Gabby had just finished shift when she was driving to the rehabilitation center. The morning after his birthday party she had started this shift, and now it was over again. He had been tired after his birthday party, and she hoped he was feeling better now.
She knew that today the doctors and Matt were starting with the last few weeks in the rehabilitation center to prepare him for going home. She was so excited she was finally going to get her husband soon with her again.
Walking into his room, she was surprised to see he was here. He was still in bed instead of at therapy and looked tired.
''Hey, what is wrong?'' She asked concerned as she kissed him on his forehead.
''I am really sorry, I am having a really bad day.'' He said as she sat down beside him on the bed, taking his hand.
''Matt, there is no reason to be sorry about that. What is it?'' She asked concerned.
''Strained myself in training yesterday, had spasms in my back. Think the birthday was a bit much too.'' He said softly and she caressed through his hair.
''Anything I can do for you?''
''No, not really…I just had some painkillers... I am sorry I am such a lousy husband today.'' He admitted and she got off the bed, pulling the chair close to the bed, sitting down in and holding his hand.
''Matt, you are not a lousy husband. Please don't say that.'' She said as she caressed through his hair.
''I wanted to get you something to thank you for the birthday party. Now I can't even get out of bed.'' He said upset. Holding his hands, she felt them shaking and she felt bad he was in such poor shape.
''I don't need anything for that. I just need you to be okay.'' She said as she kissed him on his forehead.
Soon he was asleep, and she kept sitting by his side, reading a book. Even though she had just gotten off shift, there was nothing else she wanted to do instead of spending time with him. As much as she wanted him to feel better, she had promised that she would be with him in good and in tough times when they had gotten married.
Leaning against the side of his bed from the chair, she dozed off for a bit as well. The shift had tired her out. If he had gone to therapy later, she would probably have had a nap or gone home for a nap, but now she wanted to be by his side.
Falling asleep, even though he had a bad, she was glad that she was close to him.
She woke up as Matt was trying to move, still in discomfort. Sitting up she wanted to help him, but he pushed her arm away.
''Matt, come on, I want to help.''
''It really hurts.'' He admitted and she got a nurse from the staff. Looking as they injected him with more painkillers, she felt bad. They knew that his body could have a really bad day, but it was hard to see now that it was the first time.
Slowly he seemed to calm down a little as she sat down by him again. Together they watched a movie, Gabby holding Matt's hand.
''You should go home and get some sleep.'' He mumbled as he knew she came from shift, not sure if she had slept at all on shift, and she had just
''It is fine, I can always take another nap here. I want to be here for you.'' She assured him and he looked grateful.
''I think I can try and sit up.'' Matt said and she put the bed up a bit, slowly as she did not want to hurt him. Sitting up, he was still uncomfortable, but he was glad to sit up, as it was at least a bit of progress for today.
She put another pillow in his back and moved the tray a bit closer so he could eat. She had taken some lunch for herself, and sat eating beside him. He was eating slowly, but for now she was just glad he was eating. She could imagine now that he was in so much pain, that he wasn't very hungry.
After lunch, he told her that he did want to go back to sleep and she did go home. Even though she wanted to stay with him, she also knew that she was distracting him from sleeping and he seemed like he wanted to be alone now.
Matt woke up in the afternoon again. He still felt like hell. The muscles in his neck were tensing up and even though he still had the painkillers in his system, it was still bad. Looking at the clock, he saw he had missed dinner, but he wasn't hungry anyway.
Looking beside the bed he saw his wheelchair. It felt bad that he could not even make it in there today, because it meant there was nothing he could do but lay in bed. He didn't feel sorry for himself, but he wanted to do more for Gabby as well.
There was a knock on the door and his best friend looked around the corner of the door.
''Can I come in?''
''Yeah, ofcourse.''
''Hey man, just wanted to drop by.'' Kelly said as he walked in slowly, not sure if Matt was up for a visit.
''Hey, glad to see you.'' Matt smiled just a little bit.
''Heard from Gabby today is not a good day.''
''No, overdid myself a bit in training and with my birthday, back and neck are acting up bad.'' Matt admitted. Kelly sat down on the chair by the bed Gabby had put there.
''Anything I can do for you?''
''You already did enough by being here.'' Matt assured his friend.
''You look like hell.'' Kelly shook his head.
''Thanks, well I don't think you would win a pageant either.'' Matt joked. ''Can you turn the TV off.''
Even though he could easily do it himself on good days, he felt so bad today his hands were shaking even worse than usually, and he figured it was easier asking his friend, instead of getting frustrated.
''Can I get you some water?''
''No, I am fine, really.'' Matt said as Kelly got up to get some for himself.
''Did Gabby tell you about our call?'' Kelly asked as he sat down again.
''No, tell me.'' Matt mumbled excited. He had been asleep mostly when Gabby was here, but he was always excited to hear about what happened at the calls.
''So we got a call about this big office buildings, you know the ones where the alarm goes off and the call comes straight in. We got there and there was smoke on the top floor. Didn't seem like a big fire, but we started evacuating. This woman just wouldn't leave her computer cause she wanted to hit her sales target. Cruz had to drag her away.''
Matt chuckled and Kelly was glad to see his friend laugh.
After a while, Kelly saw that it was all getting too much on his friend and left. Matt wasn't alone for long before Gabby came back. She felt bad seeing he still did not feel any better but hoped that he would feel better tomorrow. Today at home, she had thought about how close he was to going home after all this time. The call was almost half a year ago now and so much had changed, but now all she wanted was for their lives to become normal again, as much as it could.
''So even though today is not a good day, you know it is only a few more weeks until you can go home.'' Gabby tried to raise his spirits.
''Yeah, I am really excited.'' Matt smiled. Even though it was a few weeks, it wasn't as long anymore. He was also very nervous to go home. Even though had really worked hard, he was nervous that he would not be able to do everything he wanted at home. Although they also had changed their house for Matt coming home, but he was still a bit worried.
''I am really excited to come home.'' He said, ''I really miss being husband and wife, and this has been really hard on our marriage, so I think it will be really good.''
''Me too.'' She smiled and they shared a kiss.
''Gabby, I do want you to be honest, I know this has not been easy for the both of us, and a lot has changed. I don't want to make you unhappy in any way.'' He admitted.
''You absolutely don't. I know it is not easy, but I love you…and it is hard today, but it is going to be better tomorrow, I am sure.'' Gabby said and he looked glad.
''I asked one of the nurses to help with the spasms in my back…hope she will be here soon.''
''Hopefully you can sleep after.'' Gabby said compassionate. Sitting close, they kissed.
One of nurses of the staff came in to help him with his back and Gabby thought about leaving the room for a second. As much as she wanted to help, she was not sure what she could do, and she felt bad seeing him struggle.
''Maybe you should stay, so you know what to do when you get home and you need to do this.'' The nurse explained, and she nodded. Together they helped him turn around, so they could see his back. She saw the muscles in his back contracting and she looked a bit unsure. As much as she wanted to help him, she had no idea what to do. Seeing her husband in this much pain, it also made her realize there was a lot more related to his injury than the paralysis.
''I have the Botox here, when injected a bit into the muscles, they stop contracting.''
Gabby nodded understanding.
''You inject it right there in the muscles. I know you are an EMT, so I have all the trust you can do this.'' The nurse said as she showed Gabby.
''So do I.'' Matt said softly. He knew he was lucky that he had Gabby by his side, whom could help him with these things.
After injecting the Botox, the muscles stopped moving and after a few minutes, the nurse and Gabby moved Matt back on his back. Tired but feeling a bit better, he smiled at the both of them.
''That feels a lot better.''
''Let me know if you need anything else.'' The nurse said before leaving.
''How are you feeling about sleeping soon?'' Gabby asked as Matt seemed a bit sleepier now.
''A bit better after injecting that Botox.''
''How vain.'' She joked, but she was glad it helped him. She helped him take the painkillers and made sure he was comfortable.
''Hopefully it will knock me out soon.'' Matt admitted. She took the woolen blanket that they usually had on the couch and put it over him. Even though he could not feel himself if he was too hot or too cold, she felt his hands were cold.
''Can I lay next to you?'' Gabby asked as she wasn't sure if he could take it now.
''Yeah, careful please.'' He said a bit concerned and she nodded. Carefully she sat down on the edge of the bed and laid down beside him. She hated to see him like this. He seemed in a lot of discomfort and even holding him close, he was in so much pain that she could not really make it better now.
His breathing stabilized slowly, and she laid against him as he fell asleep.
It was hard to see him having a dreadful day, but she was also glad that she could be by his side, and she had tried to be the best wife she could be. She hoped there would not be many more bad days for him. But even though it was hard; she felt it also made their marriage stronger.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you did like this chapter, mostly for the relationship between Gabby and Matt. Please let me know what you thought! Thanks again and have a nice day!