back even as she tossed the white shirt onto the other side of the bed. His muscles looked so strong, and Maria could see the outlines of some scars that he'd perhaps gotten in the war. She suddenly got an overwhelming urge to touch his skin – what would it feel like? Could she even ask him?
A solution to her dilemma came to her, remembering the doctor's orders. "Um, Georg?" she asked shyly.
"Mm-hm?" he asked, turning his head so his cheek rested on the bed and his eyes looked at his bedside lamp. Now he was the one to feel a burning gaze on him, but on the skin of his bare back. He felt his heart fluttering like a teenager's. All he wanted her to do was to touch him; he wanted to feel her hands on his skin.
"Um…Dr. Falk asked me to, once or twice a day, massage your back to help it heal. Since you're in an, um, appropriate position…" Could my cheeks get any redder? Oh, I will be so embarrassed if he refuses…
"I would love that," he said softly, and he meant every word.
"Oh, good – I mean, all right," said Maria, almost stammering. She went around her bed to sit on her side, so she would be more comfortable. She lifted her hands but just before she touched him she asked, "Um, I'll start from your shoulders and then go down; just make sure you tell me if I hurt you, or if I need to stay in one spot, or something. I've never done this before."
I'm sure you haven't, my innocent Fraulein, the part of his soul that belonged to his libido thought; Georg had never been more grateful for the human's ability to have an inner monologue and not just say whatever they thought. So much for becoming a completely changed man! With everything that had happened, Georg thought his great desire for her had lessened. No, it turns out: it had just taken a back-seat in his soul and was teasingly burning away, ready to be released whenever he so desired it to. Well, not now, so don't make my body do anything stupid! In the meantime, he was going to enjoy the experience of her willingly touching his bare skin for all it was worth. "All right, I trust you."
But he wasn't prepared for the huge jolt of desire that went straight to his groin when she felt her soft, warm hands rest his shoulders. He couldn't help but jump a little.
Maria retracted her hands as if she'd touched a hot stove. "Are you all right? Did I hurt you?" she asked, but she knew better. She'd felt the same kind of jolt when she'd touched him: his skin had been softer than she expected, and so warm; the muscles she felt underneath only increased the unfamiliar sweep of feeling she felt.
"I'm all right, please don't stop," said Georg in a nearly breathless voice.
So she carefully placed her hands on his shoulders again, and began. She moved her fingers slowly, hesitantly, obeying his soft commands of where to move, how fast and hard to massage his sore muscles, and saying in ways other than words how much he was enjoying himself. His voice had deepened and softened, reminding Maria of a purring tiger, as he urged her on. The sound of his voice like that made her want to purr somehow, made her want to do things beside touch him with her hands. But she didn't; she kept her focus on the safe task at hand.
Safe? she thought, as she felt an unfamiliar boiling feeling in the region below her stomach and between her legs. Right, and sharks would make cuddly pets.
Georg was in paradise, or the closest thing to it with his sore back. But that was going away under her gentle administrations. At this point, the fact that he was lying on his stomach was his one and only mercy, because she could not see the full effect of what he was doing to her. So he ignored the pressuring, almost uncomfortable feeling of his arousal trying to push it's way into the mattress and closed his eyes, focusing only on the feeling of their skin-on-skin touching. And when he remembered that she was going to do this at least once a day for the next week…He smiled with his eyes closed.
Finally, when he felt his arousal had gone away, he knew he couldn't miss this opportunity of not embarrassing or frightening her. "All right, good job," he breathed, and he felt her hands leave him; he instantly missed them, but swallowed the feeling. He lifted his arms slightly behind him to help her get his pajama top on.
Maria felt a little sad that it was over, but also in much safer territory. But that disappeared after she helped him turn over onto his back and she got the view of his bare chest she had wanted. It was as muscled as his back, with dark hairs covering his breastplate and trailing down his stomach in a line that disappeared when reaching his waistband.
The sound of him clearing his throat made realize she had, indeed, been staring. Looking at him, her cheeks inflamed in his knowing, happy and almost teasing gaze. She herself cleared her throat and shook herself slightly, and began buttoning up his shirt from the bottom.
"May I say something to you, Maria? Bear in mind that my physical state and iron-clad promise are binding."
"All right," she said, her voice and fingers shaking a little as she continued her task.
"Look at me."
She paused and did. The teasing in his eyes had been replaced with something warmer and deeper. "You are beautiful. I've always thought so and always will."
She hadn't expected that. She gave a breathless laugh. "No, I'm not, and I'll never understand why you are under that delusion." She had finished now, but before she could pull her hands away, he had covered both of hers with his and pressed them to his heart, the silk barring her from feeling his skin now.
Maria couldn't look away from his eyes; they held her, their expression was so strong. "It's no delusion, it's the truth. You are beautiful, in every way there is."
The conviction in his tone brought tears to Maria's eyes. How could he believe this? What was so special about her? He could have picked anyone to say that to, to find beautiful…why her?
But though she questioned his judgment, Maria, for once, accepted the compliment of conviction gracefully. "Thank you."
"My pleasure."
Suddenly, Maria longed to be asleep; she felt like she needed to…cool down, if that were possible. So, gently she pulled her hands back; he didn't try to hold them. "Well, let me just…pull the blankets over you and we'll go to sleep."
He nodded, and no more words were spoken until they were both under the blankets, sticking to their side of the bed. "Good-night, Georg," she whispered in the dark.
"Good-night. Maria."
Sleep did not come easy for either of them that night, though no more words were spoken and they did not touch again. In the meantime, they dreamed of each other.
