8:12 AM
Gabby woke up in the morning, worried as she immediately realized Matt was gone from the bed. Hearing him whistle in the kitchen, she made her way there.
Leaning against the kitchen cabinet as she looked into the kitchen, she saw him struggling at a cutting board to cut an apple.
'Hey,'
'Hey, wanted to make you breakfast this time,' he smiled at her, the kitchen a mess. She noticed some broken eggs near the furnace.
'That's sweet,' she smiled, picking up a towel to clean up after him.
'Okay, be careful,' she said concerned as she sat his hand shake as he tried to cut the apple in front of him, the knife almost slipping from his hand.
'You okay to be doing this?'
'Occupational therapist said I should be practicing these kinda things,'
Although she wasn't so sure if he was honest about it, she gently took the knife from his hand.
'Sure, next time – please just let me be here too,' she said gently as she laid the knife aside.
'Yeah, I know,' he said as he sighed, looking at the mess on the cutting board. As much as he had tried, this apple was too much of a mess for the fruit salad he had tried to make, knew Gabby loved to have fruit in the morning.
'Don't worry, we have another,' she kissed him in his neck.
'You wanna do it?' Matt asked unsure
'No, you do it. 7-11 is not far away in case we need another,' she told him as she cleaned off the knife and handed it to him again. Carefully he took it again, his right hand still shaking as he tried to cut. He had tried it with his left, but hadn't found it any easier.
'It's a lot harder with you looking at me,' he admitted with a small chuckle. Standing closer to him, she gently laid her hand over his, guiding his hand and the knife. He smiled at her, grateful for the help.
'You should probably do the rest, otherwise breakfast is going to be dinner with the speed I'm going at,' he smiled as he handed over the knife to her.
'Sure,'
She cut up the rest of the fruit as he put some plates and the eggs he had always made on the table.
'Probably gonna need to drop by the store anyway – cracking eggs isn't as easy as it used to be, not many made it into the pan' he said with a little bit of an embarrassed smile.
'That is fine, I can drop by there later,' she smiled back at him, just happy that he was trying to do what he could.
'Can I come?'
'Ofcourse, just figured you wouldn't be that excited to go to the store,' she smiled.
'Kidding me, been inside the hospital and here for so long 7-11 is a treat,' he joked as he grabbed some glasses for orange juice.
'You need to get out more,' she teased him, putting the bowl of fruit on the table.
'Working on it,' he said as he grabbed the orange juice from the fridge.
She smiled, glad to find him in such a good mood this morning. She knew he would probably crash later today, but was just glad too see him in such a good mood for now.
After grabbing some toast as well, they sat down for breakfast.
'So store first, clubbing tonight?'' he joked as he went to grab his medication as well.
'You are being ridiculous, but it is good seeing you in such good spirits,' she smiled, digging into the breakfast he had put so much effort in.
'You got any plans for today?'
'Might go to the gym later to prepare for the firefighter training,'
'Sounds like a good plan to me,'
'Let's head to the store first after breakfast,' she smiled and he nodded. She hoped that going there soon, would mean he wasn't too tired yet.
'Shower together?'
'Don't need to ask me twice,' he smiled, wrapping her arms around her as they stumbled to the shower.
11:13 AM
Holding her hand as they walked to the store, he was happy to be outside for a bit as well. He was just glad the was no longer feeling as overwhelmed as he felt before.
'You okay?'
'Yeah,' he assured her, squeezing her hand. The store was only three blocks over and he enjoyed being out in his neighborhood again. As much as he had only moved here a year ago, he had grown attached to it slowly. Arriving at the store, she went to get some more eggs as he went to get some more fruit for tomorrow.
'Hey Matt,'
Turning around, a man waved at him.
'Hey Matt, good to see you around again. Read about how you saved that baby in the news,' the man said friendly. Matt unsure about who he was.
'Sorry -'
'You okay?' Gabby joined him again.
'Yeah, this is Danny, he lives down the street,' Matt suddenly remembered.
'Yeah, from the BBQ last summer,' Danny smiled.
'Sorry, my head is still a mess,' Matt mumbled nervously, it getting harder and harder to concentrate on Danny. He felt Gabby's hand on his arm and tried to focus on that instead.
'All good, you joining the spring market next week?'
Matt looked unsure.
'The invite came when you were in the hospital, let's look at it at home,' she gently told him and Matt finally nodded.
'Alright, see you around, hopefully see you next week then,' Danny smiled and Matt nodded, holding onto Gabby as they made their way to pay.
'You okay?'
'Yeah, yeah – just couldn't remember him at first,' Matt admitted.
'I don't know half of my neighbours, so don't worry about it,' she told him as she caressed over his back as they walked towards the check out. Besides the fruit and the eggs Gabby had gotten a protein bar to take the gym too and felt excited to go.
'That will be 11 dollar and 49 cents,' the clerk smiled, Matt taking out is wallet before Gabby could do so.
'I got it,' he smiled at her, feeling guilty as she had done all the groceries since he came home, or had Antonio do it.
Opening his wallet, he looked at the notes, frowning as the numbers suddenly didn't make sense to him anymore. Dancing in front of his eyes, he felt he was zoning out again.
'Matt?', she asked concerned, saw how he had zoned out.
Looking at his wallet, he wasn't sure what to do, suddenly freezing as he wasn't sure what to do. The clerk repeated the numbers again, but they didn't make any sense to him.
'Matt?' Gabby asked concerned again, gently nudging his arm.
'Sorry,' he mumbled now, shaking his head.
'It's okay Matt, come on, you wait outside,' Gabby told him as she took his wallet from him, Matt stumbling outside. Paying for their groceries she quickly packed everything up and quickly went after him.
Outside, he was sitting on a bench near the store.
'You okay?'
'Just lost it for a second there, don't know what happened,' he mumbled, rubbing over his head.
'Come on, let's head home,' she said as she caressed over his back. He got up, holding her hand as they walked home. She saw he started to struggle more with his right leg as well now and she knew he had overdone himself this morning.
As soon as they got home they collapsed on the couch after putting the groceries away.
'Probably not going clubbing tonight huh,' Matt mumbled as he sat down, hoping to at least get the slightest smile out of Gabby. He hated to be worrying her again.
'Probably not,' she said as she sat on his lap, holding him in her arms and kissing him on top of his head.
'Sorry, I don't want to worry you and I know I did just that just now,' he said softly as he wrapped his arms around her as well.
'Don't need to say sorry for that, plus look at how well you did this morning, bound to be tired after that,' she told him as she kissed him on top of his head again.
'You should head to the gym soon,' he told her.
'Don't wanna leave you,'
'It's not leaving me, you are taking care of yourself, that's just as important – if not more important than looking after me,' he mumbled as he kissed her on her cheek.
'If you are sure,'
'I am,' he nodded. Kissing, she walked to the bedroom to get changed.
As she went to the gym, it didn't surprise as she saw him walk to the bedroom through the window, glad he at least took the nap he so much needed.
3:57 PM
As she walked into the house, she checked the bedroom. He hadn't made the bed and with a sigh she did so, but glad he wasn't sleeping through most of the day again as she knew it frustrated him.
Walking into the living room he was not there either, but she saw him sitting in the garden now.
'Hey you,' she smiled in the doorway as she saw him enjoying the sun.
'Hey hottie,'
She laughed, glad to see him in good spirits again, joining him outside as she saw down as well.
'How was the gym?'
'Was good, some guy took my favourite treadmill though,' Gabby complained and Matt chuckled.
'Doesn't have a sign on it that it's your favourite?'
'Unbelievable right? How could they expect me to use one of the other 29,' she humored his teasing.
'What have you been up to?'
'Not much, did a little of the exercises from PT and OT and felt tired again, so enjoyed the sun out here,' he smiled and she felt her stomach fluttered as she saw him smile. Even now seeing that smile and dimple in his cheek gave her butterflies. He couldn't stop looking at her either, still just as much smitten with her as the first time he had seen her.
'Probably should shower again,' she smiled as she got up. Getting into the shower, she heard him walk into the bedroom as well, suddenly joining her in the shower, wrapping his arms around her body.
'I want you so bad,' he whispered in her ear. As much as he didn't feel perfect yet, he wanted nothing more than to be intimate.
'Matt,' she moaned with a smile as his hands touched her body. As much as she wanted to be intimate with him, she was not sure if he had been ready for it and she didn't want to push him while his body was still healing.
'Come on, to the bed,' she said softly, not wanting to do in the shower as he was clearly still unstable on his leg.
'Still wet,'
'Don't care,' she said as she pushed him down on the bed. Pushing him down, she climbed on top of him, pressing her lips on his.
'I missed this,' he moaned as she kissed and sucked his neck.
'Me too,' she whispered, so grateful to be able to do this again.
They were gentle, both of them not sure about Matt's body, but it didn't make it any less good to finally be intimate again after three weeks. As gentle as it was compared to how they usually nearly tore into each other's body, but it didn't make it any less good.
'You okay?'
'Gabby, it's good,' he moaned as they made out. It wasn't long before he came to his climax, tending to her needs just as much next. It wasn't much longer before they fell back into the pillows, panting.
'Better than any PT session,' he smiled, still out of breath as his body was aching, but he didn't even mind.
'Little OT for you hand too,' she smiled, kissing him again.
Laying down on his chest, she couldn't help but smile.
'I love you,' she whispered.
'I love you too,' he whispered too, holding her close. Even if things were not perfect yet and he still had a long way to go, he felt so happy now.
She laid on his chest still as he had fallen asleep, so grateful to finally be intimate again. She had missed that so much and she thought it was a good sign he finally felt up for it again. Even though things were not perfect, she was so proud of how he had been today and though she knew it wouldn't just solve all of her worries, she did feel a little more certain he was going to be okay.