It was just after 9:30am when Fran began to stir. She was lying on her side, facing Max, who was lying on his stomach with a hand around her upper arm. She blinked open her eyes to see him in front of her, and smiled. She reached over and stroked the back of his shoulder until he opened his eyes.
"Mmmm…" he mumbled. Fran stroked his hair back over his ears, then looked up at the window, the sun peeking through between the curtains. She rolled onto her back and yawned.
"I wonder how late we slept," she whispered. Max propped himself up on his elbows and looked over to his bedside table and picked up his watch.
"It's just after 9:30." He crawled over to Fran and rested his head on her shoulder as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders. "How are you feeling?" He nuzzled her neck and she smiled.
"I think I'm okay. Feel a little like I had a wild, rowdy day yesterday. Or ran a half marathon or something. But that will probably go away after a nice, long shower. How about you? How late did you stay up?"
"Well, I think you fell asleep while I was still using the compress on you. I kept doing that until after the ice melted. I was pretty sure you were asleep by then, so I turned out the lights and joined you." Fran hugged him tightly with both arms and kissed him on the forehead.
"Thank you for everything, Max. I mean it. I kind of knew I needed you, but I guess I didn't realize how much I really needed you."
"I just worry about you, Fran. And I guess I didn't really realize how much I need you around, until you weren't around. That was too hard for me. I tried to stay back and not push, but that made things even worse. I'm just glad we finally came together and talked things out." He clutched his arm tighter around her. "I like falling asleep with you. And waking up with you."
"Mmmm," Fran sighed. "That is pretty nice." Max nuzzled her some more.
"You don't feel like you have a fever anymore."
"Yeah, I don't feel like I'm burning up anymore. But boy, am I starving!" Fran realized.
"You are? I guess maybe that's a good thing. But, remember you can't have a lot. We'll see what Niles has got downstairs. Are you ready to get up?" He raised himself up off of her shoulder and looked into her eyes.
"Yeah, I think so. That shower is sounding pretty good."
"You're welcome to use the shower in here, if you want."
Fran stroked his hair over his ear again. "Thank you, but all my stuff is in my bathroom. Might be easier just using that one for now. And then you could get a shower at the same time too, if you want."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Max sat himself up and twisted around to look through the curtains. "Looks like a nice sunny day out today."
"Yeah, just wish it wasn't cold out there."
Max looked down at her on the bed and reached for her hand. "At least it's warm in here," he smiled. Fran sat herself up and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"It sure is." She leaned her forehead against his. "Oh, I must be a mess! I must look pretty awful right now!" She looked down at herself and put a hand to her cheek, embarrassed.
"You look wonderful, Fran. You're very cute in those pajamas," he smiled. She sheepishly grinned back at him.
"You're pretty cute in your pajamas, too," she tugged on the belly of his t-shirt. She hugged him again and they both got out of the covers and off of the bed. Fran picked up her robe and put it on, and pushed her hair around in case there were any stray pieces making her look disheveled. She put on her slippers and Max took her hand again, gently pulling her to him. She smiled up at him, then rested her cheek against his chest and hugged him around the middle.
"You need any help getting to your room?"
"I'm okay, Max. But I think I'll take the rest of that water bottle with me. I'm parched." Max went to get the bottle for her, then handed it to her.
"Yes, I want you to drink a lot today. Fevers can deplete you quite a bit. So, you want to meet down in the kitchen, or do you want me to wait for you here?"
Fran thought a moment. "How about the kitchen? It might take me a while to put myself together. And you can see what Niles might be able to put together for breakfast. And I don't want you skimping on your meals just because I can't eat much. I need you at your best right now, in case I need to lean on you some more."
"Absolutely."
Fran kissed his chest through his shirt. "Okay, sweetie, I'll meet you in the kitchen in a little while." She started backing toward the bedroom door and Max walked with her, holding on to her free hand. He unlocked and opened the door for her.
"See you in a bit," he kissed the back of her hand.
"Okay," she squeezed his hand and let go, and headed down the hallway to her room. Max missed her already.
After Max showered and shaved and got dressed, he headed downstairs with the tray of things from the night before. When he came down the stairs into the kitchen, Niles was just coming in the back door with bags from the market.
"Good morning, sir! I've just been shopping, I got quite a few things. And the Chinese restaurant had freshly made egg drop soup so I picked up some of that as well!"
"Oh, fantastic, Niles! I wonder if she might like some of that when she comes down."
Niles glanced at Maxwell, looking for any hint of information in the expression on his face. He looked a lot less forlorn than he did in the middle of the night. He even seemed- happy. Max continued to remove items from the tray, put the tray away, and put the glasses into the dishwasher.
"Sir?"
"Yes?"
"Might I ask what you would like for breakfast? And if there might be anything else I should have ready for Ms. Fine?" He emptied the grocery bags on the counter near the fridge, taking out two six-packs of nutrition shakes, yogurt, cans of soup and the like. He also had a large tub of soup from the Chinese restaurant.
"Well, since it's just us, you don't need to go all out. Maybe something like scrambled eggs and bacon on toast for me, and we'll see if Fran wants some soup. Maybe even one of those shakes. Maybe just a little scrambled eggs for her too, if she wants. But not too much. Oh, let me get one of these shakes into the freezer to cool it off quicker." Max popped one of the shakes out and set it into the freezer with the ice. He also got the eggs, bacon, and bread out for Niles as Niles put the groceries away.
Niles put the grocery sacks away and set the tub of soup near the stove. He washed his hands and got out two skillets, one for bacon and one for eggs. Max grabbed a mug from the cabinet and fixed himself some coffee. Niles kept glancing at him, making sure he still seemed alright. The unread newspaper lie folded on the kitchen table, so Max brought his coffee over and sat down, opening up the newspaper in front of him.
"Sir, might I ask something?"
"Sure, Niles," Max turned around to face him.
"Will there be anything you might need me to do today? I mean other than usual. Like anything you need help with? I can make dinner around six o'clock if you'd like. I thought I might at least make some pork chops. But I wasn't sure about what else. You know, for Ms. Fine…"
Max smiled slightly. "I think pork chops would be just fine, Niles. We can see what Fran might be up for. I'll check with her. Or we can ask when she has breakfast. Do we have something like applesauce? Or apples? Maybe something along those lines. And if there is something you would like, as well."
"Yes, sir. I believe we have both apples and applesauce. That does sound good."
Max turned back around to the paper and began to read through it quietly, while Niles tended to getting the bacon started, whisking the eggs in a bowl, and getting the bread ready to be toasted.
Fran set out her clothes on her bed and headed into the shower. She let the hot water pound on her and soak her hair, then remembered that it might not be a good idea to have the water so hot, so she turned the knob to cool it off a little. She didn't want to trigger another fever or make herself feel faint or anything. She went through all the motions of her shower routine and then took time to let the water pressure pound on her some more. She was feeling much better than she did the whole day before, almost like the fever had purged some of the discomfort and anxiety out of her. But she was pretty sure that it was Max who was responsible for that. She smiled as she thought about him, and her heart ached to be back in his arms, so she shut off the water and got out. She dried off and got a smaller towel to wrap her wet hair in, and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked at her belly- wondering what it might look like in the future after the surgery she was certain she would have to undergo. Where would the scar be? How big would it be? Would it bother Max to see it? She ran her hand over the area of the tumor and thought she could just feel something where she believed it was, inside her. She rubbed a finger back and forth across it and her mind started to wander off, but she caught herself and stopped from going down that path. She wanted to get back to Max as quick as she could. She needed him.
She hurried into her room and got dressed, then sat at her dressing table, removed the towel from her hair, turned on her hot rollers, and picked up her hair dryer. She slowly and methodically brushed her hair out as the hair dryer dried it. She remembered how loving Max was during the night, how attentive he was to her. The feel of his kisses and his arms around her. She wanted more of that. She wanted to be the one to take care of him, too. She knew how he had issues with anxiety, especially with things that were out of his control and that seemed to matter so much to him. She now knew for certain that she mattered to him, that he wanted to be able to fix her situation and make it better, and how he knew it was medically out of his control. She needed to do what she could to ease his anxiety, and right now that was just to be with him, to wrap her arms around him, to caress his gorgeous face. She smiled as she thought about it and caught herself in her mirror. She laughed lightly.
When her hair was dry, her hot rollers were ready, so she began to section her hair off and wrap it around the rollers. Max liked it when she had curls, she could tell. More than once he had twisted a tendril or two in his fingers. With her hair rolled up, she put on her makeup, and then her perfume. She put on Max's favorite, as she was sure he put on her favorite cologne- Aramis. She could just smell it now…
She removed the rollers once they had cooled and began to clip her hair up off her shoulders and away from her face, except for the tendrils on the sides that she wanted Max to notice. Then she grabbed her shoes, put them on, and checked herself one last time before she went downstairs to find Max, and some breakfast. She was really hungry.
Fran came down the back stairs quietly and saw Max at the kitchen table. She smelled the wonderful smell of breakfast cooking and wondered where Niles was. She hurried up behind Max, ran her hands over his shoulders and down his chest as she leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. He smiled and leaned back so he could kiss her lips.
"Come here, you." He led her around him and pushed his chair out enough so she could sit on his lap. She did so, obligingly, and draped her arm over his shoulders as he hugged her around the middle. They smiled at each other, rested their foreheads against each other's, and then kissed each other softly. Fran held his face with her free hand and they kissed each other lightly again and again. "Mmmmmm," Max sighed.
"Mmm hmm," Fran agreed. "Coffee." She grinned at him.
"Oh sorry, yeah I had some coffee. Want me to get a mint?"
"No, it's good. I can't really have any coffee, so I'll have to enjoy it through you." She kissed him again, slowly, and Max squeezed her hip. They were lost in each other. "Oh god Max, that's something I want today."
"What?" He kissed her cheek.
"I want a whole bunch of time to kiss you. No interruptions." She held his face to hers, their eyes closed.
"Yeah," he exhaled. "That sounds wonderful."
Just then her stomach growled, and they both giggled. "Man, am I hungry. Where's Niles?" She asked.
"Someone was at the front door, he's probably trying to get rid of them. Here, hop up a second and let's get you something to eat. Niles picked up some egg drop soup, I thought maybe you would like that this morning."
"Oh yeah! That sounds fab!" She cheered.
"Also, you can have a shake. I put it in with the ice to cool it off faster." Max opened up the freezer and removed the can for her. "Also, I was thinking about it, and it might be okay if you want to have just a little bit of scrambled egg. Do you feel like that would be okay?"
"Sure! I mean, yeah, I need some protein, and that should be soft enough. And not like I was eating a big sandwich or anything."
"Great! Here, come grab a chair and let me get you a glass for this shake. But just sip on it, don't chug it all at once or you may not want anything else."
"Okay," Fran pulled out the chair next to Max's at the table and sat down. Max got her a glass and set it and the shake down in front of her, then turned around to put bread in the toaster. Just then, Niles came in the kitchen from the dining room.
"Oh! Good morning, Ms. Fine! Sorry that took so long, that was the elderly neighbor lady. Apparently she had a new stove delivered and the delivery men just pulled a 'ring-and-run' and left it right at her doorstep! Her son isn't coming to install it until tomorrow so she really needed help getting it inside the house. I had to grab Brighton's skateboard and managed to get the box onto it and up the step into her door. Then I figured I better just push it all the way to the kitchen so she wouldn't try to scoot it herself and ruin her floors."
"Oh my goodness, Niles, you should have called for me, I could have helped."
"Well, honestly I just got caught up in it and tried to see what I could do, and it worked, so I just kept going with it. Luckily her old stove was already removed, so I just put it near the space so her son could deal with it easily tomorrow. She's such a sweet little lady, I can't believe they didn't bring it inside for her."
"Yes, that was pretty inconsiderate of them." Max sat back down next to Fran and took her hand after she finished pouring the shake into the glass.
"Okay then, back to the meal. Ms. Fine, would you like some egg drop soup?" He asked, tying his apron back around his waist.
"Yes, please! And thank you for getting it. And just a little bit of eggs."
"Right away!" Niles replied, enthusiastically.
"Oh, Niles, I just put some bread in the toaster, that should be ready any time now."
Niles set out two plates and a bowl, removed the lid from the tub of soup, then stirred and ladled some out into the bowl. It had cooled off some so he reheated it in the microwave while he retrieved the toast, buttered them, scooped some scrambled eggs onto one of the slices, and then added a couple slices of bacon to it. He then put a spoonful of eggs onto a plate for Fran. He set their plates down, then grabbed silverware and napkins for them and set those down as well. Then the microwave beeped, so he retrieved the bowl of soup, stirred it thoroughly, and brought that over to Fran.
"Oh, my god, Niles, you have no idea how good this smells to me right now!" Max let go of her hand so she could dig in, but gave her knee a light squeeze to remind her to go slow. He placed the second piece of toast on top of his sandwich and took a bite. Niles proudly watched them fully consumed with their food, and then grabbed himself a plate of eggs and bacon, and put a slice of bread in the toaster for himself. "Max, you know what would go great with this soup?"
"What's that, darling?" He asked. Niles turned and smiled. He enjoyed seeing this affection between them.
"A piece of toast…?" She was asking Max for permission for more food. "You know, to dunk into it…" She had her head cocked to the side, trying to persuade him.
"Fran…" he raised an eyebrow.
"How about half a slice, then?" Max squinted at her. Niles wondered a little about what they were negotiating, and why.
"How about a quarter of a slice? But only after you have a little bit more egg and some of your shake? That has better nutrition than toast." He rubbed her back and she gave in.
"Okay then, a quarter of a slice. Niles?"
"Already on it, ma'am," he added another slice of bread to the toaster and removed his own. Fran smiled and took a bite of scrambled egg, then a sip of shake. Max took a big bite of his sandwich, and they both sat back in their chairs and smiled. Niles watched them from the counter as they methodically continued eating in relative quiet, smiling at each other. Max kept pace with Fran, but just took bigger bites of his food. "Do you need some more coffee, sir?"
"Yes, please. But that'll have to do it for the day for me. At least for coffee." Niles brought the cream and sugar to the table along with the pot of hot coffee. He refilled Max's cup and then grabbed a mug for himself and filled it, then put the pot back. "Niles, you're welcome to sit over here with us. I'll move the paper." Max started folding up the paper before Niles could respond.
"You're sure? I don't mind being at the counter. I don't want to interrupt."
"Niles, come over here and sit down," Fran turned back to look at him, and nodded for him to take a seat.
"Well, if you insist," he set his food down at the end of the table right as Fran's toast popped out of the toaster. He went back to retrieve it. "Would you like it buttered, Ms. Fine?"
Fran looked at Max momentarily. "Uh, skip the butter for now." She wasn't sure herself if even butter might trigger some queasiness, so she thought she better pass on it.
Niles cut the toast in half, then cut one of the halves in two, He put one of those small pieces on a napkin and brought it to the table and handed it to Fran. She looked at Max to see if he thought it was okay for her to have some of it yet.
"Go ahead, but just a little at a time." He said, patting her leg. Fran smiled and dunked the quarter piece of toast into her soup and took a bite.
"Mmmmm!" She closed her eyes and smiled. "I knew that would be good!" Niles grinned too and worked on finishing his meal.
Fran continued to eat, one small bite or sip at a time. When Max and Niles had finished, Niles removed their plates and put them in the dishwasher.
"If you two don't need anything else, I'm going to just run upstairs and do a little cleaning."
"Sure, that's fine. I think we're good here." Fran nodded and mmmm'ed her agreement as she finished her last bite of scrambled eggs and moved the plate aside so she could finish the soup. Niles covered the remaining food on the stove with lids and skipped up the back stairs, obviously to go clean the master bedroom.
Max took a sip of coffee and put his arm across the back of Fran's chair. He watched her as she finished the soup and then sip her shake. He was so happy to see her eat. He pushed his lingering concern to the back of his mind and just let himself enjoy seeing her enjoy herself. She turned to look at him and smiled. She put her hand on his knee and rubbed it.
"This was so good! That soup was a good idea." Max scooted in a little closer to her.
"I'm glad you had an appetite for it. You feeling okay so far?"
"Yeah, at least my tummy is very happy right now. We'll see how things are later." She leaned back against his arm and closed her eyes, tilting her head back. Max kissed her temple.
"I'm glad, sweetheart." He rubbed her shoulder as she rubbed his knee. "Hey- you know, something that might be good, if you're up for it-"
"What's that?" She turned her head to look up at him.
"Well, would you be up for a little walk outside? If it isn't too cold? It's nice and sunny, so maybe a little sun would give you a few vitamins. I mean, if you aren't worn out or anything. Not a long walk. It might help the whole digestion thing."
Fran thought about it for a little bit. Then smiled. "Yeah, that might be a good idea. Probably better than just sitting around. Do you mean just a walk down the street and back, or do you want to walk somewhere?"
"Well, whatever you think you can do. I mean, we might start walking and you might realize it was not a good idea, then we'd come right back. But if you want to walk over a few blocks to the stores- maybe we can find a place to sit inside over there and warm up before making the walk back. Or even if you want to look at a couple shops. But I don't want you to overdo it. I'll insist we sit down somewhere for a little while. Then we can come back here and-"
"Make out?" Fran giggled, and Max smiled.
"Maybe," he teased. "That could be a reward for taking the walk. Getting exercise. Fresh air. You know."
"I think that would be a fantastic reward!" They pecked each other on the lips. "Yes, let's do that while I'm feeling fairly good. Especially after last night. You deserve a reward, too. You're the best nurse a girl could ask for." Fran leaned into his neck, wrapping one arm around it, and then the other. They got quiet and things got more serious for a moment.
"I love you, Fran," He whispered.
"I love you too, Max. More than anything." She leaned back so she could look in his eyes, then she kissed him firmly. She sat back in her chair again and looked at what was left of her shake. "Do you think I could save that for later? I think I had at least half of it."
"Absolutely. If you feel full, we shouldn't push it. You had a pretty good meal. Maybe after the walk if you feel like having some more, that will probably be fine. Oh, we have to make sure you drink a lot of water today. Keep you hydrated."
"Yeah. You ready to go for that walk? I just need to grab my purse. I think these shoes should be fine for walking." She peered down at her feet.
"I'm ready if you are. I have my wallet, so I just need my coat." They both pushed their chairs away from the table and got up. Fran put her shake in the fridge and Max put her dishes into the dishwasher. He gulped the last of his coffee and put the mug into the dishwasher, too.
"Hang on a sec-" Fran said, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him to her. She hugged him tight, resting her head against his chest for a moment. He wrapped his arms around her back, and then she looked up at him and kissed him so deeply he froze in place, unable to move, and he felt tingles up his spine. He came back to earth and let his hands fall at her hips.
"Wow, Fran…" he gasped, since he forgot to breathe while they kissed. He took a deep breath, and so did she. He rested his forehead against hers as they both recovered their senses.
"Ahhh… I was just going for more coffee, but yeah… better save that sort of thing for later…" She inhaled deeply again and they opened their eyes, then smiled at each other. Fran cleared her throat. "I just- I wanted to thank you, for taking care of me last night. For coming to get me. It was exactly what I needed. Thank you, Max."
"You're very welcome, Fran. I was worried about you. I'm glad Val went over there to find you. And I'm glad you let me take you home."
Fran nodded, then hugged him again. She patted his back and stepped away from him. "Okay, let me go get my purse." Max let go of her and she hurried up the stairs, glancing back at him once with a tender smile.
Max blew air out of his mouth and grabbed hold of the counter, then leaned over and stretched his arms across it and put his head on the cold surface for a moment. He slowly stood himself back up and shook out his head.
"Wow," he whispered. Then he turned toward the dining room door and headed out to get their coats.